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Workshop Presentations

Proper Pedagogy

Backward Design for Online Instruction Presenter: Penny Clawson, Lancaster Bible College

Wiggins and McTighe have created a model for instructional design that begins with the enduring understandings, includes the essential questions, and expects the assessment of those in unique ways. This session will explore the means to accomplishing this in online course design, with the unique properties of the online delivery system. Participants will take initial steps in the actual design of a course, beginning at the end.

Best practices for online theological ministry preparation Presenter: John Cartwright, School of Religion, Liberty University

Despite tremendous growth in online learning even among theological institutions, casual observations suggest that the decision to offer online programs may not always have been rooted in deep pedagogical or theological reflection.  In other words, in the quest to utilize online education as a viable option for degree preparation, has serious thought been given to the uniqueness of the online learning environment and the potential impact of those differences to how ministry training is accomplished? Or has the choice been driven primarily by pragmatic considerations?  A review of the literature revealed that research was needed that would establish consensus among the experts on best practices for online theological ministry training.  This research would build on established practices of both online and theological education. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the research method involved in this project, a summary of the best practices for online theological ministry preparation, and some suggestions for practical implementation for educators.

Building Community to Enhance Student Achievement Presenter: Chris VanBuskirk, Lancaster Bible College

This session will explore the process of building community through the online virtual environment to build a student’s sense of responsibility for the learning of his colleagues. The discussion will enable participants to differentiate independent study instructional design from those parts of an online course that are collaborative. These collaborative elements should be designed to create the social constructivist element which is critical to the success of an online course. Through the use of Socratic question sessions, participants will crystalize seemingly conflicting educational theories in order to arrive at a concrete outcome. The process in the workshop will model how it occurs in an online course; building the online community which is required in order to create the social constructivist environment. This method will increase the student achievement of the desired outcome.

State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements: What you need to know Presenter: Julie Goetz, Huntington University

Promoting Self-Regulated Learning in the Online Learning Environment Presenter: Sean Pyle, Lancaster Bible College

This workshop will suggest to educators ways that instructors can design learning activities online, which support student metacognition and self-regulation. Markedly, we will look perspectives from social cognitive theory, which encourage students to regulate their own behavior as an online learner.  Ultimately, this workshop hopes to promote improvements for the experience of an online learner through a purposeful design of the nature of interactions between the student, course content, and learning community.

Implications of theological anthropology for online pedagogy in graduate-level ministerial training  Presenter: Gabe Etzel, School of Religion, Liberty University

This presentation provides a biblical-theological framework for developing online pedagogy based on a thoroughly biblical perspective of human nature. By utilizing such a biblical-theological framework, best practices of online graduate-level ministerial training can be presented in such a way that the role of the faculty member, the objectives of the classroom, and the purpose of the institution are focused more effectively on the formation of students as ministers of the gospel. The nature and function of the image of God is considered from a biblical, historical, and Ancient Near Eastern perspective. It will be demonstrated that the implications of the imago Dei for online graduate-level ministerial training are that the role of the faculty member moves beyond a guide on the side to a model to follow, the objectives of the classroom move beyond learning centered to formation centered objectives, and the purpose of the institution moves beyond pragmatic efficiency to ministerial effectiveness.

Who Owns Course Content? Presenter: Kevin Mahaffy, Moody Bible Institute

The question is often debated between schools and faculty. Who ultimately owns the content of online courses?  Presentation will consider options and review practices to offer ideas and direction for schools.


Tech Tricks

Education without Borders: Using Social Media for Collaborative Learning Presenter: Eric Brandt, Lancaster Bible College

Over 50% of U.S. faculty members use social media for professional purposes and nearly as many regularly implement it in teaching. The rise of social media as a learning tool in higher education is a mixed blessing. It is a potential breeding ground for poor academic habits, but it also offers new and differentiated ways to encourage engagement and collaboration in the learning process. This presentation will explore how to successfully integrate social media platforms and practices for collaborative learning in blended and online environments. It will also explore how social media is influencing the design of learning management systems.

Ed Tech: Tools, Tricks, and Tips for the Flipped and Online Classroom Presenter: Kate Hill, Cincinnati Christian University

As educators, we are inundated daily with information about new and emerging technologies designed to assist with student learning. Although new technology is exciting and fun, we have to make a decision about what to pursue for our students and institutions, as well as what to say no to. In this session, you will learn about some of the new technologies that are relevant to education, and have been proven. Attendees will also learn how to evaluate new technologies to determine relevance and usefulness for their institutions. Don’t miss this session, which is sure to get you excited about what’s on the horizon, and what’s available now to make learning better for everyone.

Gamification: leveraging intrinsic motivation to facilitate learning Presenter: Justin Harbin, Lancaster Bible College

Gamification represents a recent and significant trend in education. This workshop explores implications the theory may hold for the design of online courses. Our discussion of Gamification includes properly defining the theory and exploring why its concepts may apply to the digital classroom.  Careful analysis will be made to separate the pedagogical theory of the trend from the gimmickry. Additionally, this workshop proposes practical methods of applying gamification theory to the classroom.

Social Media in Education: With so many choices how do we move forward wisely with class integration? Presenter: Ron Hannaford, Biola University

There are so many social media (SM) tools available now that provide such a wide scope of capabilities for education, what is the way forward for implementation across the campus and online? We don’t simply want to encourage faculty just to use SM without support, guidance, and recommendations to help them accomplish student outcomes sought and comply with ADA and FERPA regulations.

Missionally Minded

Mobilizing Online Student Chaplains for Spiritual Formation Presenter: Dale Lemke, Crown College, School of Online Studies

Project-based learning strategies can be effectively utilized to structure the development of spiritual formation resources and assessment practices by online student chaplains.  Session goals are to introduce Project-based learning (PBL) theory, to discuss the application of PBL to the development of a chaplaincy initiative, and to assess the viability of student-led chaplaincy initiatives.

Pedagogies of Nonviolent Communication in the Online Classroom Presenter: Tammy Wiens

At a time when higher education is increasingly delivered through computer mediated instruction, it is crucial to raise awareness of online pedagogies that nurture non-violent interactions among students.  Communication within an online classroom is very different from communication in a face-to-face classroom, primarily because dialogue is text-based rather than spoken. This workshop demonstrates the need to address nonviolent communication as a pedagogical challenge rather than as a technological challenge. The goal of the research is to offer a rubric to guide pedagogies of nonviolent communication in online forums.  Not only will pedagogies of nonviolent communication reduce the potential for hurtful language among peers, a rubric for online dialogue will also increase a depth of relationship among participants and enhance the richness of learning in the online community. 

Digital Discipling: Embedding Spiritual Formation into Online Curriculum Presenter: Michael Freeman, Lancaster Bible College

This presentation reflects on a studied completed to determine the extent to which the design of spiritual formation into the curriculum of online coursework at Bible Colleges is intentional, applied and assessed. Through qualitative interviews and quantitative course analysis, specific strategies in the training of online faculty and the design of online courses were explored. Through this presentation, those institutions engaged in Biblical online education will be provided with some valuable practical tools for consideration in implementing strategies for making spiritual formation essential to online course development.

Culture Counts: Designing Online Courses for International Audiences Presenter: Mindi Thompson, Abilene Christian University

A growing number of theological institutions are turning to international student populations to bolster flagging enrollment.  Online learning makes it easy to reach students around the world.  But these classes could do more harm than good without a proper understanding of culture.  Learn how cultural differences impact learning and how our shared faith can provide a model for solid online course development in any context.

Distance Education for Global Audiences in Asia Presenter: Andy Peterson, Western Seminary

Distance education has become an important export for the USA.  The key elements of good contemporary education are content, design and technology.  Apple has embodied these elements and an eye on “Big Data” in its “Digital Learning Environment” for a standard to be used in design and development.  Western Seminary is building new online programs with these factors for both lay and professional education with high engagement with its Center for Leadership Development and Online Campus.  Covenant Evangelical Theological Seminary, fully Mandarin and fully online, will be used as a case study of innovation for theological education overseas in Asia as well as domestically.