The Virtual Classroom and the Local Church

Horizons ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-132
Author(s):  
David Hammond

In his important 2005 analysis of the Catholic Church in America, Peter Steinfels observed that in some respects, the future of lay parish ministry is assured. Catholics are willing. The church needs them. The parish of 2025 will employ them. What remains to be determined is who will be drawn to these positions and how they will be trained, appointed, promoted, retained, and supported in their work and their personal spiritual growth. With sufficient neglect and discouragement, of course, their numbers could level off…, turnover could increase, those with greatest potential for leadership could be driven away, or polarization that has injured other aspects of lay parish ministry could settle in here, too. How will they be trained? Traditional university programs, of course, will continue to do the job for a relatively small body of professionals. But many potential lay ministers are not in a position to go to the universities that offer graduate degree programs in theology or religious education. There are financial and geographic obstacles facing many who are “willing” and who might possess great “potential for leadership.” They live in remote parts of the country or are stationed in military bases around the world, and the cost of spending years on a campus with a graduate theology program is not financially realistic. The local churches need their involvement in ministry; some of these potential leaders are now being trained in online programs.

Edupedia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-53
Author(s):  
Ilzam Dhaifi

The world has been surprised by the emergence of a COVID 19 pandemic, was born in China, and widespread to various countries in the world. In Indonesia, the government issued several policies to break the COVID 19 pandemic chain, which also triggered some pro-cons in the midst of society. One of the policies government takes is the closure of learning access directly at school and moving the learning process from physical class to a virtual classroom or known as online learning. In the economic sector also affects the parents’ financial ability to provide sufficient funds to support the implementation of distance learning applied by the government. The implications of the distance education policy are of course the quality of learning, including the subjects of Islamic religious education, which is essentially aimed at planting knowledge, skills, and religious consciousness to form the character of the students. Online education must certainly be precise, in order to provide equal education services to all students, prepare teachers to master the technology, and seek the core learning of Islamic religious education can still be done well.


Author(s):  
László Holló

"In less than one year, the Catholic Church, just like the other denominations, lost its school network built along the centuries. This was the moment when the bishop wrote: “No one can resent if we shed tears over the loss of our schools and educational institutions”. Moreover, he stated that he would do everything to re-store the injustice since they could not resent if we used all the legal possibilities and instruments to retrieve our schools that we were illegally dispossessed of. Furthermore, he evaluated the situation realistically and warned the families to be more responsible. He emphasized the parents’ responsibility. First and foremost, the mother was the child’s first teacher of religion. She taught him the first prayers; he heard about God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the angels from his mother for the first time. He asked for the mothers’ and the parents’ support also in mastering the teachings of the faith. Earlier, he already instructed the priests to organize extramu-ral biblical classes for the children and youth. At this point, he asked the families to cooperate effectively, especially to lead an ardent, exemplary religious life, so that the children would grow up in a religious and moral life according to God’s will, learn-ing from the parents’ examples. And just as on many other occasions throughout history, the Catholic Church started building again. It did not build spectacular-looking churches and schools but rather modest catechism halls to bring communities together. These were the places where the priests of the dioceses led by the bishop’s example and assuming all the persecutions, incessantly educated the school children to the love of God and of their brethren, and the children even more zealously attended the catechism classes, ignoring their teachers’ prohibitions. Keywords: Márton Áron, Diocese of Transylvania, confessional religious education, communism, nationalization of catholic schools, Catholic Church in Romania in 1948."


Author(s):  
Tiago Pinto

This article explores the programmatic representations of Catholic Moral and Religious Education(EMRC) teachers, regarding the disciplineprogram, in public schools in the municipality of Porto (Portugal). Through a diachronic approach to the socio-religious panorama and Catholic religious teaching in Portuguese public schools, it is possible to identify, nowadays, new challenges for the Roman Catholic Church andforits school educators. The interviews carried out showed that teachers tend to consider the study planas limited, unmotivating and with excessive religious contents, so they proposed a subjectof moral and religious education not confined to the Catholic universe.


Author(s):  
Matthew Eichler ◽  
Carrie J. Boden-McGill ◽  
Tennille Lasker-Scott

In this chapter, the authors explore the challenge of maintaining a “high touch” learning environment in online and hybrid adult graduate degree programs. The literature suggests that although online degree programs are popular, the retention rate in online classes is low, and online courses may not meet the social needs of adult learners. Few interventions thus far have been successful. The authors used learning pods, small, geographically-oriented teams of students working on individual learning projects as self-directed communities of scholars, as an intervention. Student perceptions of learning pods are explored in this chapter, and suggestions for practice based on student feedback are offered.


Author(s):  
Jade Burris ◽  
Catherine Prudhoe

This chapter explores the intentional design, development, and continued improvement of an online graduate degree program for early childhood education (ECE) teachers and administrators. The authors will discuss the initial face-to-face design and the transition to an online program to better meet the needs of its students. The authors will also discuss the successes and challenges met throughout this process while providing an overview of the field of ECE. In the process, they will consider the unique demands of working in childcare and explain why using technology to offer online programs was an appropriate solution to the challenges experienced by early childhood professionals (ECPs). They will address why online delivery is a preferred method of professional development (PD) among ECPs. Further, this chapter will include an analysis of survey data on program quality and course satisfaction, providing practical recommendations based on what was learned from this case study.


Pathogens ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Elizabeth R. Ballou ◽  
Sarah L. Gaffen ◽  
Neil A. R. Gow ◽  
Amy G. Hise

Despite the high prevalence of women in graduate degree programs and equal or more women earning PhDs, MDs, and MD/PhDs, and despite efforts at individual and institutional levels to promote women in STEM fields, there remains a disparity in pay and academic advancement of women. Likewise, there is a paucity of women in top scientific and academic leadership positions. The causes of this gender disparity are complex and multi-factorial and to date no “magic bullet” approach has been successful in changing the landscape for women in academic and scientific fields. In this report we detail our experiences with a novel mechanism for promoting discussion and raising awareness of the challenges of gender disparity in the sciences. The Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) launched the Power Hour at its meetings in 2016: a dedicated, scheduled session held during the scientific meeting to facilitate discussion of challenges specific to women in science. Here we share our experience with hosting the second Power Hour at the 2019 GRC Immunology of Fungal Infections (IFI) meeting held in Galveston, TX. We will discuss the overall structure, key discussion points, and feedback from participants with the aim of supporting future efforts to empower women and underrepresented minority groups in science.


1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-274
Author(s):  
Roland Stull ◽  
Steven Businger

To document the inner workings of graduate degree programs, the authors surveyed the 67 American and Canadian universities that grant Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and/or Master of Science (M.S.) degrees in the atmospheric sciences and related fields. Topics included (a) admission standards such as graduate record exam scores and grade point averages; (b) start-up issues such as course requirements and computer programming skills; (c) M.S. attributes such as thesis length, years until graduation, and thesis versus nonthesis options; (d) Ph.D. procedures such as exam sequences and timing, thesis page length, workplace ethics and teamwork, and development of teaching skills; and (e) employment after graduation. This information could aid university departments in their future program planning.


Author(s):  
Karen Arnold ◽  
Hong Zhu

The profession of student affairs in Chinese higher education is expanding and taking on new forms in response to increased postsecondary participation and changing economic and social conditions. Universities throughout China are establishing new and reconfigured administrative positions and structures charged with non-academic student services such as career advising, mental health counseling, and financial aid advising. Government statements, new graduate degree programs, and research on college students point to an emergent student development movement in China whose contours are still forming.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document