For those who have read about my experience with taking distance education seminary classes you might think that I am not a fan of them… Quite the contrary. I think they are great. In fact, here are 6 things I think are great about online and distance education programs for seminary:

1. Time - Are you a morning learner? A night owl who like to read at 2 a.m.? Well, the beauty of online and distance education programs is that you can take the class whenever works best for you. No longer are you bound to the school’s schedule. 8 a.m. class… Be gone! You now have the ability to chose when would be the best time for you to learn.
2. Pace - Taking seminary classes online or through distance education allows you to set your own pace. Most programs allow you up to 7 years to finish your degree… so, you set your own schedule. This is especially great if you are trying to save some money as you can put off the next class until you have the funds to pay for it… but be careful… 7 years will fly by before you know it. However, it is nice to know you have some time.
3. Money - Now, tuition and books will cost the same, but taking online an distance education classes for seminary will allow you the ability to study around your work. On a traditional campus the schedule is set by the school and your work must be set around that… not always good when you need a job to support your family. Taking distance classes allows you to work the hours your job gives and take classes when the time works for you… thus, you’re ultimately saving/making more money. Along with this is the fact that you are taking less classes at a time, so when tuition is due it is a much easier pill to swallow.
4. Context - If you’re like me there isn’/wasn’t a good seminary in your current town. This, most likely means that you are going to have to move… and that means leaving your church. The beauty of online or distance education is that you can continue to be involved and minister in your local church context. In fact, your classes will often open many new and exciting ministry opportunities in your church and community.
5. Focus - Unlike on a traditional class, most distance programs are done one class at a time. This allows you to focus all your energy on the information you are learning in the one class… theoretically leading to a greater retention of the material.
6. Relationships - Most distance programs (as best I understand) require that you have a mentor through your seminary experience. It is truly amazing to have a person (or couple people) who have been down this road and are seasoned in the ministry to help you along the journey. I cherish all the coffees and lunches I had with my mentors as I discussed the challenges and triumphs I experienced in my classes. If you’re program doesn’t require it, I highly recommend you get one on your own initiative… trust me, it will make the classes that much more rich!

So, I’m five days deep into taking Hebrew 1. To make the class harder the seminary has it as a winter session class (2 weeks) and it is done online! That’s right… online Hebrew.

Here is how it works:

The class has a CD that essentially contains a ‘web’ based class. Meaning the CD runs off your internet browser showing the pages that have been hard coded onto the CD. The CD has 2 sections. One section is the language section and the other is the software section. This class utilizes Logos Bible Software, so the software section has lessons dealing with how to use the program to study the original language… however the first couple lessons were more like, “this is a computer… to open the program double-click the…” which was a little annoying.

The language section is divided into 10 lessons. Each lesson covers different aspects of the language… from the alphabet, to grammar, to pronunciation. In the lesson you basically read about how the language works and then work to apply it. So, yesterday was personal pronouns (weeeee). So, I read all about how personal pronouns work in Hebrew and then did a lot of practice problems applying the lesson.

While the pages aren’t much to look at, they are very functional. Every time you see a word there is a button to click so that you can hear the proper pronunciation and make sure you are reading it correctly. The practice questions all have mouse-over effects that allow you to immediately check to see if you have the right answer.

Along with the class CD we are using Blackboard. This site is pretty common for distance education classes and it is pretty good… I feel like it could be a lot better, but it gets the job done. Specifically, this area acts as the actual classroom. In there are announcements from the professor and a classroom forum. In the forum the students and professor interact by asking questions and discussing class material. Even though part of your grade is class interaction, the forums are surprisingly well utilized (you can tell people aren’t just posting for the grade). I find myself checking the forum more than my email (and I check email a lot).

Finally, in Blackboard we have daily quizzes on the day’s material. We’ll also have a midterm and final.

In all, I was VERY skeptical to begin with… I had no idea if this was going to work… especially based on my previous record with online seminary classes… but I am actually enjoying the class format and feel like I am really starting to grasp the basics of the language.

I’ll try to post again towards the end of the class to let you know how it wrapped up and my final thoughts on taking a seminary Hebrew class online.

I read an encouraging article today about how Dallas Theological Seminary is webcasting seminary classes into China WITH the government’s support. I was blown away by the news.

Seriously… an evangelical, Christian, seminary given permission to teach Chinese students… in China.

Praise God!

Thoughts?

While tooling around the net looking for seminaries with online and distance education options I found a good bit of help from a post on the Asbury Theological Seminary web site.

The elements you bring to online learning are vital to the learning process. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you consider the possibilities of virtual learning:

• How well do I manage my time?
• How do I rate my reading & writing skills?
• How do I rate my computer skills?
• How do I learn best?
• Will I have the support of my family and friends?

In the post they break down these questions a little further. Certainly something worth checking our if you are thinking about going to online or distance education route for seminary.

So, I figure it would be good to work on a list of seminaries offering online and distance education degrees. Now, keep in mind that almost every school that offers a distance education will require, at least, some residential classes. This list will only include programs that are accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and allow you to complete 90% of your degree off campus:

• Reformed Theological Seminary Master of Arts in Religion (MAR)
• Fuller Theological Seminary Master of Arts in Global Leadership
• Covenant Seminary Master of Arts in Theological Studies (MATS)
• Liberty University (too many to figure out which ones are totally distance)

Ok, before I was just a guy going to seminary I was just a virtual guy going to a virtual seminary. Yes, I was an online student. The journey for me began about 7 years ago when I was trying to determine if God was calling me to seminary. I’m not so much sure how much of it was God and how much was me just looking for an excuse to skip town… either way, after looking into lots of seminaries and talking it through with my pastor, I decided to give distance education a shot.

Now, the first thing to note is that the education I received via my distance program was great. I loved sitting down and listening to the lectures, reading all my textbooks, writing my papers. I felt like these exercises truly helped me in my job (I was a campus minister). However, as time went on I discovered what I believe is the greatest challenge of distance education… life.

My wife and I moved to a new city, we had our first baby (little man), I went through 3 jobs (eventually getting back to campus ministry), we bought our first house, our basement was destroyed by a flood (3 times), we had our second baby (sweetpea)… and on and on… All while trying to find time to sit, read, and study. Needless to say, it didn’t really pan out.

Over the course of 5 years I purchased 6 extensions ($50 each) and withdrew from 3 classes (meaning I paid a lot of money for the class, didn’t do the work, and then bailed at the last moment). For me, there always seemed to be something more pressing than the classes… besides, they’d always be there tomorrow.

So, my experience ultimately led me to the decision that I’m going to have to do a residential program if I ever want to finish this degree. Now, please don’t take that to mean I think distance education is a bad idea… quite the contrary. I think it is amazing. However, I believe that it requires a certain type of person, with a certain personality, a certain discipline, and a certain situation. You might be that kind of person.

Anyone out there had any luck with the distance program? Let us hear your success story.

With the advances of technology these days it is truly amazing the education one can get just by hoping online. Which raises a question, “How important is getting the actual seminary degree?”

Now, as I mentioned in my “which degree is for me” post, if you want to be a pastor in a denominational church, then the answer to this question is pretty obvious… very important. But, say you’re just wanting to expand your education, or you simply want to gain some deeper understanding in a few areas, but the actual degree isn’t something you need… or maybe the finance just aren’t there…or maybe you just want to test the waters.

Well, there is an option. Many seminaries are starting to make their class lectures available for FREE! That’s right, you can sit in on literally hundreds of hours of seminary teaching and never leave the comfort of your iPod.

Here is a list of some of the seminaries I know who are giving away their lectures. If you know of anymore, please post a comment and share the goodness.

SEMINARY COURSES AVAILABLE FOR FREE:

• Reformed Theological Seminary (iTunes Required)
• Fuller Theological Seminary (iTunes Required)
  
• Covenant Theological Seminary
• Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Registration Required)

Distance education has come a long way. Seven years ago I decided to try and earn my degree through one seminary’s distance program. It was pretty good, but I still have stacks and stacks of tapes and giant notebooks. The quality of teaching was there… the medium was seriously lacking.

That isn’t the case today. Now seminaries are using technology to help deliver first rate theological education around the world. Now, instead of 37 cassette tapes and 200 pages of notes, you get 1 dvd. On the disk you have .mp3s of you lectures and you notes are there as .pdf as well.

Along with the “work on your own” model, many seminaries are now offering web courses. Now, you can actually log onto a virtual classroom and “sit in” with residential student and watch and hear the professor though streaming video. What’s even better is you now have the ability to actually “raise your hand” and ask the professor a question, whether through text chat, voice chat, or video chat. Try doing that while listen to your tapes.

While there are still big differences between distance and residential programs, it appears that seminaries are starting to embrace and utilize technology in order to get theological training into the hands of as many people possible. I guess what I’m hoping to see next is seminaries starting to lead the way in technology and distance education… Now that will be exciting stuff to watch!