By Laura Lehman Amstutz
Dr. Lonnie Yoder is one of several professors teaching on-line courses to seminary students throughout the world.
In the past, students came to the classroom. Today, for some students, the classroom comes to the students.
Thanks to technology and Internet access, some 180 students have taken advantage of courses offered on-line by Eastern Mennonite Seminary.
The seminary’s distance learning program now offers 10 classes taught on-line, leading to a certificate of theological studies. This program, started in 1997, provides theological training for those who may be unable to attend on-campus courses.
Five distance learning classes are offered each year with the help of software called Blackboard. Two courses beginning this fall are “Contemporary Theology in Anabaptist Perspective” and “New Testament: Text in Context.” Two more courses will be offered the spring semester and one course will be taught in the summer. Courses are offered on a two-year rotation.
This summer, eight students are taking the course, “Old Testament: Text in Context,” on-line. Four students have already enrolled for fall distance learning classes.
To earn a certificate of theological studies, students must complete eight of the 10 offered courses. All 10 are core courses for the master of divinity and the master of arts in church leadership degrees offered by the seminary.
Tuition for distance learning classes is slightly less than that of on-campus classes, around $298 a credit hour, not including the cost of books.
This year, 41 students took classes from as far away as Spain, Lithuania, Japan and the Philippines.
“The distance learning program offers seminary level education to those who live too far away to attend on-campus classes,” said Sara Wenger Shenk, associate seminary dean. “It also provides training for pastors and allows people to explore biblical and theological education without having to make the commitment of moving closer to the seminary,” she noted.
The average class size is around eight students; classes can have up to 12 students. Classes are focused around discussion. Using the Blackboard software, students interact with each other by posting responses on an internet discussion board.
Joe Costello of Morgantown, W.Va., completed the certificate program in 2003. As a lay reader in the Methodist Church Costello wanted formal training in the Old and New Testament and thus he took those classes first. Costello said, “This program provided good training and covered a number of areas I wasn’t familiar with,” he said.
During his studies Costello traveled to Harrisonburg and has met several of his professors. He is still in contact with Nathan E. Yoder, associate professor of church history, regarding a research project he completed for one of the on-line courses.
Lonnie D. Yoder, professor of pastoral care and counseling, has taught his “Pastoral Care” course twice in the on-line format. He said that the on-line courses change his role as professor.
“In on-campus classes the professor is viewed as the center,” Dr. Yoder said, “but in the distance learning classes, it’s more effective for me to move to the sideline.”
Students do collaborative work, and each one is required to contribute to on-line discussion each week. The course content is divided into weekly units, which keeps both the students and the professor accountable and disciplined. As technology changes, courses will be experimenting with chat rooms and real-time communication.
Yoder said that the community that is built in an on-line course has a different quality than community built in a classroom.
“I have appreciated the depth of conversation and sharing in the on-line classes,” he said, “The anonymity of the Internet adds a level of safety some students don’t feel in the classroom. Introverts who may not speak up in a classroom setting are required to enter the conversation in an online class and they are often more comfortable doing so.”
More information about the distance learning program, including technological requirements and applications, is available at www.emu.edu/seminary/distancelearning/ or by contacting Don A. Yoder, director of seminary admissions, at 540-432-4257.
Laura Lehman Amstutz is a student in the master of divinity program at Eastern Mennonite Seminary.