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Baylor University
Institute for Faith and Learning
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    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
      • 2021 Living Accountably
      • 2019 The Character of the University
      • 2018 Stewardship of Creation
      • 2017 The Bible and the Reformation
      • 2016 Higher Learning
      • 2015 The Spirit of Sports
      • 2014 Faith and Film
      • 2013 Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for Our Time?
      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
      • 2011 Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century University
      • 2010 Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care
      • 2009 Secularization and Revival
      • 2008 Bottom-Up Approaches to Global Poverty
      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
      • Bailey Lecture Video Archive
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      • Starting Points
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      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
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Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources Faith Animating Online Education A Christian Imagination about Online Education?
  • Faith Animating Online Education
    • Starting Points
    • A Christian Imagination about Online Education?
    • Cultivating Character and Online Learning
    • Additional Resources
  • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
  • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
  • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
  • Recommended Reading
  • External Resources
  • The Christian Reflection Project

A Christian Imagination about Online Education?

Teaching in an online context, especially for those who have taught exclusively in traditional, classroom settings, requires a shift in imagination. 

How might we bring a Christian imagination to online teaching and learning?  Here are a few things to consider and questions to ask:

Online education is new, but also stands within a long trajectory in Christian history of learning “at a distance.” 

For example, there is a long tradition of letters in the Christian story. Jeremiah wrote a well-known and oft-quoted letter with instructions for the exiles in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:1–23). The Apostle Paul likewise wrote letters to instruct and form churches and individuals from a distance.

Indeed, the very identity of Christians as a “people of the book” highlights an element of distance in Christian instruction. We learn from authors even across temporal, spatial, and cultural distances.
 

As you plan your course, look anew at your institution’s mission statement. Here, as an example, is Baylor’s.  Then ask:

What key notions or animating ideas might be taken from your institution’s mission statement and given fresh expression in your course?

How can an online course expand the “mission field” of teaching and learning in a way that is true to your school’s identity?
 

Consider your and your students’ imaginations about the course:

What is your imagination for the course?  Simply put, what are you doing as the instructor? Why are you doing it? 

What are your students’ imaginations about the course?  What do they think they are they doing? Why are they doing it?

Understanding the differences and points of convergence between these imaginations is important for any effort to teach and learn. 
 

Helpful Resources
  • Nathan Alleman and Perry Glanzer's The Outrageous Idea of Christian Teaching
  • David I. Smith’s On Christian Teaching
  • David I. Smith’s “Practices, Pedagogy, and Life Together” (video) 
  • Etienne Wenger’s Communities of Practice, especially his discussion of the two stonecutters, p. 176.
Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources Faith Animating Online Education A Christian Imagination about Online Education?
  • About
    Back
    • Staff
  • Conferences and Symposiums
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    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
      Back
      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
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        • Call for Proposals
        • Conference Schedule
        • Key Information and Frequently Asked Questions
        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
      • 2021 Living Accountably
        Back
        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2019 The Character of the University
        Back
        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2018 Stewardship of Creation
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2017 The Bible and the Reformation
        Back
        • Co-Sponsors
        • Featured Speakers and Panels
        • Video Archive
      • 2016 Higher Learning
        Back
        • Featured Speakers and Panels
        • Video Archive
      • 2015 The Spirit of Sports
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2014 Faith and Film
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2013 Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for Our Time?
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2011 Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century University
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2010 Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2009 Secularization and Revival
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2008 Bottom-Up Approaches to Global Poverty
      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
      Back
      • Bailey Lecture Video Archive
    • Other Conferences and Events
      Back
      • IFL@25
        Back
        • Select Pictures from IFL@25
      • 2019 LFP National Conference
        Back
        • Presenters
      • Art & Soul
      • Pruit Memorial Symposium
        Back
        • 2001 Celebrating Augustine's Confessions
        • 2002 Christianity and Economics
        • 2003 The Schooled Heart
        • 2004 Slavery, Oppression, and Prejudice
        • 2005 Global Christianity
      • Baylor University Medical Ethics Seminar
        Back
        • 2016 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2017 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2018 Medical Ethics Seminar
      • One-Time Conferences
  • Programs
    Back
    • Communio: A Retreat for Baylor Educators
    • William Carey Crane Scholars Program
      Back
      • Additional Information
    • Missio
    • Forming Character in the Classroom
      Back
      • About the Program: Called to Character
      • Past Workshops
    • Reading Groups and Guest Speakers
    • Soundings Project
  • Media and Resources
    Back
    • Faith Animating Online Education
      Back
      • Starting Points
      • A Christian Imagination about Online Education?
      • Cultivating Character and Online Learning
      • Additional Resources
    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
    • Recommended Reading
    • External Resources
    • The Christian Reflection Project
      Back
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
      • Apocalyptic Vision
      • Attentive Patience
      • The Book of Acts
      • Caring for Creation
      • Catechism
      • Chastity
      • Children
      • Christianity and Islam
      • Christmas and Epiphany
      • Cities and Towns
      • Cloning
      • Consumerism
      • Death
      • Disability
      • Easter
      • Food and Hunger
      • Forgiveness
      • Freedom
      • Friendship
      • Gambling Culture
      • Generosity
      • Global Wealth
      • Health
      • Heaven and Hell
      • Hospitality
      • Immigration
      • Inklings of Glory
      • Lent
      • The Letter of James
      • Marriage
      • Membership
      • Monasticism Old and New
      • Moral Landscape of Creation
      • Mysticism
      • Parables
      • Patterns of Violence
      • Peace and War
      • Pentecost
      • Pornographic Culture
      • Prayer
      • Prison
      • Prophetic Ethics
      • Racism
      • Sabbath
      • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
      • Scripture
      • Sermon on the Mount
      • Singing Our Lives
      • Sports
      • Suffering
      • Traveling Well
      • Virtual Lives
      • Vocation
      • Where Wisdom Is Found
      • Women and the Church
      • Women in the Bible
      • Work
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