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Baylor University
Institute for Faith and Learning
  • About
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  • Conferences and Symposiums
    • 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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      • IFL@25
      • 2019 LFP National Conference
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      • About the Program: Called to Character
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  • Media and Resources
    • 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
      • 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
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      • Generosity
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      • 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
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Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources Faith Animating Online Education Cultivating Character and Online Learning
  • 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

Cultivating Character and Online Learning

Any project of character formation is dynamic; it requires attention to the character traits of both teachers and learners. 

Accordingly, when we ask about the virtues of online teachers, we are interested in not only the particular character traits that enable educators to do their work with excellence; we are also concerned with how they might create the conditions in which virtues might be formed in their students.
 

I. What are the virtues?

A first step is knowing what the virtues are. The following resources provide introductions to the virtues in the Christian moral life.
 

Helpful Resources
  • What is a virtue?
  • N.T. Wright's “Paul and Christian Character,” (video)
  • C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity
  • Josef Pieper's A Brief Reader on the Virtues of the Human Heart
  • N.T. Wright's After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters
  • The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues
     
II. What are the virtues of an effective online instructor?

The virtues of a good teacher are too many to list here. Moreover, the virtues of an online teacher are not wholly different than the virtues of a teacher in a classroom. Still, because the online environment necessitates more student-centered modes of instruction, online teaching creates opportunities for instructors to rethink what virtues make a teacher excellent online.
 

Helpful Resources
  • Elizabeth Seebach and Lori Charron's “Envisioning a Lasallian Online Pedagogy: Twelve Virtues of a Good Teacher in a Digital Environment.”
  • Sylvia van de Bunt-Kokhuis and Nabil Sultan’s “Servant-Leadership: The Online Way! E-Learning Where Community Building Is Key.”
     
III. What are ways to cultivate character online?

Forming Christian character online requires more than simply adding explicitly Christian elements to a course. If faith is to animate online learning, instructors must think intentionally about how it informs the course experience as a whole, including course goals and objectives, course content, pedagogical practices, and the educational environment itself.

Several Baylor colleagues, through Baylor’s Character Across the Curriculum initiative, reflected on their own attempts to form character online. Links to videos with their lessons learned and practical tips can be found below.
 


Kelly Jo Hollingsworth, Music Education
 


Richard Jordan, Political Science
 


Ian Gravagne, Electrical Engineering
 

Helpful Resources
  • Aliel Cunningham’s "Envisioning Christian Presence and Practice in Online Teaching Contexts"
  • Sample Baylor course syllabi , with virtue formation sections highlighted
    • ELC 4435: Systems, Modeling, and Control, Dr. Ian Gravagne
    • MUS 3331: Music in the Elementary School, Dr. Kelly Jo Hollingsworth
      • Field Experience Reflection Assignment
    • REL 1350: Christian Heritage, Dr. Noel Forlini Burt
    • ENG 2301: British Literature, Dr. Katherine Calloway

 

Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources Faith Animating Online Education Cultivating Character and Online Learning
  • About
    Back
    • Staff
  • Conferences and Symposiums
    Back
    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
      Back
      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
        Back
        • 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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