Michael Jensen on Theological Education in Crisis

Over at Sydney Anglicans, Michael Jensen has a provocative post on the crisis in theological education. He also gives a list of what to look for and what to stay away from in a theological college.

I resonate with most of his contentions, however, I am far more positively disposed to on-line learning than he is due to my experience teaching at HTC/UHI in the UK. In short, distance education these days is not just receiving a reading list and work book. It can involve interacting with lecturers and other students on-line, making use of DVDs,  and even attending lectures live via webcam where the beamed-in-student is visible and audible to the lecturer and to other students  (I’ve done this and it actually works). What is more, one can have special days designated for distance students to visit the “base” and meet up for tutorials with lecturers and sessions with other students. The struggle in on-line/distance learning is to reach parity with class-room based teaching and learning since the dynamics are different.