Hebrew Scriptures and More . . . .

Bryan Alexander has reported on “open teaching” which links to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education by Jeffrey Young called, “More ‘Open Teaching’ Courses, and What They Could Mean for Colleges.” Young has a link to another of his articles on the topic, “When Professors Print Their Own Diplomas, Who Need Universities?”

I have been intrigued by the concept of “open teaching,” for quite some time now. What I have been thinking is that eLearning can provide a continuing education approach to theological education that would enable a minister or any interested persons to take courses “on-demand.” If as in most cases the minister already has a valid theological degree, then the courses would be for usage in his/her ministry setting. For example, being able to take an online exegetical course on Isaiah or the gospel of John, months before starting a new series of sermons on those books.

The printing of diplomas or certificates of completion and even competition with Seminaries, I do not believe is the issue. Being able to teach people who are interested in the content for content sake would be a great plus compared with teaching those that may be taking the course because it is required for a specific degree.

Open teaching has many positive pluses and one may be that some of the eLearners may register for the class. However, even with a possible “carrot” approach thrown into the discussion, administrators will be skittish about teaching approaches that do not go through the traditional educational system for financial, educational quality, lack of understanding in the area of eLearning or just plain resistance to new methodologies.

The pluses are great for open teaching and its altruistic nature (for theological education we may say ministerial nature). This new method speaks volumes concerning those that open things up to a wider horizon. I for one, want to move in this direction. I think, however, that those who will move in this direction will face an uphill battle, since the idea is new, creative and moves across the traditional educational system.

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