Resources

There has been little systematic thought about the pedagogical issues that technology creates in theological schools. Addressed both theological institutions and individual professors, this paper addresses basic pedagogical questions. What are the most effective ways to employ technology in the classroom? Are there guidelines for distinguishing productive activities from merely flashy ones? And, what "rules of thumb" exist for enabling novices to make the best use of computer technology for theological learning?

This seminal 1996 essay, still widely referenced, describes some of the most effective and appropriate ways to use technology to advance the “Seven Principles for Good Practices in Undergraduate Education (the widely influential1987 Chickering and Gamson article).

Journal Issue. Full text is available online.

Provides information on the availability of data on teaching, learning and technology. Details on the study questions posed by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute which focused on results; Role of technology in the quality and cost of lower-division composition courses of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI); Disadvantages of the IUPUI composition students; Effect of technology use on costs.

This paper will discuss some pedagogical principles and practices that can be employed in a particular type of distance learning that I refer to as asynchronous learning networks (ALNs). ALNs are courses offered exclusively on-line via the internet or a remote server in an asynchronous mode that involves no face-to-face interaction and no conventional classroom sessions. The pedagogical techniques described below were developed while participating in a Sloan Foundation supported distance learning project at the State University of New York at New Paltz (under the auspices of the SUNY Learning Network) and teaching a ALN sociology course titled "Social and Economic Development". Many of the ideas and strategies presented stem from conversations with, and the advice and comments of, teaching colleagues in the SUNY Learning Network and instructional developers at the Center for Learning and Technology at Empire State College.