distance education

Did you know that you can get access to seminary level courses from your home for free! There are now many different resources available online to aid you in growing in your knowledge of  the Bible and how it applies to your Christian life. As MAF-Learning Technologies looks for resources to share with ministries overseas, we also want to let you know about those available to you. Here is a list of resources that will aid anyone from a new believer to a seasoned Christian. Enjoy!
http://doc.maflt.org/Reviews-Comparisons/Free_Bible_Courses
 
(If you find more, share them with us.)

An April visit to the Development Associates International (DAI) Ministry Center in Colorado Springs, CO, by MAF staffers Nicholas Ivins and Brian Ward could lead to more effective distance learning through DAI’s ‘Masters of Arts in Organizational Leadership’ program.
   
DAI leadership set out to enhance the learning experience for their Masters program students.   This search lead them to consider new web-based technology products developed by MAF such as DEScribe, DEViewer, and Poodle (Portable Moodle). The next step is ...

“LT (Learning Technologies) has sent a pilot back out into the field,” is how Bob Dontje describes his return to Lesotho, Africa last year.

From May to November 2008, Bob logged 267 flight hours during which he spent considerable time helping to put the God’s Story Project (an MAF-LT ministry partner) into Lesotho’s language—a benefit to the residents of that country’s mountainous regions where English is not the primary language.

As testimony to the excitement generated by LT, Bob recalled a simple exchange as he and two pastors walked together following a funeral. The pastors wanted to better lead their church members. They wondered how to get an education when they could not afford to leave.

There is a project at the Open University in the U.K called Offline Moodle. Here’s the new idea which as in most “new” ideas isn’t actually new at all. It was an idea that was discussed years ago in the little LT building in Redlands, California by our very own LT staff. I remember my father used to tell me “there’s nothing new under the sun” I would argue with him vigorously, I discovered much later he was quoting out of Ecclesiastes.

The original LT discussion was something like this, “wouldn’t it be great if we could connect to the internet and do a very simple ‘push and pull’ operation on selected content sitting up on the Moodle server ? Effectually allowing one to participate in an online Moodle course in an offline way. It would be a solution for people who live in areas where the internet connectivity is very intermittent and of limited bandwidth. We didn’t have the resources or the will to pursue it at the time but like clothing fashion if you wait long enough usually it will circle back around.

In February three of our Learning Technologies team members traveled to Germany to meet with our long-term partners, Greater Europe Mission and Horizon International Schools. These two ministries provide theological education in dozens of countries around the world.

Our purpose in partnering is to share resources in providing quality theological education in a distance format. Horizon International Schools has chosen to provide courses through an online course management system with the strange name of Moodle. Moodle is open source so it is free and fairly easy to use for teachers and students alike.

Moodle’s limitation has been that it is all online. For a student to take a course he or she must connect to the Internet. While this works in places where the Internet is available and affordable, Moodle is not a solution for the many pastors and students who are beyond the reach of the Internet.

While in Germany, Learning Technologies introduced Portable Moodle, or “Poodle,” as it was jokingly called. Our LT tools team has been working on this for years and was successful in getting it up and running in time for our meetings.

“Poodle” will enable students without Internet connection to take courses delivered by CD or on a thumb drive. (Teacher-student interactions can take place through other means, including cell phone.)

The leadership of Greater Europe Mission and Horizon International Schools was exstatic when we introduced this new tool. They will be able to put it to immediate use in delivering courses beyond where they have been able to reach thus far.

“This is going to be huge,” said Al Cuthbert, director of Horizon International Schools.

One of our top priorities in MAF Learning Technologies is to put our efforts into training that reaches to the remote pastors and leaders who do not have access to training. It was a delight to be able to deliver “Poodle” to our partners who will then take it and use it to transform lives.