Looking back on my learning goals

I have already posted about each of the learning goals I outlined, and I’d love to hear feedback and further thoughts on those topics. I’m happy with the progress I’ve made in my research of online resources for congregations, including Sunday school and confirmation curricula.

Most intriguing to me is my exploration of the connection between technology and hospitality, and I intend to continue reflecting on that. I hope to discuss it more with friends and colleagues as well, and I’m sure it’ll be in the back of my mind over the next year as I serve eight rural Minnesota churches as an intern. I’m doing even more reflecting as I finish up my portfolio, which I began in a previous education class at Luther.

Impact of the class

And the rest of my reflections on my learning in this course...

What do you think future students should know about EL1515 to survive, or better yet, to flourish during the class?

They need to be prepared for the hybrid format, and I would encourage future students to avoid my mistake and try to post more regularly, starting early on. I’m glad the syllabus made it explicit that the reading should be done before class, because discussion would have been tough without that common background.

I would encourage students to play around as much as possible with setting up their blogs and Facebook accounts before class, since experimenting seems to be the best way to figure out those things. That way we could spend less class time could on the very basic steps of those processes, though I certainly would still want to make sure everyone was caught up.

How have your experiences in this class shaped your future teaching practice, if at all? How have they shaped your role as a learner in other settings, if at all?

This class has helped me think more seriously about technology in a parish context, as well as in other learning contexts. I was already a big user of online resources, e-mail, Facebook, etc. and a reader of blogs, but I now feel a little more competent about blogging myself, as well as using other resources that I wasn’t as familiar with.

I also feel more equipped to think critically about how many different forms of technology might serve the many different (intertwined) aspects of a congregation’s mission, from worship to hospitality to teaching and more.

Class format and assignments

One of my "official" assignments for this blog is to comment on my experience of this class, Media and Technology in Christian Education, in conjunction with the final portfolio we compile. Here's a start on my reflections...

How did the reading assignments in this course support your learning? Were they relevant, pertinent, accessible? Which ones would you keep for future versions of this class, and which would you discard?

I liked the reading for this class, and I particularly appreciated the reasonable amount of reading. I thought most of the material contained a nice balance of theory and stories that illustrate the points being made. I found Shirky’s book a little repetitive, but I did learn a lot from the information he was conveying. I thought they were all useful enough, and complemented each other well enough in scope and focus, that I would keep them for future classes. (Then again, it’s hard to imagine not keeping them when I don’t know what alternative options are available.) I liked the addition of the video lecture, particularly because that material would have been difficult to explain adequately without the video clips from YouTube.

How well did the design of the course support your own learning? Was the structure of the class clear? Did the assignments support your skill development? How would you improve the course design?

The hybrid format worked better for me than I had expected it to. I’m always a little apprehensive about several hours of class in a row, but the time was used effectively and I stayed quite engaged. This course is particularly well-suited to this format, since the online work is really integral to the subject rather than having to be contrived or adapted from an in-class approach. The assignments were quite helpful.

I already had a Facebook account, but I can see how starting one would be a helpful assignment for those who didn’t have one already, because the best way to start to understand social media seems to be just jumping in. I struggled a bit with the blogging assignment, because I’m so used to the traditional papers and tests, and I tend to be a procrastinator about those things. So I don’t feel like I used my blog as effectively as I might have because I ended up condensing most of the posting into a week or so. That was just a matter of my own study habits and the fact that I took another class immediately following this one; it wasn’t a problem with the assignment being ineffective.

Public vs. private

In reading Clay Shirky's book, Here Comes Everybody (Penguin, 2008), I was struck by the concept of "publish, then filter" (chapter 4). Now that so many of us have access to sites like Blogger, we can all just throw our thoughts out there for anyone to read. And it creates new challenges, like shifting our concept of public vs. private.

As Shirky points out, "we're so unused to seeing written material in public that isn't intended for us" that we often fail to realize that much of what we might find online wasn't written with us in mind, and its author may not care that we don't understand it (85).

What's more, the blurring distinction between public and private that comes with online communication can be disconcerting:

"The real world affords us many ways of keeping public, private, and secret utterances separate from one another...things you say in the real world are heard only by the people you are talking to and only while you are talking to them. Online, by contrast, the default mode for many forms of communication is instant, global, and nearly permanent" (89).

It's a little intimidating for someone like me. I feel much more vulnerable publishing my thoughts and reflections and partially-developed ideas in a blog than I would in a conversation with friends or acquaintances or colleagues in person.

But there are also great rewards, like the discussion fostered when others respond with their own reflections and partially-developed ideas. Online (here, on Facebook, or elsewhere) I can hear from people I wouldn't encounter in person, so the spectrum of ideas I can encounter is much broader. And if we "publish, then filter," I guess that means I can always go back to revise, delete, or expand whatever I publish.

The heart of Christian learning?

What is at the heart of Christian education? It's a big question, and I like how Mary Hess addresses it in the first chapter of her book, Engaging Technology in Theological Education (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005).

Drawing on Parker Palmer's models for learning, she suggests that, rather than centering our learning around the supremely large (and paradoxically confining) subject of "God," we think about putting "the living tradition of the people of God--found first and foremost in the biblical witness" at the heart of our learning (8).

What might this mean for Christian learners? Hess suggests that it means we seek to understand the faithful Christian witness (biblical and otherwise) "because we want to inhabit this script, we want its language and ideas to become our own" (9). She goes on to talk about how we might do just that: learn the "script" of our Christian identity so that we become familiar enough to inhabit it comfortably in many different contexts and even to improvise with it (11-13).

I find this to be such a striking portrayal of what we're about as Christians--learning God's story and exploring how we fit into it. I particularly like the emphasis on navigating different contexts, and Hess points out later than mass media, including online outlets, are now one of the contexts we navigate (14).

So how can media in its multitude of forms (print, film, television, radio, online news outlets, blogs, social networking, etc.) impact our Christian identity? How can it help us grow in our understanding of who we are as Christians and how we fit into the story of God's people? How can it be a distraction or intrusion that draws us away from this identity?

The wonder of YouTube

Check out what YouTube is up to:



I heard about this "Life in a Day" experiment from one of my classmates. It sounds like an incredible example of what YouTube is all about: giving ordinary people a chance to share the ordinary (or extraordinary) moments of their lives with a potentially limitless audience, and giving all of us a chance to check out the details of lives that may be similar or very different from our own.

This kind of innovation should come as no surprise to anyone who's seen Michael Wesch's presentation, "An anthropological introduction to YouTube." Wesch explores the culture of YouTube, and part of what he explains is that YouTube is a chance for ordinary people to express themselves in a way that might feel a little more interactive than a writing-based outlet like a blog. Now this same concept is being expanded by a filmmaker for a larger audience. I see a lot of potential for cross-cultural experiences, as we each get a glimpse into the lives of people around the world.

Wesch discusses the issue of authenticity within the YouTube community, which makes me wonder how insincerity might affect this project. Would it matter if someone was less-than-forthright in their representation of their life? Would it be any different from the ways in which we operate in our everyday lives? How authentic are we in our personal interactions? What's the connection between in-person authenticity and online authenticity?

High-tech Christian education?

I'm starting to explore some of the resources out there for Sunday school and confirmation, because I know many of them incorporate technology in some way. I haven't gotten all that far in my research yet, because I'm not quite sure where else to look.

Here are a few resources from ELCA publishing house Augsburg Fortress, which I had known about but never looked very closely at before.

• Splash! faith formation resource is for kids from birth to age 3 that includes a music CD. Some of the elements may be a little contrived, but it's certainly a step in the right direction for this often-overlooked population, and it could start congregations thinking imaginatively about what else they might do for and with families of young children.
• Spark Sunday school curriculum has classroom, lectionary, and rotation options. The curriculum includes media-based technology and has a big online planning component.
• Here We Stand confirmation curriculum also includes a major online planning component for leaders, as well as online seminars to learn how it all works.
• The Re:Form confirmation curriculum is very new. Each session is centered on discussion of short DVD lessons designed to convey the basics of the faith to students.

So that's a very quick look at just one company's resources. Where else should I be looking for Sunday school and confirmation help? Who is using technology effectively in these settings?

Technology and hospitality

This seems to be a hot topic! I know there are more people than me considering it. Check out my classmates' great comments from the last time I mentioned it. I certainly don't have any definitive thoughts on this subject, but I can share some of my reflections from the last few weeks.

I think one of the first steps in hospitality is inherently technological, because many people make their first contact with a congregation through their website. Is your congregation's website attractive, easy to use, and up-to-date? Does it have all the information a visitor might need, like (accurate) worship times, directions, information on what to expect, and photos that express a bit of what the community is about?

Once visitors arrive at your congregation, how are they welcomed? Here's an interesting blog post about the welcoming practices of one Christian community, and how technology might play a role.

What about screens in worship, a topic that seems endlessly divisive? On the one hand, replacing bulletins and hymnals with screens is really helpful for those whose hands are busy tending to small children or assistive devices like walkers, or for those whose arthritis makes holding a hymnal difficult. It can also help those with eyesight challenges. On the other hand, screens can (and often are) used in distracting and ineffective ways. Here's a thought-provoking article about the challenges of using PowerPoint, and here's one church's criteria for effective use of projector screens.

What about e-mail communication? Here's a great post from one of my classmates on how e-mail, text messaging, and social media has worked in her youth ministry work. I have also experienced e-mail as divisive. E-mail is fantastic for convenience, but we must be intentional about using multiple forms of communication, lest we exclude those members who do not have e-mail (yes, there are still such people out there).

This is the path my wandering mind has taken when considering this topic lately, but of course there is so much more to say? What are your thoughts on hospitality and technology? How have you experienced technology as helpful or harmful to hospitality in a congregation or elsewhere?

Technology for parish work, part 2

So what about Facebook? That's an obvious resource I didn't discuss in my last post. I don't feel a need to expound at length on all the many possible ways to use Facebook in parish ministry when so much has already been written about that. Here's a teeny-tiny sample of the commentary out there on this subject:

• To Facebook or not to Facebook (from my classmate's blog, A Lutheran Says What?)
• Your Church and Facebook
• 10 Reasons Your Church Should be on Facebook
• Facebook for Churches
  

Other than the first, these are just a few results from a quick Google search. You can see that this is something church leaders and others are thinking about, talking about, and wondering about.

Another major resource for congregations is blogging. Our professor recently posted a link on her blog to this piece by the Alban Institute on why religious leaders might consider blogging. There are so many great reasons discussed here!

One of the great things about blogs is the fact that you can find resources to fit very specific interests. So in that spirit, here are a few of the blogs I enjoy that are specifically geared to women in religious leadership:

• Beauty Tips for Ministers
• Fidelia's Sisters (more of an e-zine than a blog, but close enough for me)
  
• Dirty Sexy Ministry
• 72-27

Let's hear about some of your favorite blogs, whether they're for a specific niche or a broader audience. And what about Facebook--tell me how it's worked for you or your congregation!

Technology for parish work, part 1

Well, I've had fun exploring some of the different forms of technology out there and considering how they might be useful in a parish setting.

One of my favorite resources is WorkingPreacher.org, a resource for preaching and teaching. Part of what's so great about it is that it incorporates several different media all in one place. There is plenty of print, of course: commentaries on the week's lectionary readings, along with articles and columns on various aspects of the preaching craft. And one of the coolest features is the Sermon Brainwave podcast, which you can access on the site, in your reader (via its RSS feed), or through iTunes. It lets you listen to three fabulous Luther Seminary profs discuss each of the week's readings, so it's like sitting in on a text study.

Another site from Luther Seminary is Enter the Bible, which lets you study scripture with historical, literary, and theological background on each book of the bible, study paths, and more multimedia resources like images and videos. It even gives you a chance to create an account so you can take notes and track your learning. While Working Preacher is geared more toward preachers and teachers (though it's also helpful for listeners!), Enter the Bible might be useful for broader groups within the parish.

Of course there are countless other resources like these out there. Another of my favorites for preaching, teaching, and biblical study is The Text This Week. Worship planning gives us lots of opportunity to use online resources as well. For ELCA worship, I like Sundays and Seasons from Augsburg Fortress. The fact that all of the most common ELCA worship resources are referenced in one place is really handy. And of course, there's always You Tube. I've seen You Tube videos used in worship or Christian education settings.

I'm still exploring, but sometimes it's hard to search when you aren't sure which direction to look. I know I've overlooked entire categories of resources, though I will address blogging and social media in anther post. What are your favorite forms of technology, especially online resources? How have you used them in parish life, or how do you imagine doing so?

Goals for this class

I took Media and Technology in Religious Education for several reasons, and here are my primary goals for the class:

• Become more familiar with various forms of technology and how they might impact learning communities, especially in a parish setting
• Consider the relationship between technology and hospitality: How can technology help or hinder hospitality in worship or educational settings?
• Explore media resources designed for the parish, particularly Sunday School and confirmation curricula

There is so much to consider when it comes to technology in the parish! And of course parish life is just one small segment of the broader picture of religious education. I’ve been exploring these goals over the past few weeks, so expect more reflections on each of them soon! And please let me know of any resources I should be sure to check out!