Remote Guidelines

If you are taking this course remotely at some point, here's my guidance for cultivating an effective learning environment.

1. Stay focused on 'the good stuff.' I know this format isn't the college experience you signed up for, nor is it the educational format you paid for, nor is it particularly effective. Nevertheless, there's still value here. Readings and lectures are showing you truly life-changing, awe-inspiring implications of the good news. Practice being thankful for the encounter, even if it is happening through graded, for-credit 'remote learning.' Some people risk their very lives to attend a theological college or even just hear the gospel. I know a few personally. They see the value and they sacrifice cheerfully for it. Hey, the whole Bible is remote learning! And God uses it to reach us with the Word of God and the life it offers.
2. While meeting, you must activate your video so we can see one another's faces. It's too tempting to 'check out', and checking out is infectious. I know from experience in faculty meetings. Many students ignore my pleas to turn on their cameras. I adjust their participation grades accordingly.
3. Learn on your own. Read, reflect, write, and pray, using the space you have where you are to transform your thinking and imagination. That space is likely easier to find off-campus than on, so take advantage of its availability while you have it. Covid lockdown handed me a refreshing and even transformative summer with space to read books, study up on issues pertinent to this calling and to current events, and reflect by myself.
4. Focus on the glass's full half, not the empty half. We're wired to do the opposite, so this is hard. But cultivate that habit for the sake of your long term motivation.
5. If you are in a position to come back live, do so. Don't stay remote any longer than you have to. It's a bad habit to get into.
6. Bring your neighbors in to your learning. You may not have a typical learning community right now, but you probably do have a community of some kind. If you're with family, talk with them about the course material. Invite a family member, church contact, or friend to watch or read along. Just as I don't mind people visiting in-class, I welcome others sitting in on Zoom meetings next to you, especially if they enrich your education.
7. Attend our live class sessions during scheduled class time over Zoom or an alternative such as FaceTime. Class times are dedicated to active learning, application of the material, Q&A, and the like. Much of this will be happening in your groups.
8. Talk to me about what's working and what isn't. Results will be different for different people. What works for one student may not work for another.
9. The key concept in all of these rules is activity. Passivity makes for limited learning, low enthusiasm, and missed assignments as well as low grades. Come to class with questions for your fellow students and me. Set up an office hour appointment to discuss the course.