(left to right) Robert P. Glick, Dr. Steve Lowe
Erskine
Distance Education Network (E.D.E.N.) Attracting
Attention
Erskine Seminary's foray into the distance
learning field, Erskine Distance Education Network
(E.D.E.N.) is gaining the attention of the
theological education community, according to
Professor of Christian Education and Associate Dean
and Director of Distance Education Dr. Steve Lowe.
"Our E.D.E.N. course offerings continue to
expand," says Lowe. "We have had more than
100 students enroll in distance education courses
since the inception of this program last
spring."
Both Lowe and Robert P. Glick, W. Parker Bowie
Associate Professor of Church Music, were featured in
the Autumn 1999 issue of In Trust, a
quarterly magazine for leaders of theological
education. The article focused on the Erskine
seminary course "Learning How to Learn,"
which began as a way of assisting new students in the
distance learning program.
"We now have our prototype or beta version of
our 'Learning How to Learn in Distance Education' web
page up and running,"says Lowe. "It will
house all the components now available in the course,
including streaming audio versions of our audio taped
course lectures, power point slides, 'Learning How to
Learn' textbook and workbook containing all of the
self-assessment inventories, and a list of hyperlinks
to other Internet resources. We plan to have this
operational by the end of the school term this
Spring."
Lowe also reports some further technological
experimentation in distance education at Erskine
Seminary. "We tested a new video phone
technology in our 'Learning How to Learn' course. It
enables us to have point to point video and audio
interaction over existing phone lines while using a
video technology that runs through any television
set."
Meanwhile, Erskine Seminary's E.D.E.N. program is
becoming better known throughout the theological
education community. "The Institute of
Theological Studies in Grand Rapids, Mich., has
invited me to speak to their members at their annual
meeting in Phoenix, Ariz., in February," says
Lowe. "My subject will be our 'Learning How to
Learn' course and about how seminaries can facilitate
student learning in more meaningful ways as distance
education becomes more prevalent."
Lowe has also written about distance learning.
"The Christian Education Journal
published a series of articles I co-authored that
reported the results of a major research study
conducted among doctoral graduates of a seminary
distance education program in the midwest." The
articles appear in the Spring 1999 edition of the
periodical, and are both entitled "Theological
Education Via Distance Learning" with Part One,
"Participants and Program Strengths" and
Part Two, "Problems and Prospects."
