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The Virtual Classroom: Using an Electronic Discussion Group to Teach Theology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2014

John J. O'Keefe
John J. O'Keefe*
Affiliation:
Creighton University
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Abstract

The growth of the Internet in recent years has been truly remarkable. The World Wide Web and electronic mail have changed the way the world does business, but does it have any impact on the way theologians teach? This article argues that electronic discussion groups (lists) can enhance theology classes by increasing the possibilities for student interaction with course material and with each other. An electronic discussion can be particularly helpful in theology courses that emphasize personal reflection. Free from the pressures associated with the classroom, students often find the electronic medium more conducive to thoughtful participation.

Type
Creative Teaching
Information
Horizons , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , Fall 1996 , pp. 296 - 305
Copyright
Copyright © The College Theology Society 1996

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References

1 PG 46.577, as quoted by Johnson, Elizabeth, She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse (New York: Crossroad, 1994), 3.Google Scholar

2 The best source of information about the Internet is the Internet itself: http://www.yahoo.com offers a comprehensive index of introductory materials. If you want to read an introduction to Cyberspace before entering yourself, many books introducing the Internet are currently available at local bookstores.

3 The student is referring to one of the assigned texts for the course: Eck, Diana, Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras (Boston: Beacon, 1993).Google Scholar

4 For an interesting discussion of the Internet's potentially negative side, see Stoll, Clifford, Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1995).Google Scholar Also of interest is Burstein, Daniel and Kline, David, Road Warriors: Dreams and Nightmares along the Information Highway (New York: Dutton, 1995).Google Scholar The Internet itself offers a tremendous amount of information on this topic; see, for example, Clifford Stoll and John Perry Barlow Speeches at SCO Forum '95 and Debate, URL http://www.upside.com/news/archive/speech/stoll.html.

5 Bellah, Robertet al., The Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life (New York: Harper & Row, 1985).Google Scholar

6 Neuhaus, Richard John, The Naked Public Square (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1984).Google Scholar