Posted by: Jason
on Mar 7, 2010
Baker's Guide to Christian Distance Education is now on Facebook and Twitter. Please join us as fans and followers.
Posted by: Jason
on Feb 21, 2010
When I was in college, I read through the writings of Francis Schaeffer. One of the things that struck me was his contention that ideas (particularly those concerning truth) move through the world in stages. In The God Who Is There, Schaeffer presents a staircase (below his famous line of despair) and notes that the shift in truth affects philosophy first, then art, then music, then into the general culture, and finally into theology. I’ve heard it put more broadly concerning cultural trends – first they hit the academy, then a decade later they permeate popular culture, then about ten years after that the church finally embraces the trend.
Posted by: Jason
on Feb 18, 2010
Back in the fall I received an email from Ken Kuhlken, President and Director of Creative Writing at Perelandra College. Perelandra is a small DETC-accredited online Christian college in California.
Posted by: Jason
on Feb 17, 2010
I've wanted to use a tag cloud or other computer generated visual presentation to see what it might make of Baker's Guide to Christian Distance Education. Thanks to Wordle, I now know:
Posted by: Jason
on Feb 11, 2010
Yesterday OpenDNS added a new category to their web content filtering system labeled Academic Fraud. As they announced in their press release, academic fraud covers “plagiarism, the buying and selling of papers and reports and other forms of cheating”. However, a follow-up email discussion with OpenDNS Director of Marketing Allison Rhodes revealed that they consider degree and diploma mills part of this category and would enable users to block them as well.
Posted by: Jason
on Mar 16, 2009
One of the benefits of assembling the ACCESS Conference was being able to bring in presenters who were new to the group. One of these guests was Dr. Don Finn , who presented about the use of universal design in online education and training.
Posted by: Jason
on Mar 13, 2009
Another of the presentations at last week's ACCESS/Next Step Networked Christian Learning Conference was one by Victoria Walker on the use of 3D Multiuser Virtual Learning Environments. Victoria is a web developer and instructional designer who has been active in the use of virtual worlds in education, particularly the use of Second Life in counselor education and training.
Posted by: Jason
on Mar 12, 2009
I was talking with a colleague yesterday about the future of education, particularly in light of President Obama's speech on education policy and reform, and I mused about the idea of ubiquitous learning as a framework for considering how online learning and educational techn0logy tie in with education in general.
Posted by: Jason
on Mar 10, 2009
Last week was the ACCESS/Next Step joint conference and there were a number of excellent conference presentations that warrant some comments. Just as a quick background point, ACCESS is the Association of Christian Distance Education and The Next Step is the North American Partnership in Missions Training. The two groups came together at the Founders Inn on the campus of Regent University for a joint conference with a theme of Networked Christian Learning. As a way of ramping up my blogging, I thought I'd highlight a few of the excellent presentations, beginning with Podcasting to Enrich the Teaching/Learning Process by Randy Meredith, Director of Academic Technology at Spring Arbor University.
Posted by: Jason
on Jan 17, 2009
Professional investors and 401(k) owners alike have had to digest a lot in the past few months as investment strategies have been turned upside down. With staggering losses everywhere, it takes a good bit of looking to find the handful of companies with short term upside potential. Companies specializing in low-cost products such as McDonald’s and Wal-Mart have grown in this tumultuous climate, but it’s not only the cost conscious industries that are benefiting; online educational institutions have high expectations as well.
