Does online education forfeit valuable interaction in the traditional classroom? Perhaps you have considered online courses as valuable in their own right but second to those that are traditional in nature. Joanne Jung is convinced of the value online courses provide and wants to tell you why...
Jung is the Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Biola University and last fall released her most recent book, Character Formation in Online Education. Within its pages, she confronts the misconception that learning and character development can only take place in a traditional "brick and mortar" classroom. She outlines a number of reasons that online education is not only functional but actually possesses several unique factors, leading to more significant transformation. For Jung, education is about reaching not just the mind, but the soul. She writes extensively about the previous failures of education as it often sought to reach only the head rather than the heart. The author argues that both are equally needed within the learning process.
Jung lends support for asking open-ended questions, working with collaborative tools in the online environment, and employing probing discussions that encourage students to interact in a well-written, public manner. She also reveals her passion for online video sharing and reports that she likes to check in with the students by praying for students via a video post in a discussion thread or leading students via video chat in a synchronous class presentation. For her classes, she both requires and models the value of non-judgement and transparency in the online environment.
Her book is a profound addition to the world of online learning and she has set the expectation high, not only believing that character transmission can happen across the miles but that it will happen with the proper perspectives and course principles.
You can access a video presentation of her work on YouTube and can read an abridged synopsis of her book here. Both come highly recommended.
