Some of us observe with amusement, and some impatience, the ongoing occasional conversations in theological education about the legitimacy, value, or congruence of online delivery for seminary education. At one time it was appropriate to include in that conversation talk about “emergent technologies,” but that epoch is past. Despite the track record of the effectiveness of online learning in just about every field of education, and the increasing number of schools, from kindergarten to graduate programs, that embrace online learning, theological education as a whole has been left in the dust.

[Read more...]

I suffer from the male genetic malady of the Gadget Gene. If it blinks, lights up, requires batteries, has a button, buzzes, lights up, vibrates, connects to something else via wireless or a cord, and has a computer chip, I’m for it. I’m too much of a generalist to qualify for the lofty status of membership into geekdom, but I can understand the tribal dialect and can hold my own more often than not. I find some comfort in that I know I’m not alone in my malady (see Geekdad).

[Read more...]

I’m a Powerpoint presenter. In fact, it’s gotten so I can hardly conceive of doing a presentation without a remote slide clicker in my hand. Like any communication tool and media, Powerpoint is merely one way to do it. Use it well and your communication is effective. Use it poorly and it’s no better than a flip chart or chalk and blackboard. I spend as much time planning the design and pedagogy of a presentation as I do on the content. The fact is, the medium needs to complement the content.

[Read more...]

I used to find it difficult to correct student papers on the computer screen, preferring to print out dozens of pages to correct then with red pen in hand. Over the years my predilection has switched: I’ve come to prefer editing on the computer screen. I rarely print out student work submitted via computer (e-mail or via our seminary online learning system). I correct papers and projects on the computer screen, make annotations, add links to appropriate internet help sites, and then e-mail it back to the student. I’m saving a lot of red ink and paper these days.

[Read more...]

A friend asked me how I prepare my speaker notes for Powerpoint presentations. He saw that my speaker notes had the slide images on one side of the page with the corresponding notes on the other (with about four slide images to the page). He was not satisfied with the default Powerpoint printouts that came out with one huge slide image on the top half of the page and the notes on the bottom half of the page. Beside using up a lot of printer ink, it required him to flip a page for each slide.

[Read more...]

Every once is a while someone asks how I manage to post a blog entry every day. My canned response is, “I try to have a thought every day, then, I write it down.” Blogging is a good exercise for aspiring writers who strive to live into the axioms, “A writer writes,” and, “the only way to learn to write is to write.” For those of us not born with the gift for words, writing is a learned craft, and, like any craft, you just have to observe the discipline of daily practice if you want to get good at it.

[Read more...]

Even though I have become dependent on the personal computer for both work and play I retain a fondness for typewriters (at this point one of my kids would say, “Typewriter? What’s that?”). Much of that has to do with the physicality of them as objects. Typewriters were a part of my growing up. My father was, for a good portion of his life, what was then refered to as an office machine repairman (before the terms “technician” or “engineer” were tagged onto just about any job description). His business spread between shop and home, and at times we had dozens of typewriters and office calculators (the huge metal hand-crank-levered pre-digital kinds) around the house.

[Read more...]

One of the concept tools I use for just about everything is mindmapping. I also teach it in one of my courses and students find it very helpful. Some time ago a student wrote to say,

Dr. Galindo – I have to stop and say many thanks to you. I have not done so well in my writing in seminary. Most recently, in Old Testament, my papers have only been C quality work. Writing has been my weak area. Now, in my last semester, I cross paths with your class and the idea of Mindmapping. I have another OT paper due this next week. I thought, what can I lose. So in 1/2 hour this morning I mindmapped on one page my paper. It is now being typed with ease. Of course I had already done much reflection over the scripture and research about it. Just wanted to say thanks. I think this should be information available to all students as they enter BTSR.

[Read more...]

I was engaged in a conversation about on-line learning recently, with someone who has never taken an on-line course nor taught in that mode. I must confess that some of those conversations were interesting at one time. But after teaching on-line courses for eight years now I find myself weary of addressing the same rudimentary questions from the uninformed. My impatience usually is with those who are quick to dismiss on-line learning without having done the responsible work of investigating it. My interest in talking further wanes when it becomes evident that they’ve thought as little about the pedagogy of the classroom courses they teach.

[Read more...]