The article explores the development of online courses and programs in Christian higher education, with specific attention given to graduate theological online education at Northwest Nazarene University. The article provides evidence, from research and experience, that online learning communities are central to learning and formation in online courses. The article also discusses the benefits of developing online learning communities as it relates to ministry and the local church.
As a professor I often tell my students,“I was a youth pastor before e-mail.” The typical response from students is,“Who uses e-mail anymore, we only text.” I remember in 1984 purchasing my first desktop computer. It was an Epson Equity II with a lighting fast 8086 processor with a 20 meg hard drive. I also remember my first e-mail experience connecting to a CompuServe account sending e-mails on my 1200 baud modem (you can hear the noise in the background). During those early days of e-mails in the 1990’s I remember feeling the freedom to communicate to friends and family thousands of miles away. Since then technology has expanded and developed in significant ways. I can now surf the internet at lighting speeds with my wireless router and talk to people on Skype. Technology has revolutionized the way we communicate, the way we live, and the way we learn. Students are building “relationship” through these virtual media and social networks at a rapid pace. The increased demand of social networking is evident in the explosion of growth of Facebook and Twitter. These social networking interfaces suggest that the hunger of human persons to be connected and in relationship with others remains. Mediated forms of communication are impacting how education is being offered. In 1999 I taught my first online class—a course on Christian education to pastors and church leaders all around the world. At first it seemed so foreign and “distant” but as time passed I began to see how learning and community could be developed in a virtual community. Since then I have been teaching and developing online courses and programs in Christian Ministry. Over the past decade, I have become convinced that online courses