Faith, Life, and Learning Online

Promoting Mission Across Learning Modalities

Brant M. Himes, John W. Washatka

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781666705706
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Didattica inclusiva

Faith, Life, and Learning Onlineis an invitation for faith-based institutions to take bold steps toward integrating a holistic mission of spiritual formation into the online learning environment. For Christian higher education, faith integration is a matter of mission, not modality. Regardless of whether learning happens in the traditional classroom, through hybrid models, or exclusively online, Christian universities have a missional mandate to continue their long legacy of forming students of competence and character. While traditional campuses continue to provide unique and meaningful opportunities for students to grow in their faith, online learning has opened new avenues for engagement and development of spiritual formation. As such, all Christian higher education institutions are now called to take advantage of this unique technological moment to continue to offer transformative opportunities for the holistic integration of faith, life, and learning in the online environment.

Part 1

Continuing the Legacy

Faith Formation for Online Christian Higher Education

Part 1 sets the current state of online spiritual formation within the context and faith-formation tradition of Christian higher education. After a survey of current practices and insights from various universities (chapter 1), the focus turns to how Los Angeles Pacific University is navigating its commitment to faith, life, and learning in an exclusively online learning environment (chapters 2 through 5).

Chapter 1

The Current State of Online Spiritual Formation

Scott D. Edgar

Scott Edgar, Adjunct Professor at Los Angeles Pacific University, explores the legacy of spiritual formation in Christian higher education, and argues that faith formation is a matter of institutional mission, not learning modality. His chapter addresses key questions surrounding the feasibility and efficacy of holistic faith formation in the online environment, such as: How can online learning facilitate spiritual formation? What are the challenges and opportunities? How can online and mobile learning modalities break down barriers for faith formation?

Online learning is here to stay. Indeed, it appears that most every Christian higher education institution is launching online courses and programs. Whether central or peripheral to their institutional strategies, the opportunities for extending missional impact with online learning are rapidly expanding. As these efforts continue in earnest, Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries are working to create online programs that not only reflect a Christian worldview, but also intentionally facilitate spiritual formation among their students. Indeed, the concepts of Christian worldview and spiritual formation work together to provide the student with both a Christian perspective of the world and the capacity and motivation to live and function Christianly within it. These are not two separate, abstract concepts for students. Rather, the work of constructing a biblically informed Christian worldview provides the foundational knowledge for the process of spiritual formation. Since many readers are already deftly skilled in presenting a Christian worldview in the educational process, this chapter will explore the current state of online spiritual formation by focusing on the second concept—the desired outcomes and best practices for facilitating spiritual formation online, as proposed in the literature and modeled by several Christian universities.1

Spiritual Formation in Online Education

The challenge of cultivating authentic, holistic spiritual formation is one of the most pressing concerns for Christian higher education online learning today. To tackle this issue and explore the efficacy and potential for how online learning can support spiritual formation, Stephen and Mary Lowe conducted a three-year study examining various aspects of online learning and spiritual formation. The conclusion: spiritual formation is unequivocally possible in online education. Their research demonstrates that virtual learning communities can be as effective in facilitating spiritual formation as physical, face-to-face learning communities commonly associated with traditional on-campus experiences.2 The key ingredient is the cultivation of genuine networks and communities, what the Lowes describe as “ecologies of faith,” in helping to provide an environment of learning and growth. Spiritual formation is less about modality (online or face-to-face) and more about creating communities that support the process of “whole person transformation into the fullness of Christ.”3 The Lowes demonstrated that such whole-person transformation was just as possible in online learning communities as it was in on-campus environments.

For the Lowes, a holistic ecology of spiritual formation includes six developmental and interconnected dimensions of human development: moral, social, emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual.4 Similarly, Diane Chandler proposes a model of whole-person formation that draws from the Genesis narrative of being created in the image of God. This model incorporates seven dimensions: spirit, emotions, relationships, intellect, vocation, physical health, and resource stewardship. Chandler sees this model as providing desired outcomes for the church, academy, and ministry.5 Both Chandler and the Lowes offer models of spiritual formation that are necessarily connected to other areas of human development. Christian universities—committed as they are to whole-person development—should then also be promoting spiritual formation in a holistic manner. This means faith formation needs to be intentionally connected to a wide range of learning activities and academic disciplines and not limited to adding a specialized course in spiritual formation to the curricula. Spiritual formation, even in online education, includes desired outcomes connected to holistic human development that are much broader than traditionally understood in Christian education.

In addition to widening the scope of outcomes for spiritual formation in online education, Christian universities are broadening the environment in which formation takes place in order to move beyond the roles of faculty and the curriculum. Spiritual formation in Christian online education is not limited to the individual initiatives of faculty, administration, course developers, or student affairs alone. Rather, building an educational environment that facilitates spiritual formation involves university-wide partnerships.6 Emerging from this understanding is the need for Christian institutions to increase their scope of influence with online students, creating a holistic environment to facilitate spiritual formation among students.7 Current research and best practices show that Christian higher education institutions’ efforts in this regard fall into four broad categories: (1) online learning communities, (2) engaging faculty presence, (3) educational partnerships, and (4) curricular components. Exploring these four areas provides insight and application for Christian higher education institutions seeking to promote learning environments conducive for holistic spiritual formation.

Facilitating Spiritual Formation in Online Learning

Online Learning Communities

Online learning communities provide a central structure for the cultivation of holistic faith formation in the online environment. While the concept of “online learning communities” is not new, Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt helped popularize the concept. Their foundational research and best practices for creating online learning communities sought to address concerns that online learners were isolated and lacked a critical learning dimension. Moving beyond the question of whether online learning communities were legitimate, they argued that such communities provided a critical setting for multidirectional connections, self-reflection, and engagement with fellow learners.8 Indeed, Palloff and Pratt describe online learning communities as virtual spaces where learners “form new relationships,” “acknowledge different ideas,” and “acquire new knowledge.” This multidirectional process results in new learning at both individual and group levels and is described as “transformational” in nature—connecting this process to Jack Mezirow’s transformational learning theory.9

Similarly, the Lowes’ research builds on their holistic understanding of spiritual formation and views online learning communities as creating a social context for spiritual formation—in reality, providing an “ecosystem” for spiri...