Abstract
This article considers the basic problem of online education owing to the lack of direct contact between all participants in the study process. The experience of distance theological education in Russia as a whole and the personal experience of two of the authors who are lecturers at St Tikhon’s Orthodox University in Moscow are used to understand and describe the methods of addressing the challenge of direct communication. Based on 15 years of experience of two of the authors (Egorov and Malanina) in the field of distance theological education in Russia, as well as survey results on preferences for communication in theological distance education training, the article presents research results that confirm the preference for the way the current study process is organised based on different communicative activities for various levels of learning. The authors also report on the existing, and actively used, teaching staff training system on theological distance education. The results are presented in the form of a pyramid as a framework for theological distance education in a Russian context.
Highlights
Introduction and theoretical frameworkDistance Learning (DL) projects for training both priests and laymen appeared in Russia from the end of 2003 to the beginning of 2004
The effectiveness of this training methodology is confirmed by the results of studies presented by two of the authors of this article at the eLearning Stakeholders and Researchers Summit 2017 conference held in Moscow, Russia, in the report ‘Structure and characteristics of communication in distance learning’ (Egorov & Melanina 2017)
Summarising all that has been discussed above, the authors arrived at the following conclusions: 1. There is a constant need for theological education
Summary
Introduction and theoretical frameworkDistance Learning (DL) projects for training both priests and laymen appeared in Russia from the end of 2003 to the beginning of 2004. There are calendars with life stories of the saints and readings from the Holy Scriptures, applications that offer daily quotes of wisdom, multimedia materials, as well as self-control tests and an opportunity to ask a question to a priest or a moderator. These projects can provide the required large-scale involvement and accessibility, but they cannot be likened to educational ones because traditional education – and especially theological education – involves interaction between a teaching instructor and learners. These projects can provide the required large-scale involvement and accessibility, but they cannot be likened to educational ones because traditional education – and especially theological education – involves interaction between a teaching instructor and learners. Delamarter (2005) and Heinemann (2006, 2007) suggest that face-to-face residential education is considered as the standard of excellence for theological education. Palka (2004) supports this and states that formational learning best occurs in an on-campus context
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