Posts
This quote is from the film You've Got Mail, quoted by Mary Hess in her book, Engaging Technology in Theological Education, and in many ways it does a great job of describing what being a part of a DL MDiv cohort at Luther Seminary has meant for me. Last night most of the MDiv DL students on campus gathered together with each other and several faculty members for a wine and cheese party. This time around I'm only on campus for one short weekend, but am soaking up all of the time I can with my friends. We might not do what most friends do together...as in spend entire days at coffee shops reading and writing...but we sure do experience community while we do it! Mary writes, "Far from suggesting that online learning is necessarily disembodied, or unrelational, we might actually suggest, instead, that this emerging space for learning can be quite embodied and quite relational (66)." I don't think that our community would be what it is today without the chance to come together on campus, but I also don't think we'd experience nearly the depth of relationships if we weren't engaged together all year in online learning. Thanks, Luther, for forming this community.By the way, the picture is of several members of our cohort studying together for our RTA final this past January. Just another example of our DL community.
Fun picture -- and it reminds me of the awe/respect I have for all of the DL cohort, because you manage so very well the multiple challenges of being in all these different arenas at once (family, school, church, etc.)!
ReplyDeleteWhat I want to add is to enjoy the connections to your fellow classmates as long as possible. When I left campus Sunday morning for the last time, I am painfully aware of how much I will miss the opportunity to have these wonderful conversations (either on line or face to face) with people who share my passions.
ReplyDeleteAs I think about your post and Paula's comment, it makes me think that the fact that we learn by communicating online and from a distance will only enhance our future relationships (which will primarily be done online and from a distance). The contextual realities of the DL program continue to grow... and here is another example!
ReplyDeleteCommunity is an interesting thing. What makes a community? Must there be a common or shared goal/perspective or idea? For example, our DL cohort shares the commonality of all being in Seminary with the goal of achieving a MDIV (Someday!) :)
ReplyDeleteOr is a community based upon space (either physical or cyber)? We live in communities because we live around other people (except for Bill maybe). We also live in communities online because we choose to visit or be present at certain sites/pages/forums/ etc.
Or is community simply a desired choice made by each individual? I think this might be it. No matter where I am, or what my goals and/or ideas are - I can choose not to share myself or them with anyone. I can be independent, which I see as the opposite of community. So, I believe we form community through free will, the choice to live together, pray together, share together, walk together...on this journey called life.
Glory be to God
Nate