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Proving A Theory To Be True
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 Science
fair projects. Do you remember
yours? The object was to prove a
theory true or false. As eDOT
becomes increasingly involved in
distance learning, we've been
pleased to find that one of our key
theories has proven true, though for
those involved it was a hard lesson
to learn.
We'd
read the theory in books: Online
learning has to be personal to be
effective. We wrote articles
supporting that theory (Is
Online Learning Impersonal?).
Beyond that, we knew that our God is
a personal God; we saw how the New
Testament believers impacted each
others' lives through personal
relationship, and we'd experienced
ourselves the effect of a friend's
life influencing ours. Yet we did
not have real proof that online
learning had to be personal to be
effective. Not until our recent
visit to Kremenchuk, Ukraine.
 With
encouragement and assistance from
eDOT, Kremenchuk Bible School began
facilitating Bible courses in
Russian in the spring of 2006. Five
students in Ukraine took the first
course together,
completing each
lesson on a weekly basis and
interacting regularly about the
course via email. As they shared
homework, they also shared prayer
requests and ways God was working in
their lives, resulting in an online
community being formed.
Simultaneously, a group of Russians
in Berlin also wanted to take the
first course from Kremenchuk, but
because of time commitments and
computer challenges, they preferred
to take the course without
interacting as a group. Each one
did the course work when they
wanted, some getting further and
further behind each week. Feeling
isolated, most of the group in
Berlin did not even finish the
course.
“This is exactly what I needed. It was my first time taking a distance learning course and I really enjoyed it!” Kolya, a full-time student at a technical school and a member of the Voice of Christ Church in Karovka, Ukraine |
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