online training courses

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We plan to have a variety of online courses available by September of 2009 — perhaps earlier.  If you would like to be notified when they are available, please subscribe to our New Culture Newsletter. In the meantime, we encourage you to view our free resources section.

Information about the online courses…

Why offer online courses?

It is one of the ways we help Christians to build and sustain Biblical, multi-ethnic community.  Visitors to our website can learn a great deal browsing through our free resources.  The online courses allow us to take it to the next level and provide focused, high quality, training by top Christian experts on topics which are essential to building biblical, multi-ethnic community.  According to a recent article in U.S. News and World Report there are 3,500,000 students currently taking courses from home and the number continues to increase.  So, there are obviously many people who prefer to learn online for a variety of reasons.

Isn’t it difficult to learn about something like building multi-ethnic community through an online course?

Yes, there are some challenges/downsides to being trained through an online course — for example, there is no face-to-face interaction with others.  But, there are also many advantages (see below).

Are there any benefits to online training?

Yes, there are many benefits online training has over on-site training, including…

  • student-centered learning: the online forum provides greater flexibility for a student’s prefered pace, style of learning, interests, etc.
  • flexibility: courses can be taken anytime from anywhere there is an internet connection
  • increased student interaction: some students will interact more online then they would in a face-to-face environment
  • less intimidating: students can ask questions they would probably not feel comfortable asking face-to-face
  • more diversity: students living in various parts of the country (or even the world) can take a course together and interact with one another.
  • exposure to top teachers: many students never have the opportunity to interact and learn from the most knowledgeable leaders on topics of multi-ethnic community due to distance, cost, disability, etc. — online courses make that possible.
  • more content: we can provide much more content online then is typically possible with on-site training
  • transferability: if someone takes a course that they find helpful they can tell a friend who can take it immediately (rather than waiting for another on-site training opportunity)
  • inexpensive: we plan to offer the courses at a very reasonable cost (see below) — well below most diversity training programs — plus, there are no travel expenses, etc.

Who will be creating the course materials?

We are approaching pastors, authors, professors, ministry leaders, etc. who…

  • are committed Christians
  • have a thorough knowledge of the Bible
  • have a great deal of knowledge and experience on topics related to building Biblical multi-ethnic community

It is our prayer and desire that these leaders would include men and women from a wide variety of ethnic and denominational backgrounds.  If you know of someone you think would be a good to create course materials please contact us.

Will the teachers be actively involved with the courses?

Honestly, we’re not sure but we hope so.  Most likely, some courses will allow for interaction with the instructor and others will not.

What type of topics do you plan to cover in the courses?

We plan to give the teachers the flexibility to choose the course topics that they feel are the most essential and which fit their experience and gifting.  Here are some examples of topics we would like to see covered: (not in any particular order)

  • the biblical mandate for building multi-ethnic community
  • first steps for effectively building multi-ethnic community (for organizations which are just beginning)
  • principles for those in the dominant culture
  • the art of “meeting in the middle”
  • acknowledging and enjoying cultural differences while maintaining unity
  • understanding and overcoming ingroup bias
  • understanding and overcoming stereotypes and racial bias
  • essential principles for thriving in a multi-ethnic environment
  • Biblical decision-making and “power sharing” in a multi-ethnic community
  • cross-cultural communication and conflict resolution
  • principles for sustaining multi-ethnic community
  • ministering as multi-ethnic community (locally)
  • ministering as multi-ethnic community (overseas missions)

Will the materials used in the online courses also be available in the free resources section?

Some of the courses will likely incorporate some of the free resources on our website (and other sites) — but, much of the content is only available to those who are registered for the course.

How much will the courses cost?

We will be working that out with the leaders who will be submitting the course materials.  Different courses will likely cost different amounts based on various factors including the number of sections in the course, the level of experience of the teacher, etc.  We hope to keep the cost around $5 for each course section.  So, if a course has 6 sections it will cost $30.  This is obviously WELL below what a university would charge and even well below typical diversity training programs.  We will also offer group discounts which can make the cost even lower.

Why not provide the courses for free?

We would love to–our goal is not to make a bunch of money on our training programs (this should be obvious by our very low prices and the large free resources section on our website) but, there are a variety of expenses we must cover in order to keep the lights on.  In some cases, we also provide a percentage of the cost to the teachers who provide the materials to help them continue to invest their time and energy in building biblical multi-ethnic community.

Can students receive any type of college credit for the courses?

Not currently–but, this may become an option for some courses in the future.  On the upside… if the courses were accredited then we would likely need to charge 10-20 times more! (ouch) Our courses are primarily designed for young adults, ministry leaders, lay leaders, etc. that do not necessarily need the courses for college credit.

Do students receive any type of certification?

We provide students with a “ReNew Certificate” showing they have satisfactorily completed the course — it demonstrates to existing and future ministry leaders and employers that you are committed to building multi-ethnic community.

Can I see what a course looks like?

We hope to have an example online course available by June of 2009.  To be notified when the course is available please subscribe to our New Culture Newsletter.

When will the courses be available?

We hope to have a variety of course online by September of 2009 — some may be posted well before that time but we cannot say for sure.  If you would like to be notified when they are available, please subscribe to our New Culture Newsletter.