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Training Short Online Courses with Boston College Helping Others ‘Invest In Their Local Faith Community’
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| Helping Others ‘Invest In Their Local Faith Community’ |
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Part of the School of Theology and Ministry, C21 Online offers two to six-week non-credit courses developed by theologians and religious educators. Two thousand people have taken C21 courses since its inception in 2004. The goal, said C21 Online Program Manager Barbara Anne Radtke, is to offer “good resources and good conversation so participants can go back and invest in their local faith community.” C21 Online also offers free mini-courses which are available continuously throughout the year. These mini-courses have been viewed by 25,000 people in all 50 states and 130 countries. Beyond the US, C21 Online’s largest audiences are in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. The addition of a Spanish language mini-course, “La Muerte de Jesús: Cuatro Narrativas Evangélicas (The Death of Jesus: Four Gospel Accounts),” has given rise to interest from Latin American countries. One of the appeals of the C21 Online learning experience is the flexibility it offers participants — there is no appointed time and day to be online. Participants are expected to keep up with the new course material introduced each week and contribute to the online conversation. Each course has an accompanying trained facilitator. C21 Online participants range from Catholic schoolteachers, hospital chaplains and lay ecclesial ministers seeking professional development to parish volunteers and Catholic adults interested in faith formation. While the majority of C21 Online students are college-educated and over age 45, it doesn’t mean C21 Online isn’t for the younger generation. One high school student from Vermont, who told Radtke he felt a calling to the priesthood, has taken five courses through C21 Online. There is a lot of interest in C21 Online from people living in rural areas, noted Radtke, who cited the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, as an example. Some of the users’ homes are accessible only by boat or sled, but with C21 Online, such physical limitations are not an issue. “The program has been a wonderful experience for me and the people in this diocese,” Diocese of Fairbanks Director of Religious Education Sister Dorothy Giloley, SSJ, told the STM alumni magazine Called to Serve. Sister Giloley encourages her religious education teachers to enroll in courses as part of their professional certification. “We had 20 people enrolled, including some living above the Arctic Circle in the northern wilderness. Most of the people I work with can’t get to Fairbanks because they live on the rural road system, so these online offerings are a blessing.” A growing aspect of C21 Online is the network component, where a group or organization subscribes to C21 Online and its members can take courses at a discounted rate. One group in the network is the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which had a course custom designed for it. Another network member, the Diocese of Norwich, Conn., enrolled all their Catholic elementary school teachers in a C21 course. Radtke said the course for elementary school teachers has proven so popular that C21 Online has developed an additional course for high school religion teachers. Radtke said people are drawn to the offerings from C21 Online because they are backed up by the Boston College brand name. “There is a richness of scholarship here,” explained Radtke. Among BC faculty designing courses or offering content for C21 Online are theology professors Rev. Kenneth Himes, OFM, and Rev. Michael Himes and STM professors Thomas Groome and Daniel Harrington, SJ, Associate Dean Jennifer Bader and Associate Director for Spiritual and Liturgical Formation James Mongelluzzo. Radtke is quick to acknowledge the invaluable work of the Instructional Design and eTeaching Services team in making the courses a cyber reality. Active course participants receive a certificate at the conclusion of the course. Learners who have taken five or more courses can qualify for an Online Certificate of Basic Catechesis or a Certificate of Online Continuing Education. Offerings for the upcoming academic year include: staples such as “Sacraments in Catholic Life”; “The Creed: What We Believe” and “Parents Handing on the Faith.” New offerings include: “Autumn Blessings: Spirituality in the Second Half of Life” and “Spirituality in a Times of Scarcity and Rebuilding.” There also will be a new mini-course on “Best Practices for Preaching.” |
C21 Online, which began five years ago this fall with one course enrolling 70 people, has grown into a vital educational resource for thousands of Catholics seeking spiritual renewal and faith formation — including some living above the Artic Circle.© All material on this website is copyright of the Office of Pastoral Renewal and Family Ministry, Archdiocese of Armagh
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