Religion 305O
Online Course Introduction
Survey of the New Testament
Dr. Lorin L. Cranford
Professor of Religion
Last revised: 1/12/02
About the Nature of the Course:
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Religion 305O is the online version of Religion 305, which
is a survey of the New Testament.
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The course will be conducted over the internet enabling each
student to work in a flexible schedule at home using a home computer connected
to the internet through an internet service provider either national such
as AOL, Earthlink etc. or a local service provider such as Shelby Net,
BellSouth etc.
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The course requirements are similar to the onground classroom
versions of Religion 102 (Day school version) and Religion 305 (GOAL version)
including the Analysis Paper. The exception will be for the online aspects.
The standard requirements for all three forms of the New Testament survey
course can be examined through accessing my homepage Cranfordville at http://cranfordville.com.
Once at Cranfordville, click on the GWU classes link by my photo, then
in the list of courses click on R305O (Some
of the details for the online version are still being determined, so check
the page periodically for updates).
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The modified structure of the online version includes the
following:
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The class will be divided into small
groups to work closely together on a weekly basis using e-mail based forums
and group chat rooms. The weekly grade given to each student for participation
in the forums and chat rooms will take the place of the weekly quizzes
given in the regular term onground classroom version of the course. Each
group chat room will be structured by the group leader at a convenient
time for each member of the group.
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Each group will report to the entire
class the results of their weekly analysis via an e-mail based forum.
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The three major exams (including the
final exam) of the course will be taken as proctored essay exams. These
will be administered at the nearest extension campus site to the student's
home address. The exam questions will be taken from the pool of "Take-Home
Questions" (Exam 3 option in the Course Instruction page) that have
been the basis of the forum and chat room learning activities. See the
Assignment
Schedule page for the dates of the exams.
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The Pre-Test will be taken at the time
of the Orientation session; the
Post-Test will be taken at the time of the final exam at the extension
center.
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An mandatory Orientation
Session will be scheduled during the registration week at the beginning
of the semester both at the GWU main campus and as needed at the GOAL extension
centers. Those who register for the course will be notified of the times
and places for the Orientation session. A letter to everyone enrolled in
the course went out the week of December 20th; if you are enrolled and
haven't received this letter by Dec. 24, send me an e-mail
note to that effect.
About Computer Needs and Skills:
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The following represent minimum technology hardware needs
for successfully completing the course:
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Personal Computer
(at least a 486 level processor, but a Pentium based PC is far better)
or a Mac Computer with OS8 or above system.
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A computer
modem (the faster the better, preferably V90
56K level), connected to an internet service provider.
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Either Internet
Explorer (5.0 or above) or Netscape
Communicator (4.5 or above) software that
can send and receive e-mail in both MIME and HTML formats. Earlier versions
of either of these can be upgraded free over the internet. The Netscape
Communicator is preferred.
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A sound card installed on the computer
is highly desired, but not essential for certain aspects of the course.
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Microsoft Word,
Lotus
Word Pro, or Corel
Word Perfect word processing software install
on computer. The assignments will be done using this software and then
sent in as an e-mail attachment. One of these three software programs is
essential to have. The academic version of these -- or the suite packages
that they are a component of -- can be purchased very economically, usually
for under $100 for the suite package. For details contact either the GWU
Campus Shop (704 406-4273 or 406-4329 fax) or one of the web based
companies who sell academic version software to faculty and students, such
as JourneyEd or Software
Express.
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The Adobe
Acrobat Reader (version 4.0 or later) needs
to be installed on the computer. Many of the files in the course are formatted
in the Adobe PDF form, rather than in HTML, because of formatting requirements
and other reasons. This software can be downloaded free from Adobe's internet
site. Click
in order to access the software for downloading.
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The following represent minimum computer
skills needed for successfully completing the course:
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Knowledge of a computer beyond knowing
where the on/off switch is located.
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Basic skills of creating and sending
e-mail.
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Basic skills for creating documents
using one of the above listed word processing software.
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A willingness to expand computer skills
to new levels of expertise.
About the Operation of the Course:
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Things to Expect from the Course:
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A minimum of 6 hours each week will need to be
scheduled in order to stay up with the demands of the course, during the
regular semester in the fall and spring. This is calculated on the basis
of 150 minutes of weekly required class time plus 1 hour of work outside
of class for every hour of class time in a traditional class setting.
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For the 10 week summer term, 9 hours of time
per week will need to be set aside.
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At the beginning of the semester more time will
need to be allotted while you're getting accustomed to this learning environment.
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Unless your schedule permits you to spend the
above amounts of time, you shouldn't sign up for this online course!
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You need to be able to work well in a group setting
with others. The Virtual Classroom created online is small groups working
very closely together on assignments with each member of the group faithfully
pulling his/her share of the load. The Lone Ranger kind of student shouldn't
sign up for this online course!
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An online course is not an electronic correspondence
course! The interaction with class members and with your professor in an
online course will be significantly greater than in a traditional on-ground
class room.
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You will do a much greater amount of writing in
an online course. The grading process etc. mandates that every student
submit a significant amount of written assignment materials. One by-product
of an online course is the development of writing skills to express yourself.
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You will come to know your fellow students in
a much closer connection than would ever be possible in an on-ground class
room. Friendships growing out of an online course will impact your life
for years to come.
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You will learn substantially more of the course
content in an online course. The peer interaction, the study involving
reading primary source materials on the internet, the writing reflecting
ideas and assessments of them -- all of this combined will bring you to
a much greater knowledge of the New Testament, early Christian formation,
and substantive procedures for interpreting the text of the New Testament.
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The regular sections of the online course:
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Check out Flow Chart
of weekly pattern of activities.
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Determine the list of topics for your group from
the
Assignments Page for that week.
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In the scheduled group chat room session,
divide up the Study Questions (those identified
by the
icon = Exam 3)
to be answered for your group. The group chairperson is exempted from answered
questions because of administrative responsibilies.
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In the scheduled group chat room session, discuss
issues not clear in the range of questions assigned to the group for that
week.
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Answer the questions that you have agreed to answer
as a part of the group assignment. This should be completed by the middle
of the week.
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Send an e-mail containing both the questions and
your answer to all the members of the group. This can be in the Text of
the e-mail or as an e-mail attachment. If an attachment is used, then the
file MUST be saved in Microsoft Word 7.0 file format for it to be accessible
to everyone. To send the e-mail to the group, set up a Group listing in
your browser Address Book and simply click it on when creating the e-mail
message.
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Read through everyone's questions and answers
in the group to see whether you agree with the answers and understand them.
If not, then create a Reply To All e-mail message with your observations
and concerns and send it to the group.
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By Sunday evening the Group Chairperson will bring
together into a single e-mail (or document file) everyone's answers etc.
to the assigned questions for the group for that week. She/He will then
send this document file via e-mail to the members of the entire class.
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The Group Chairperson will also compile a Participation
Report on each member of the group and this will then be sent via e-mail
to Dr. Cranford.
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The three Major Exams will be completed in a traditional
on-campus site (either the GWU campus, or the nearest extension campus)
in the regular terms. The summer term will have only a mid-term and
a final exam. The exams will be comprised of essay questions drawing
upon the insights from the Study Questions in
the pool of questions covered since the previous major exam. See the Assignments
Page for the exact range of topics for each major exam.
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The various segments of the Analysis Paper assignment
will come due during
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The Pre-Test will be administered during the manditory
Orientation session at the beginning of the fall or spring semester; the
Post-test will be taken at the same time as Exam 4 (=the Final Exam). Both
Pre-Test and Post-Test can be taken online.
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The Independent Study section of the online course:
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The individual study of the materials will follow
the above guidelines, except for the chat room involvement.
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The weekly Chat Room responsibility will be replaced
by e-mail contact with Dr. Cranford.
Orientation
Sessions:
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An online orientation session will be made available
during the week prior to the beginning of the summer term or regular semester.
Students will have the option of completing it online or completing an
onground orientation session to be scheduled at the GWU campus in Boiling
Springs during that same week.
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The orientation session MUST BE completed prior
to the beginning of the term. Otherwise, the student will be dropped from
the course.
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Once the student is enrolled, notice of the scheduled
onground orientation session will be sent via e-mail as well as be posted
in the class Announcement Board.
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Check the Orientation
Schedule for dates and instructions.
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