Online theological education within the South African context

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Online theological education within the South African context
 
Creator Knoetze, Johannes J.
 
Subject — higher education in South Africa; online education; theological education; National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS); COVID-19
Description This article presents the results of an empirical research study conducted at the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria on students’ experiences of online theological education during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic between 2019 and 2020. Particular attention is given to the context of higher education in South Africa as a background to the research. The article discusses students’ views and experiences of the different modes of teaching, namely, face-to-face, online, and hybrid or blended teaching. After discussing the different modes of teaching, some of the challenges experienced in online learning are explored, and finally, several recommendations are proposed for the improvement of theological education. The article concludes with the finding that the current infrastructure in South Africa is sufficient to make online education sustainable. Within the present South African context, it might also be the only viable option to ensure access to higher education for students. The study also found that the current theological students prefer online or at least blended methods of theological education for different reasons mentioned in the article.Contribution: Although there are still some challenges to online theological education, the current infrastructure in South Africa is sufficient to make online education sustainable. The article promotes multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary aspects of studies in the international theological arena.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2022-03-09
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v78i1.7232
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 78, No 1 (2022); 7 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7232/21547 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7232/21548 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7232/21549 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7232/21550
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Johannes J. Knoetze https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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