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Youth and Online Learning: Establishing Credibility
Posted on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 at 7:53 PM by Jason Barker
In yesterday's post I briefly discussed some of the ways in which online Bible study applications are particularly useful for youth, who are frequently (if not typically) "digital natives." The blog Spotlight: Blogging the Field of Digital Media and Learning recently pointed out a significant factor with which I also concluded yesterday's post: youth will not interact with an educational resource which they believe lacks credibility.
This raises a significant issue: how can an educational resource establish its credibility so that its target audience will utilize the resource? In other words, even though our Bible studies are credible, how can youth be convinced of their credibility if they will not engage in the studies until they are assured of the credibility of the material?
For Orthodox Christian adults, the fact that the Bible studies on which I work are a ministry of the Youth Department of the Antiochian Archdiocese is generally sufficient to establish their credibility. For youth, however, such an informal institutional imprimatur is not necessarily adequate to establish credibility with them.
Youth generally assess the credibility of a source according to its acceptance or rejection by their social networks, rather than engaging in completely independent, objective study and analysis. The problem is that these youth, both individually and collectively, usually lack the critical skills and experience needed to accurately assess the value of the material they are learning.
The solution to this situation is for knowledgeable Orthodox Christians to participate in social networks and promote Orthodox Christian Bible study.
Orthodox youth workers perform an essential role in this endeavor. Because Orthodox Bible study is never an exclusively individual and private activity, but instead is always conducted within the Orthodox community, our Bible study applications are designed to be used in conjunction with group Bible studies in local parishes (for example, the applications contain PDF handouts designed primarily for use in these group studies). By supporting and encouraging the use of these Bible studies to the youth with whom they have a personal relationship, youth workers can go a long ways toward establishing the credibility of these studies with Orthodox youth.
Orthodox youth themselves can perform a similar role with their friends, both Orthodox and non-Orthodox. By recommending these Bible studies to friends who know them and trust their judgment, Orthodox youth can establish the credibility of these studies within their social networks.
Finding ways to increase personal interactivity on our website itself is another way in which credibility can be established and enhanced. For example, one thing I am currently considering adding to the upcoming study on the Gospel according to St. Luke is a way for users to submit questions about the biblical book that would be answered on the OrthodoxYouth website (similar to the Ask Abouna feature Fr. Anthony Yazge ran on the Antiochian Archdiocese's website). This would provide at least some of the interaction that many youth believe is essential in a credible resource.
"Ask Abouna" also provides another possibility for interaction. "Ask Abouna" was at one time a chat room in which youth could ask questions that could be immediately answered and discussed. An online, chat-based Bible study could be conducted from the website, as could a Bible study listserv. Such features, while potentially quite useful, would necessitate having knowledgeable and committed Orthodox Christian adults to guide and monitor the discussions, as well as financial supporters to help provide any upgrades needed in our equipment to facilitate such resources.
Do you have any comments or suggestions? If so, you can contact me at the email address in the left sidebar.
Edited on: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 8:09 PMPosted in Miscellaneous, Online Resources