Discussions about educational technology do not answer larger questions of educational philosophy, but I believe they must be at the forefront of any discussion regarding changing how we train people for ministry. Technological advances fuel the future. We cannot be married to technology, but we also cannot let our inability to be innovative (technologically) handicap us. Unlike many of our predecessors, we must unshackle ourselves and utilize the cutting edge.

ReadWriteWeb posted today about CourseSmart’s new iPhone app which will allow students to access textbooks from their iPhone. Right now, CourseSmart has over 7,000 eTextbooks available. This may very well provide competition for the Kindle.

ReadWriteWeb featured Flat World Knowledge on their blog today. “Flat World Knowledge started out with a revolutionary idea, which was to start creating and publishing college textbooks that were absolutely free online.” This business model has been launched with $8 million from venture capitalists. What I find more exciting than free college texts books, is that Flat World is integrating social reading tools into their system.

Someone need to hop onto this model quick!!

“Coworking is an emerging trend for a new pattern for working. Typically work-at-home professionals or independent contractors or people who travel frequently end up working in relative isolation. Coworking is the social gathering of a group of people, who are still working independently, but who share values and who are interested in the synergy that can happen from working with talented people in the same space.” Wikipedia

“Coworking is a movement to create cafe-like community/collaboration spaces for developers, writers and independents.” Coworking Community Blog

“A coworking space gives independent companies that would usually work out of their home, to cut out overhead, a place to call their office.” coworking.com

My formal introduction to the business model of coworking came a few months back while blogging from one of the local espresso shops I frequent (although I suppose I’ve been informally aware of coworking most of my life). I was surprised to find that I was, in a small way and completely ignorantly, a practitioner of coworking. At a table in near mine in this coffee shop, a web designer was giving a sales presentation. The sales pitch ended, and the two began talking about his business. At the time, he rotated between coffee shops, restaurants, and and coworking spaces, utilizing free wi-fi to do his design. He even set up business meeting (like the one I was eavesdropping on) in these public spaces. He went on to say, he was hoping to soon open and manage his own coworking space here in San Antonio. I immediately stopped my blogging and Inquisitor-ed coworking. Basically, coworking is when business share space. Sometimes coworking just means caring on business in an existing public venue. Coworking can also be much more formal, like at Citizen Space in San Francisco Le Bureau, in London or the Hive in Denver.

The lobby of the Hive in Denver

At this point, you may be asking, what in the world does coworking have to do with Christian education? In response to a post at The Road Less Traveled, I recently commented, “if there was a way to channel the late night, coffee fueled discussion of young, reckless dreamers into a model of discipleship, we’d be onto something.” I think coworking may point us in that direction. Many of these coworking spaces encourage community and collaboration. A web designer, graphics designer, children’s book author, pro blogger, marketing consultant, software developer and small tech company could all be sharing a space, brainstorming together, pooling resources and collaborating on projects.

What if innovative churches would set up coworking opportunities for the brilliant young minds they hope to cultivate for ministry. This would allow bible and ministry education to thrive in an organic environment that is more more peer-to-peer than lecture driven. This is the point in the discussion at which the technology discussed in my previous post becomes significant. A coworking educational model (if done well) could also alleviate the “Christian bubble” and lack of real world experience concerns of a traditional Bible/Christian College environment. Innovative Christian writers, software developers, business people, theologians, educators and students could work alongside one another in community. While students are being mentored, they would also be doing (and picking up some non-traditional ministry skills to boot).

What do you think?

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For additional reading on coworking, I suggest you check out, “The Business of Coworking,” “The Business of Coworking II,” and The Hive Co-Op.

Last week I took a few students from Castle Hills Christian Church, where I work as youth & young adult minister, on what we called the “Spring Break College Tour,” visiting Christian Colleges and Universities here in Texas. I had never stepped on the campus of Abeline Christian University or really even interacted with ACU until this trip. Right away, I was impressed, especially by their Mobile Learning Initiative.

ACU Mobile Learning from ACU Videos on Vimeo.

At first, giving iPhones to incoming freshmen seemed a little gimmicky, but the longer I listened, the more I liked it. ACU truly seeking to integrate cutting edge mobile technology into the college experience. They have 22 ACU exclusive apps, everything from mobile quiz taking and downloadable class lectures, to a map of campus. As a result of the Mobile Learning Initiative, Alcatel-Lucent selected ACU as one of the first recipients of the Dynamic Enterprise Award.

I am not saying that ACU has achieved perfection in the arena of Christian Education (let alone ministry training). What I am saying is that they are doing something well. Most churches and Christian educational institutions are so far behind on technology. And, for so many people (especially 18 to 20 somethings, like those typically found enrolled in college) mobile technology is (like say the iPhone) integrated into their everyday lives. I believe many educational institutions are now realizing that the traditional models and methods of education won’t cut it any longer. Unfortunately, many of these institutions are caught in the “deer in headlights” type position. If this isn’t soon remedied, they will get run over. Students are becoming less and less tolerant of outdated education.

What ACU is doing, may not be enough though. Their model is still mostly limited to the come here and experience model. At some point, I believe, students will begin asking, if I can view all of my class lectures and take all of my quizzes on my newly acquired iPhone, can you explain to me why I have to pay you $30,000 a year and come to you? Is it all together possible that the future classroom will exist wherever you happen to be?

The iPhone has become a huge open-source market. Apple has given away development tools, and is encouraging developers to distribute their apps. This is an open door for Christian educators, churches, and ministry mentors to take the iPhone technology and run with it. They sky is the limit.

Along similar lines, I think the Kindle 2 is a completely untapped resource for [Christian/ministry] education. Completely portable. Under $400. Over 245,000 book are already available for download (and you can send a harassing e-mail request to the publisher of books not available). There are 2 features that I believe make the Kindle prime for educational use. One, you can highlight text, make notes and e-mail them. Can you say book report? Two, you can e-mail Word or PDF documents to the Kindle, like say class syllabus, notes, or assignments.

It doesn’t exists yet, but the ability to read socially via the Kindle doesn’t seem far off. If someone at Amazon saw potential for Kindle as an educational tool, I’m sure a software update would come quickly.

Discussions about educational technology do not answer larger questions of educational philosophy, but I believe they must be at the forefront of any discussion regarding changing how we train people for ministry. Technological advances fuel the future. We cannot be married to technology, but we also cannot let our inability to be innovative (technologically) handicap us. Unlike many of our predecessors, we must unshackle ourselves and utilize the cutting edge.