Wow! MormonTimes posted an AWESOME adaptation of the Screwtape letters this morning about online posting. This would be a GREAT way to teach students how to engage other’s online. It is not your typical do this and don’t do this, but a creative way for students to discuss what to do.

In the perfect class with wireless they would then have 10 minutes to go online and find several articles to post on… or go home and do that. Great job Deseret News!

Gradually over the past 5 years the web and web published has changed dramatically.  It used to be that you had to be a super techie to publish anything on the web… now a days anyone can publish… anything… anywhere.  With tools like blogs, wiki’s, podcasts, video/photo sharing sites, social networks, and hundreds of software sites, anyone can write on the web now.

I envision a classroom that has many assignments online that leverage the power of the internet and the tools mentioned above.  Compared to a traditional classroom with several papers and students passively listening to a teacher talk, I have created a list of four benefits to publishing content online.  I will incorporate some of the paradigms from Steve Hargadon’s “Web 2.0 is the future of Education” into my list.

1. Motivation - When students publish on the web they are publishing to a global audience.  Typically they will spend more time pondering and thinking about what they are going to say.  The work they do then becomes part of them.  They go from passive learning to passionate learning.  They have to think deeply about what they believe and that brings the gospel deeper into their hearts.

2. Potential Projects - When technology and the web come into view the potential for projects becomes much larger.  Students are not limited to a paper, but can interpret the assigment in what ever medium best suits them.  That may be writing (my best medium), or it may be music, video, some sort of social experiment, or something totally different.  It opens the doors of creativity and also allows students to express themselves how they best learn.

3. Feedback and Participation - Traditional writing only has one, or at most a few people that will read the work, so the feedback is limited to that small circle.  In most cases those people also think and act like those writing so their feedback will not vary.  With a global audience the feedback is much more diverse.  Students will also have the opportunity to defend their work.  The work they do not only is a presentation, but it become participative as they continue to talk about it, and defend it in some cases.

4. Engagement - Most of all projects that use the technology that students are familiar with engages them.  They don’t check out, or turn their minds off when they come to class… they are excited and will often spend hours and hours outside of school working ont these projects because they are what is exciting to them.  The more time they spend working on these projects and thinking about them, again… the deeper it get’s into their souls and helps them determine who they are and what they believe!

Over the past year I have seen several good examples of teachers who are already giving their students assignments like this.  In 2002, Seth Adam Smith created a YouTube video about the prophet Joseph Smith for a Church History Project at the BYU Summer Navoo Program.  Since then he has made over 90 other video’s and continues today.  Here is one of his more recent one’s.

Another video I found that I really like is this “BackPack and Brick’s” video about repentance. I honestly don’t know the background to this one, but I have emailed the user to find out. I suspect it was an assigment… if not, it would have been a great one.

I also came across this funny video that was the winner of an Institute Academy Awards activity that was certainly thought up by the digital natives that are so comfortable and excited by this type of technology.

Although these examples only have to do with video, students can also blog, compose, write software, or a myriad of other things that they know about, but I’m not familiar with. They are, after all, the experts in this field. Let them do their work and see what they can come up with!

I came across this great article this morning about Andrew and Ariel Marshall. I never knew this, but apparently newlywed couples can serve as full-time service missionaries… how cool is that?

I guess with four kids, it’s a bit late for me… but for some of you sisters who wanted to serve a mission but never got the opportunity… perhaps here it is… just don’t wait! At the end of the article it says that you should talk to your bishop or branch president if you are interested in this.

This is the first in a series of posts about using web technologies to augment spiritual education. In this post I would like to being laying out the framework for why technology is so important in the church and how the Lord has been using it to further his work on the earth.

I believe, like Elder Ballard,¹ that God inspires man to invent tools that bring his work forward here on the earth. The Internet is one of the most powerful modern tools out there. I am excited about all that is going on with the web and believe it will continue to have a large impact on the world. More important than that though, I believe web technologies like all other media, are going to have a huge impact on people that will last through the eternities.

The Internet already effects every part of the mission of the church. For years the church has used computers to trance your ancestry. And now, with the rollout of the new family search site, families will be able to collaborate and work efficiently on family history like they never have before! In addition to this there are dozens of other services available on the web to help connect families with their ancestors.

As we look to preaching the Gospel, we need look no further than this month’s Ensign and numerous talks given by the Brethren as of late. Here is a great YouTube clip from Elder Ballard from last year encouraging us as members of the church to join the internet conversation.

There are also dozens of other ways technology is helping missionaries do their work better. I would love to write another series of articles just like this one focused on missionary work.

When it comes to perfecting the saints, there is even more than any other area. As you look at the way the church website has grown, and the ever increasing availability of the words of our leaders across the earth, and often in their own language, it is staggering. And then the tools that people are building to manage our lives and help us keep the things that are most important as a priority are amazing as well. The Perfect the Saints category of this webpage has dozens of examples of services (free in most cases).

The Church Educational System is no less progressive. They have been relentless in moving technology forward on their website. There is a plethura of information for teachers and administrators across the world. In the following essays I would like to explore how the web, and
applications that already exist can be integrated into these religious
classroom, both in institutes and seminaries across to world to
increase the effectivness bringing the gospel into the hearts of those that hear the gospel.

1. “The Lord, over the centuries, has had a hand in inspiring people to invent tools that facilitate the spreading of the gospel. The Church has adopted and embraced those tools, including print, broadcast media, and the Internet.” [↩]

So you remember those weekly reports you had to send to your mission-president while you were on a mission. You know… “I just love this area President, and my companion is awesome. We are doing just great… ” Yeah, I know that is exactly what they sounded like. Well apparently the church is testing out electronic weekly reports from missionaries… Great idea!

Great video about Missionary work. Good to share with some friends about what I did/the missionaries do.

This is GREAT!  He talks a bit about why we should use the internet to preach the gospel and the awesome new JesusChrist.lds.org website.

Okay, I admit I really like the title of this article, but it is a good article as well. This morning I read “Called to Blog: Fighting for the Church Online.” It deserves a read. A couple of excerpts:

An Orem woman posted a video of her testimony on YouTube. A man in another state watched it four times and emailed, asking for a copy of the Book of Mormon.

A man in Vegas wrote on his blog that he was grateful for the law of tithing. A questioning reader asked him why Mormons like commandments. After several online conversations, the missionaries began meeting with the man.

That is just cool… I love stories like that.

Curtis… thinks the web is an easier venue for members to share the gospel. Even students can be sharing the gospel, he said, even though most of the people they live with are already members. With the web, students can reach out to people everywhere.

“People don’t go to their neighbors like they used to,” Curtis said.

Instead, people google things, Curtis said. The Internet is where many people will go to find answers to religious questions as well.

“I’ve had a handful of people that have started asking me questions,” he said.

One woman found Curtis online and the two began conversing about the gospel. She had been converted when she was younger but went inactive after her mother disapproved. That testimony in her never left, Curtis said. After a while, she began attending church and took her family as well.

Awesome! So go out and spread the word! Technology was created just for this!

LDSTech posted a little article about a system they have been working on for a while for Mission Offices.  From their website:

“Internet Mission Office System (iMOS) is a Web application designed to
help mission office staff manage mission information and perform other
tasks.”

The main task pointed out is to visualize transfer scenario’s for the mission.  There is also a mention of financial features.

I imagine this will be a huge help for missionaries that serve in the office…

I was just finishing up the Ensign for this month (before the month is through) and came across this section about people using technology to serve more.

Using a Web-based telephone program, the missionaries, who can be located anywhere in the world as long as they have broadband Internet access, respond to as many as 10,000 inquiries per month. Patrons’ questions span many topics, including family history research, indexing, and submitting names to the temple.

Though her eyesight is poor, Sister Taylor—now a supervisor over six fellow missionaries—can increase the font size on her computer enough to read patrons’ e-mails and respond to their questions.

Service missionaries are given extensive online training they can complete at home. They also have access to a team of individuals to help them with their questions and provide individual training and help. Once they’ve finished the training, they have access to a database that includes some 4,000 articles they can refer to for answers to patrons’ questions.

Sister Taylor didn’t learn how to operate a computer until she was 66 years old, but she says it is a beneficial, useful skill. “Your age doesn’t matter,” she said. “You’re not too old to learn how to use [a computer].”

The article goes on to to relate who can serve is this capacity.  This is great stuff.  This is the type of thing that makes me think that the Lord has certainly inspired the internet to proclaim the gospel, redeem the dead, and perfect the saints!