Author: john

Teach Others to Teach

June 21, 2021 / john

Church doctrine – teaching – is largely built upon the inspired Word of God as written down by Paul, who God used to write more of the New Testament than any other person. Consequently, his letters are considered highly significant for the church. In what is possibly his last letter before being martyred for Christ, Paul wrote several important things to his young protégé Timothy. See the image below for what Paul wrote in chapter two, verse two.

Later, in the same chapter, we read the following in verse 15:

¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

These two verses form much of the basis for why I formed Global Learning Advisers. I’m not a trained theologian. However, I’ve learned from Paul and other Biblical authors through years of Bible study. I’ve also learned from pastors and teachers I regularly listen to. Because of my study, I believe I have something to say. I think I can and should teach others what I’ve heard. I want to do what I believe God is now calling me to do so that when I’m done on this earth I can present myself to God unashamedly.

Although I’m not a trained theologian, I am a trained Educational Technologist. I think God has uniquely gifted me to do what I am doing through Global Learning Advisers.

When I was 30 I went through a major life-changing experience. Part of that change involved me switching jobs and moving half-way around the world. That led me to review who I was and who I wanted to be. For the previous year or so I had been working as an instructor teaching field service guys how to operate and maintain large computer equipment. I had also been living a life that was not pleasing to God. When I reevaluated my life, I decided I wanted to live a life that would be pleasing to God, although I wasn’t sure what that life would look like. I also decided I wanted to once again be involved in teaching others. I wasn’t fixed on what I wanted to teach, but just that teaching others was what I wanted to do.

It took me several years to get back into a full-time training role but I eventually did it. As I wrote on the About page, I’ve been working full-time in training and instructional design since 1997. Also, in 2006 I completed a Master’s Degree in Education with an emphasis in Educational Technology. As an Educational Technologist, I am trained to work with others from a wide range of subject areas. I now have much experience getting information from others and crafting that information into rich learning experiences as part of comprehensive educational programs. I also have experience teaching others how to design and develop their own comprehensive educational programs.

With Global Learning Advisers, I’m putting together my love for God and His Word with my passion for helping other people learn. I can teach others what I have heard about God. I realize, however, that others are much more knowledgeable than I about Biblical principles. Perhaps more importantly then, I can teach those people how to use technology as they teach others. By doing so, their message will have a much further reach. By working together, we can reach many more than we could by working alone.

The Great Commission

June 18, 2021 / john

At the very end of His earthly ministry, as Jesus was about to leave this earth and ascend to heaven, He gave His disciples one last command. It has become known as The Great Commission.

It is found in Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20. Here it is from the English Standard Version:

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

We can see from these verses that The Great Commission has three parts or three steps to it. First, the disciples are to go into all the nations and make disciples. Second, they are to baptize the new believers. Third, they are to teach them “to observe all that I have commanded you.”

For the first step, Jesus tells His disciples to go to all the world and make other disciples. The initial stage of making a disciple is the act of leading someone to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. This is salvation. From the time of Christ until now, Christians have been physically traveling to distant lands to make disciples. Although with the advent of the radio it became possible to reach people at a distance, leading people to salvation is still most effectively done face to face. That said, technology can play an important role in helping share information about Christ.

For the second step, Jesus tells His disciples to baptize those new disciples. Even with constant advancements in new technologies, I don’t know a way to do this at a distance. It simply must be done face-to-face.

For the third step, Jesus tells His disciples to teach the new disciples all He taught. Many consider this the process of discipling someone. However, since Jesus listed “teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you” separately, we will cover it as the third step in our process. Naturally, this step can be accomplished very effectively in a face-to-face setting. That is the way it has been done for two thousand years. Nevertheless, this step is where using “technology-enhanced, distance learning” can shine.

On our Home Page, we mention a bit about using technology to enable the spread of the gospel. Although we strongly advocate using technology, we know it can not do everything. Meeting face-to-face is almost always a critical part of spreading the gospel, especially to help build trust with others while leading them to accept Christ. That being said, once someone has made a commitment to Christ, being able to disciple them from a distance can be a very effective way to nurture them to grow.

Using technology can be the best way to teach people who are already committed followers of Christ deeper Biblical truths. We will discuss this more in future posts.

What is Truth

June 17, 2021 / john

Global Learning Advisers is committed to being a source for truth. We firmly believe there is such a thing as absolute, objective truth.

Perhaps the most simple definition of truth can be derived from writings by Plato in 380 B.C. That definition is, “Truth is the way things really are.” We see then that truth has been an important concept for well over two thousand years.

Philosophers (one definition of a philosopher is a person who loves seeking truth) have been discussing the concept and nature of truth from Plato’s day until today. The discussion will likely continue into the distant future. Sadly, particularly in the last few centuries and especially in the last several decades, the definition of truth has been and is continuing to be radically altered from what Plato believed it to be.

Many people in today’s world define truth more as, “Truth is reality the way I see things, feel things, or consider them to be.” Thus, “truth” has become malleable. It is able to be molded into whatever the individual wants it to be. “My truth” is true for me even if it completely contradicts “your truth.” Of course there are multiple instances in which people can believe opposite things and yet both those things be true. Those instances, however, fall more into the realm of opinion or perception rather than fact or reality. Our opinions can affect our perceived reality but they can not actually change the facts. Nor can emotions or feelings supersede facts.

We believe there is objective reality and thus objective truth. We believe there is a source of objective truth and that source is the Bible. That is not to say the Bible contains all truth. Rather, all truth must align with the Bible. Any “truth” that does not align with the Bible is not truth. This is not a popular stance to take in the early 21^st century. Nevertheless, it is the right stance and the one we endeavor to adhere to in all we do.

What is an LMS?

March 17, 2021 / john

In its simplest form, a Learning Management System (LMS) is a software system used to host learning in an online environment. LMSs range from those having little functionality to those with extensive, feature-rich capabilities. Those with fewer features are generally less expensive and easier to use. Those with more features are usually more expensive and difficult to use. We’ll discuss exceptions to both these statements below.

Types of LMSs

On-Premise

An on-premise LMS is hosted onsite and uses a company’s infrastructure. The software is loaded on the company’s computers and the company’s network is used to transfer information back and forth. This type of LMS may offer a company more security and may provide them more control over where data is stored. A tradeoff is that it will require more physical and personnel resources to operate and maintain. Also, it may be more difficult for the LMS provider to access, update, and maintain the system.

Cloud-Based

A cloud-based LMS is hosted “in the cloud.” That is to say the servers, storage, networking, and other computing services are delivered over the Internet. With this type LMS, the LMS provider typically “owns” the server and a company must rely on the LMS provider for access to that server.

There are many advantages to this type of hosting. Learning hosted on the LMS is available to anyone, anywhere as long as they have the right tools, the right url address, and the right login and password credentials. The LMS provider can more easily turn on and off features, making the LMS highly configurable. The operating costs can be less expensive because the company doesn’t need to have and maintain the computer and network infrastructure. Also, the system speed can be more because the cloud-based resources are often upgraded on a more regular basis. Although, as mentioned above, the LMS provider owns the server, this is often not a major drawback since the LMS provider is likely using cloud-based resources to host their software.

Proprietary

Most LMSs available today use some type of proprietary software. The LMS provider owns the source code. The company using the LMS has no access to that code to make any updates or modifications. The LMS provider is thus in full control of available features and functionality. A good point about this type of system is the company using the LMS may have very little setup and configuration to do. A drawback is that setup and configuration can be expensive, especially with more feature-rich systems. Also, if a company wants features and functionality not available, it will be quite difficult to get those. If possible, such customization can be very expensive. This is true even if the initial LMS is inexpensive.

Many organizations purchase an LMS with limited features in an effort to save money. They soon realize however that the LMS doesn’t have the funcuntionality they need to ensure learning occurs. When they try to upgrade the features, they realize they are stuck because the LMS provider either can’t provide the features or it is too expensive to have them do so.

Open Source

There are several LMSs available today built with open source software. The software code is free and open so any company can modify it as they wish. This provides much flexibility. Nevertheless, just because the software is free, it doesn’t mean the LMS solution will be free. Developing and maintaining such a system will often require some level of programming experience. If an organization doesn’t have the expertise inhouse, it can be fairly expensive to program and maintain an open source LMS.

Open source LMSs, just like proprietary LMSs, vary in features and functionality. Some of them provide limited “fresh out of the box” functionality. Some are targeted at particular market segments. Others are targeted at a broad market and provide a large number of features. One in particular, Moodle, provides a feature-rich platform right from the start. Moodle also has over 70 partners across the globe and hundreds of thousands of people in its developer community.

As of March 2021 it has over 178,000 registered sites spread across 242 countries. See https://stats.moodle.org/ for details.