October
13, 2003
Representatives
from Notre Dame University are coming to the Diocese of
Richmond to lead workshops on the university's online theology
courses that are now available to the diocese. The diocese
has partnered with both Notre Dame and the University of
Dayton to provide courses at a reduced tuition rate.
Thomas
Cummings, director of Notre Dame's online theology program,
will lead workshops on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at Roanoke Catholic
School; Wednesday, Oct. 22, at St. Bridget School in Richmond;
and on Thursday, Oct. 23, at Catholic High School in Virginia
Beach. The workshops will be offered at 4 p.m. and repeated
at 7:30 p.m. at each site. The free workshops will be held
in the computer labs at each school so that participants
will have a hands-on experience of what it's like to take
one of the five-week courses.
In
promoting Notre Dame's online theology program, Mr. Cummings
has discovered that many people have misconceptions about
what is required to participate in one of the courses. "You
don't have to be a computer programmer or 'geek' to take
one of our courses," he explained. "If you have
normal web access at home you are probably set to take a
course."
Workshops will explain the technical requirements and how
to register and participate in the secured class sites.
The
classes are five weeks in duration. Notre Dame offers two
levels of classes called "Open Enrollment" and
"Limited Enrollment." Open enrollment classes
require five hours per week of reading, responding and "virtual"
discussion with other members of the class. Limited enrollment
classes require 10 hours per week and are more like graduate
level study and consequently cost more. Continuing Education
Units (CEUs) are awarded to those who complete course requirements.
"The
great thing about the online courses is that you can do
them from home and at literally any time of the day!,"
said Dennis Beeman, diocesan liaison to both the Notre Dame
and Dayton online programs. "There is also a great
experience of meeting people from around the U.S. in the
'virtual' classrooms."
To
reserve a space at a computer for one of the workshops,
contact Dennis Beeman (804-359-5661; dbeeman@richmonddiocese.org).
More details on both online programs can be found at the
Notre Dame (http://step.nd.edu)
and Dayton (www.udayton.edu/~vlc)
web sites.
More
information is available from at 1-866-425-7837or cummings.8@nd.edu.
