Why is online learning important? From Dr. T.J. Locke from Episcopal Academy (PA)

Why is online learning important?

Read this excellent post by Dr. T.J. Locke of The Episcopal Academy (where I taught from 2000-2004) about the importance of online learning!

Check out his whole blog entry HERE

I do not feel the need to pit online learning against “bricks and mortar” learning. And for us at EA, it does need to be an either/or situation. It is my hope that all of our courses are academically rigorous, interesting, and inspiring-no matter the format. It does seem to me the field of online learning is becoming increasingly relevant and that we have a responsibility to gain some experience.Consider these three statistics from the Sloan Consortium study.

• Over 7.1 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2012 term, an increase of 411,000 students over the previous year.

• Thirty-three percent of higher education students now take at least one course online.

• Ninety percent of academic leaders believe that it is likely or very likely that a majority of all higher education students will be taking at least one online course in five year’s time.

If our students have not already experienced online learning, it seems obvious they will soon. As a part of our college preparatory mentality, we need to be helping students develop the skills needed to succeed and thrive in this learning environment. Taking an online course is not easy. It takes persistence and diligence. I like the idea that EA will be there to help challenge and nurture our students side by side, as they enter this new world.

Check out his whole blog entry HERE

UNC vs. Duke

Two players in the Duke / UNC game tonight were students at Episcopal Academy when I taught there. Wayne Ellington from UNC and Gerald Henderson, Jr. from Duke are great players and great people as well. I love the March Madness of College Hoops and it's great to see these great games!

Some notable people who have attended Episcopal Schools

I serve as the chaplain at an Episcopal School in Richmond, Virginia: St. Catherine's School. I have also worked at two other Episcopal Schools in my coaching, teaching and ministry career. There are a wide range of Episcopal Schools across the country serving a diversity of communities and contexts. More information on Episcopal Schools can be found through the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES) organization, and their website HERE.


Some notable people who have attended Episcopal Schools are:

• Al Gore, Jr (St. Albans)
• Astronaut Michael Collins (St. Albans)
• Bishop Frank Griswold (St. Paul's)(NH)
• Greg Isdaner (Episcopal Academy) *
• Jesse Hubbard (St. Albans) *
• Jonathan Ogden (St. Albans)
• Kristin Gore (NCS)
• Queen Noor of Jordan (NCS)
• Senator John McCain (Episcopal High School) (VA)
• Senator John Warner (St. Albans)

Who else do you know who attended Episcopal Schools?



St. Catherine's School - Chaplain's Blog: Some notable people who have attended Episcopal Schools

Episcopal Academy is prepped for a big change

Episcopal Academy, where I formerly taught history and religious studies, is working to move their entire operation (from to campuses) to 9 miles west of Philadelphia. This process began during my last couple of years working there. There is an interesting article about this huge move in the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper from last week....an excerpt is below, or read it all HERE.


Posted on Sat, Oct. 20, 2007
Episcopal Academy is prepped for a big change
By Jeff Gammage

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Set on the highest point of the Merion campus, Christ Chapel is the beating heart of Episcopal Academy, its gabled roofs reaching toward the heavens, its windows the portals for piercing streams of sunlight.

It's where students gather for prayer; where budding musicians present their first, rattled-nerve performances; where speakers from organizations as diverse as NASA and the Eagles offer life lessons. It's a place to reflect on Christian ideals and learn about tenets of Judaism, Hinduism and Islam.

And today, parts of it are being boxed up. Like other pieces of the school, elements of the chapel await shipment to a new campus, a move that will take venerable Episcopal Academy 11 miles west - and into a new world.

Two dozen heirloom stained-glass windows already have been removed from the chapel. The huge, free-hanging cross will be moving, along with the altar. The pews will be left behind.



"We've been here for so long," junior Matt Lerman of Villanova said, "but they have to think about the future."

Ah, the future. Not an easy subject for a private day school with a long, illustrious past. Episcopal is nearly as old as the nation. Its founders include two signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Read the rest HERE.

Life is short...

All too often we are reminded that life is short. On this day, September 11th, 2007 most of us in my generation (and probably the generation older and younger), who were too young to remember Pearl Harbor, will most definitely remember this day 6 years ago. I remember well that I was speaking to the Middle School chapel at Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia and I was speaking about the power of prayer. A good friend of mine has a father who attributes the healing of his inoperable tumor to the prayers of those around him. I was offering this testimony as a way for students to think deeper than their usual skepticism and agnosticism about the power of God in our lives today. As the chapel ended, the Upper School entered the chapel along with the Head of School and other teachers, and then announcement was made about the World Trade Center, the Airplane in Western Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon. The chapel was an appropriate place to be, and I am grateful that I taught at a school where the chapel was where we gathered for celebration, for worship, and for mourning. We took time for prayer and offered support to our students and faculty - some of whom had relatives who worked in the World Trade Center.

The world in many ways has changed since September 11th, 2001 -- and our protracted War in Iraq was originally justified as part of a War on Terror. But before actions were taken against Afghanistan and Iraq, I remember well the strangely quiet, clear skies above Philadelphia on those days when we all looked to one another, flew flags in support of our common loss, and looked to find meaning in what appeared to be a hopeless time. May we remember the unity that we felt in those hours, and may we remember that life is short, so that we may Choose Life!

Life is short,
And we do not have much time
To gladden the hearts of those
Who travel the way with us.
So be swift to be kind,
And as we go,
May the blessing, the love,
the joy, and the peace
Of the Holy One
Who is in the midst of us
Be among you and remain with you
Always.
Amen

(adapted from the French Poet Henri Amiel)