Catholic Institute Successfully Embraces New Technology

The newly formed Catholic Institute of Aotearoa New Zealand (TCI) has successfully integrated eLearning into its course offerings. A series of “faith updates” in the form of online modules has been created to complement the Institutes courses and were designed to offer people an exciting new learning experience they could access from the comfort of their own home.

“By utilising new technology we can offer a range of new opportunities for learning” says The Catholic Institute’s Director Professor Anne Tuohy. “We want to make our faith updates not only accessible and convenient but also fun. These small six week courses present a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in learning more about their faith to engage in the rich history and tradition of our Church in new and exciting ways,”

“The faith updates are specifically designed to be both flexible and interactive – which are important hallmarks of contemporary student-focused learning. Many people want to learn more for interest sake and this is certainly a great way for people to do that. However, if someone completes a series of these faith update courses it is also possible to earn credit that can contribute towards qualifications” Professor Tuohy says.
The faith updates comprise a total of nine hours of work in three parts. They include a range of material and activities comprising podcasts, YouTube clips, readings, quizzes and some follow-up work in between. The first round of online faith updates has now finished and participants have been asked to complete an online evaluation, the results of which will be used to enhance future online offerings.

TCI’s eLearning co-ordinator, Susan Wilson, commented “these courses were designed in such a way that allow busy people to fit their study schedule in around the commitments we’re aware often limit people’s ability to spend time on extra activities. They’re accessible to people across the country and include online forums that encourage people to engage with others which helps strengthen the learning experience. At the moment we have courses on Social Justice, Scripture, Theology, Christology and Church History. We’re currently taking enrolments for the next round of online faith updates and people have until 1 July 2012 to sign-up. If people are interested in trying this exciting new mode of study we would encourage them to visit our website www.tci.ac.nz and go into the TCI eClassroom at the top right hand side of the webpage. You can log in as a guest and take a virtual tour of the Faith Updates in order to get a feel for the online learning experience.”

The Catholic Institute of Aotearoa New Zealand (TCI) was established in 2011 by the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand. TCI is a registered PTE offering nationally accredited NZQA courses and qualifications from Certificate, Diploma and Masters level in all of the New Zealand Diocese.