journal2

02.26.09. I am excited about the theme of the final assignment for the class. Firstly, it will demonstrate to all of us in this course the way technology and cyberspace could be successfully used and bring effective results even for the people serious about studying the Bible. Secondly, it should be of some interest to another students to find out about some ways to better understanding of the Bible through my presentation. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, the project will make me discover new exciting things the web is to offer me as a Bible reader. Even though I have some great ideas to implement into my final project, I expect to make it even more exciting through evaluating the resources the web is to offer for better understanding of the Bible. It will be a great experience for me, and I am planning to enjoy it to the full. By the way, it is not often I can say something like that about things connected to education. 02.28.09. Here are my first impressions about Kindle 2. It is a piece of technology that is potentially capable of replacing books and affect people’s spirituality which from the ancient times is dependent on written texts. In most parts Kindle delivers. It allows you to do everything it is advertised to do. My two concerns are of potential nature. I wonder how reliable the joystick will be in the long run, because most operations depend on its ability to operate. I also found somewhat cumbersome the navigation ability within the books. Some books, such as Bible and textbooks require easy and quick navigation, but Kindle does not provide you with such luxury. At the same time it memorizes your last reading location, it allows you to search within books for words and phrases, and go to any location within a book as well. Luckily it is not often we need easy navigation within the books when we read. For the most part Kindle is a great tool, and it is a must-have thing for a serious reader. 03.08.09. One of the things that is so amazing about the net is its availability. Even now it is possible to find internet access in many places in the world, including countries hostile to Christianity and religious freedoms and rights. even though such countries can limit and refuse access to certain websites on their territories, it seems almost impossible to do it to all the websites containing Bible references and texts. With the increased knowledge of English as the language of international communication, internet could be an appropriate tool for religious dialog and information. The Bible texts in other languages are also widely available on the Web. After visiting Patti’s page I discovered the existence of ning and checked it online. It looks impressive, and it seems to have a lot of potential for personal, congregational, and organizational use. After visiting Natalie’s page I came to conclusion that I need to download an update that would allow me to read new Microsoft Word file (docx). It is something I do not want to do eagerly, since I personally prefer Macs, and anything connected with Microsoft seems to be connected with crashes and viruses. It could be the reason why I still have Microsoft Word X, even though I prefer using Pages. Nancy’s project seems to be of grand stature, something of Facebook and Youtube magnitude, but, if concentrated on the needs of educators in Oregon, it can be useful in the future. 03.09.09. The constant development of the internet technologies makes it possible to refine and create tools for effective study of the Bible. While the printed version of the biblical text gives very little space for improving upon what is available today, it is not so for the online sources. The constant growth of online space available for developers and the higher quality of the internet connection of the user brings the possibility of the rich online environment for those interested in deeper understanding of the Bible. There is a possibility of even building the whole online communities united in the same purpose of studying the Bible. Internet eliminates geographical distance between people giving the opportunity to those of the similar mindset and interests to explore the issues together despite living in different places. There are a lot of online technologies that were not designed for spiritual purposes, but that could be used quite effectively for such matters. 03.15.08. The amazing thing about internet is having millions of people entering information independently every day. On one hand, it gives space to the possibility of mistakes and false information. On the other hand, it all works together for creating innovative approaches and materials that would otherwise be unable to be public. Recently I found an interesting document - the New Testament of Dostoyevsky. Knowing how much he means as a spiritual figure to many Christians in the West, it is sad the source is in Russian. It is amazing to peak into the depth of his spirituality by reading his remarks on the Bible. Hopefully, one day people will provide software that would allow quality internet translation, and it will reveal even more amazing resources to careful Bible readers. 04.05.09. I feel better today. It seems like my studies are finally coming to an end. I finished my presentation for this class last week, and I believe it has everything needed from a reliable and useful presentation. It is not too complicated, but it is deep enough to raise my co-students' interest and their desire to test methods shown during the presentation. Powerpoint is still disappointing, and my slideshow does not look as good as it used to after it has been imported from Keynote to Powerpoint. I think if I used PCs, I would see the reality in the same way Schultze sees it. I'd say, "Thank God for the Macs, but I am not sure if he is responsible for their success." Most possibly the technology inspired by the Holy Spirit is potentially even better than Macs. Anyway, I am excited to get closer to the end of this semester. TO CONTINUE READING THIS EXCITING JOURNAL, PLEASE, CLICK HERE: