Teaching theology from a distance: Experiences of the Institute of Distance Learning at St Tikhon’s Orthodox University in Moscow, Russia

Abstract

This article considers the basic problem of online education owing to the lack of direct contact between all participants in the study process. The experience of distance theological education in Russia as a whole and the personal experience of two of the authors who are lecturers at St Tikhon’s Orthodox University in Moscow are used to understand and describe the methods of addressing the challenge of direct communication. Based on 15 years of experience of two of the authors (Egorov and Malanina) in the field of distance theological education in Russia, as well as survey results on preferences for communication in theological distance education training, the article presents research results that confirm the preference for the way the current study process is organised based on different communicative activities for various levels of learning. The authors also report on the existing, and actively used, teaching staff training system on theological distance education. The results are presented in the form of a pyramid as a framework for theological distance education in a Russian context.