Message from the Principal, Dr Reuben van Rensburg

Each year the internationally recognized Horizon Report is published. It is a comprehensive research report that identifies, inter alia, key trends and challenges that will affect current practice over the next five years. One of the key trends identified in the 2011 Report is that people expect to be able to work,

learn, and study whenever and wherever they want . It also notes that 1.2 billion workers will perform their work from multiple locations by 2013 . This confirms our view that more and more potential students will move away from residential programmes, which take them away from their jobs, their family and their friends, and towards distance education, which allows them to study wherever they are
and at their own pace.

A US Department of Education report revised in 2010¹ found that students in online conditions performed modestly better, on average, than those learning the same material through traditional face-to-face instruction. According to the Report,

Online learning has become popular because of its potential for providing more flexible access to content and instruction at any time, from any place . Frequently, the focus entails (a) increasing the availability of learning experiences for learners who cannot or choose not to attend traditional face-to-face offerings, (b) assembling and disseminating instructional content more cost efficiently, or (c) enabling instructors to handle more students while maintaining learning outcome quality that is equivalent to that of comparable face-to-face instruction.

The South African Theological Seminary provides high-quality distance education and places great store by online learning, without abandoning the more traditional approaches for those students who have difficulty in accessing the internet. Whether you choose the e-learning option, where you will be part of a group of 8-20 students from all over the world, or the option to simply download your courses from our website and work on your own, you will receive the very best theological education. As you study, you will be supported by our friendly staff who are trained to focus on quality and service delivery. Coupled with our unswerving commitment to provide education which is Bible-based, Christ-centred and Spirit-led, this ensures a qualification of which you will be rightly proud.

¹ Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies