This month we spoke to long time distance educator Professor Paul Trebilco from the Theology Programme.

Paul has been involved in Distance Learning at Otago for many years, not only a teacher but also as a very strong advocate.

As Professor of New Testament, Paul teaches a range of papers across levels 100 to 400 within the Theology Programme. (Theology is part of the School of Arts, within the Division of Humanities.) All Theology papers are taught in two modes: distance and on-campus.

Paul is recognised and highly regarded as a researcher, but also for his teaching skill, insight and foresight, his love for his subject and his keen desire to engage his students meaningfully through the papers he teaches.

Here are some thoughts about distance teaching from Paul:

1. What is the best thing about being involved in Distance Education at the University of Otago?

We are able to offer courses to students who would never be able to come to Dunedin. Many of our students are in full-time work, and study Theology for professional development, because they want to change career, or out of interest. Because of their life situations, most of these students can’t easily come to us, but through Distance Education we can go to them.

2. What is something you find interesting or surprising about teaching by distance, and working with distance students?

It’s amazing how well some of our distance students do. They often lead busy lives, but are exceptionally committed to their studies and work really hard. They are really engaged in their own learning and often out-perform our campus students who are doing the same paper. And some of our distance students are doing a Bachelor of Theology degree, literally at one paper a semester for 10 years! Their commitment is amazing. And it’s great getting to know them over this period – they become good friends, even though we’ve only ever met virtually!

3. Do you have some words of advice for anyone keen to take the plunge and explore distance teaching?

The key thing about distance teaching is preparation of the material well in advance of teaching the paper. Most of our distance teaching in Theology is via two-hour Zoom videoconferences and it’s really important to have excellent material prepared for each session. Students need to know what they need to do to prepare for the videoconferences and what questions we want them to think about in advance. Then the sessions themselves become very interactive and engaging discussions.

4. What is your favourite technological tool/approach that has helped in engaging your students?

The “record button” on Zoom! Sometimes our students unfortunately can’t make a Zoom videoconference, so it’s great to be able to record sessions that they can watch later. Simple technology, but very important for us!

Thank you for sharing your reflections with us, Paul!

More information about Professor Paul Trebilco can be found here.