Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Encountering the World of Islam Online Courses

Online Classes (www.encounteringislam.org/online)

Take EWI Online!

Encountering the World of Islam is now available online for those who do not have a course available in their area.

EWI Online is a 12-week course featuring expert speakers and an online mentor with experience living among Muslims. Students will complete each lesson's work and assignments at their convenience and discuss the week's material using discussion forums. Though the class is not self-paced, there are no live online sessions required.

Course Assignments
To complete this course online, students will have weekly assignments, including: textbook readings, downloading and listening to audio or video lectures, and online discussions with other class members. In addition, students must meet a Muslim and visit an Islamic center in their local area and take four quizzes and one exam online. A certificate will be issued for successful course completion.

Software Requirements
To take EWI Online, you will need Internet access, a valid email address and the ability to download and listen to mp3 files; viewing lectures as streaming video is optional.

Course Fees
Tuition for EWI Online is $229.00 and includes a course textbook shipped to you (international shipping requires an additional fee).

Registration
See Online Classroom Registration Instructions for information on how to register for an online class.

Upcoming course dates:

Winter 2010 will begin January 4, 2010.  Register now.

Questions? Contact us at info@encounteringislam.org

5 comments:

Elnwood said...

I took this class almost two years ago, and I give it my highest recommendation. Excellent and challenging course.

Warrick Farah said...

Hi Elnwood, thanks for the recommendation. Did you take the online course? About how many hours per week was the investment?

Elnwood said...

Hi Warrick,

I took the class through a church, and since then I've been volunteering to help with future offerings of the course. Assuming you take the class at the certificate level, it probably will take about 4-8 hours a week, plus the lectures (two hours, I'm guessing). This includes doing the readings, logging on and contributing to the discussions each week, taking the quizzes, and doing write-ups on the mosque visit and the two meetings with a Muslim.

The material is well-worth it. In my opinion, the articles are much more interesting than the ones in the Perspectives reader, and the mosque visit and meetings with a Muslim really enhance the learning experience and integration.

On-site is much preferred, though. There is nothing like hearing veteran missionaries telling stories about their cross-cultural experiences, and the material is so fresh and challenging to the Western mindset that it really helps to have other students and volunteer coordinators also in the class to help process what is being learned. Oh, and there's also an ethnic meal as a part of the class, which also enhances the experience!

Unfortunately, the classroom offerings are pretty limited, but we're working on expanding. Pray that more churches will want to host the course! But as I said before, even without the on-site benefits, the material itself is well-worth it.

Warrick Farah said...

Ok thanks Elnwood. I also believe in this course for training future workers and will pray that the course will spread in churches in the US.

Unknown said...

for those who are interested, the course is being offered at three different locations in Southern California this fall. For more information go to http://encounteringislam.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=37

If you are interested in hosting the course in your city, please contact david@encounteringislam.org


God bless