By
Luther B. Gonjing
Email: bulusluthergon@gmail.com
07068212761
ABSTRACT
The paper deals with the application of educational media for effective implementation of Christian Education Curriculum in the Digital Age. The purpose is to determine the benefits of educational media in implementing a Christian religious education curriculum. It is also to discover the challenges against using education media in implementing Christian education curricula and proffer solutions to them. The writer used the Literary method to generate information for the work. Among the benefits of using education media are easy accessibility of information, stimulation of Learner’s interest, enhanced quick feedback, aid in longer retention in students, and enhancing the learning environment. Some of the challenges involved in using educational media include inadequate internet, network failure, ignorance of its service on the part of the teachers, and suspicion. It is recommended that more internet materials be provided, and teachers should update themselves with the help of media and use them to enhance their teaching of Christian religious education.
Key Words:
Implementation, Christian Education, Curriculum, Digital Age.
Introduction
It is a fact to state that today’s world is undergoing fast changes in terms of technological innovations. The story is not different in education, and since society is dynamic, it calls for a new pedagogical approach to teaching and learning. It is also entirely accurate to state that the old method of pedagogy is outdated in the 21st-century digital Age.
Peace (2020, 267) states;
In the olden days, students were not active participants in the learning process but mere recipients of knowledge learning of facts and summative assessment. However, the 21st Century has witnessed a change in the economics of industrialized countries; therefore, they need skills that support creativity, flexibility, innovation, collaboration, and fluency in information and communication technologies.
It implies that content and teacher-centered approaches to teaching cannot measure up to the 21st-century pedagogies of “teacher and student partnership.” Hence, there is a need for new methods of curriculum implementation in Christian pedagogy to attain contextual and global relevance.
The Digital Age is “the time and period in the 1970s when personal computer and technology were introduced to enable easy transfer of” (https:// www.Your Dictiornary.com/digital Age). Louse (2021) states that scientific innovations ushered in the digital age which technologies such as internet, social media and other digital devices.” For example, in the recent COVID-19 pandemic, schools were closed, among other activities, to prevent its spread. Togezai and others (2021) observe that during the Covid-19, “people used smartphones, tablets, and other devices, to reach the social media for real-time information and social exchange.” Online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic became necessary to ensure physical distancing to curtail its widespread use. Consequent to this was that Christian worship places were not left out or locked down. It, therefore, became essential for the church to adjust to “the new normal” by organizing worship, teaching, and learning online. Thus, the paper posits that we live in a Digital Age, which calls for effectively integrating the current educational media to implement the Christian Religious Education Curriculum.
Implementation of Christian Religious Education Curriculum
“Christian Religious Education” or “Christian Religious Knowledge” is the same. However, Owolabi (2021, 1) posits that it is called Christian Religious Knowledge as a subject in the Secondary School Curriculum. In the University, it is referred to as Christian Religious Studies as an academic discipline. Another synonym is Christian Religious Education, which is used interchangeably with Christian Religious Studies in this paper. Astley (1994,9) defines Christian Religious Education as the process of Christian learning. It involves “Christian nurture” or “Christian formation.”
Christian Religious Education has the Holy Bible as its curriculum, and Christ’s teachings form the basis of Christian beliefs and practices. Njoku (2015,176) observes that Christian Religious Studies (C.R.S.) is a core subject the missionaries bequeathed to the Nigerian education system when they established schools through the 19th-century missionary enterprise. C.RS is of prime importance to the moral and spiritual development of the Learner, and the missionaries made it compulsory for all the students. Abmumere (2013,71) testifies that Christian Religious Education is a mandatory subject for all students and that they must pass. Remember that Christian Religious Education is still compulsory in some churches’ established schools, especially at the Primary and Secondary levels.
