Happy Online Learning Day!

Has Google made you smarter? While it’s no match to a high school diploma or college degree, Google has definitely been there to answer our burning questions, curiosities or even settle an argument over some sort of disputed fact.

For any “How I Met Your Mother” fans, you may remember the episode where Ted says smartphones took away the bar room debate as they flashback to a heated argument on America’s most popular food. It then cut back to the present of everyone glued to their phones and Robin announcing that it was bread, proving we can find out just about anything with a few clicks on a screen.

The internet has made information and education a thousand times more accessible and has given students of all kinds the opportunity to take classes and learn from home on their computer. In a way, it makes our large, expansive world a little smaller and more manageable to explore, which perhaps is why whoever is in charge of creating and implementing these “national days,” has deemed September 15th National Online Learning Day.

CCL recognized this new progression in education as an opportunity to teach more couples NFP and answer Pope Francis’ call to “meet people where they are.” We are very proud of our wide volunteer base across the country who teach NFP in their communities, but there are still large pockets of areas without any teachers available. This is a big reason why CCL jumped on board to help couples learn NFP online.

In 2011 we used technology to create a way for students to get the full experience of a teaching couple even when one is not within a close distance. The Live Online Class operates through a webcam and chat feature where you have similar interaction with other students and face-to-face interaction with a teaching couple, much like the traditional Onsite Class, but through the comfort of your own home. This class opened up whole new opportunities for students who might be living apart from their fiancé, married couples who can’t find a sitter, or couples who just prefer learning online but still want instruction from a teaching couple.

Then last year we decided to take online learning a step further in the form of a Self-paced Online Course. This provides couples even more flexibility by letting them take a full NFP course on their own time. The video-based course is taught by one of CCL’s beloved teaching couples, John and Kristin Hamill, presenting the class materials exactly as they would in front of a classroom full of students. It also includes several interactive quizzes, exercises and games that keep couples involved in the learning and gauges their comprehension. Check out a preview of the class here!

With young people and couples today expecting the convenience of an online learning option to be available to them, we are proud to provide a warm, inviting, engaging and interactive learning experience, and are even happier to discover that student surveys show just as much satisfaction with our online classes as with our live classes!

So in honor of Online Learning Day, consider looking into or telling someone you know about the great ways CCL can help you learn NFP even while you sit comfortably on the living room couch! Send them to www.ccli.org.

— Megan Imwalle
Communications Intern