Associated Canadian Theological Schools: Building an Online Graduate Information Literacy Course Without a Blueprint

SUMMARY

Associated Canadian Theological Schools is a graduate seminary consortium affiliated with Trinity Western University. Since its beginning in 1988 it has had a required one credit research course as a prerequisite for all programs. Several factors demanded the creation of an online version of the course as an alternative to the ongoing live course, but the literature on graduate level for-credit information literacy courses was sparse, and for online courses of this type was virtually non-existent. A process of trial and error since the online course's inception in 2000 has created a more mature offering that now meets the desired criteria for education that is learner-focused and interactive, with a priority on skill development through assignments using student-selected topics. While several hard lessons have had to be learned, the course is achieving its desired ends.

KEYWORDS:

• Information literacy
• online credit courses
• graduate information literacy
• Associated Canadian Theological Schools