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[] =Digital Catechesis Is Not For The Faint Hearted= by Walt Smith

Posted on [|December 3, 2011] by [|waltbertdre] This past fall I made my first foray into developing and implementing Digital Catechesis in my Faith Formation classes. I was fresh from a course entitled SITM 2011 – Summer Institute for Technology in Ministry. During the course I had leapt into the deep end of the Social Media pool. Now that I was really excited it was time to get everyone else to swim. I would produce a wiki page to get my catechists, parents and students to explore their faith with cloud based apps, class projects and student reports. Here’s the thing. What I discovered as I encouraged and cajoled was that people are BUSY. Many of my catechists just didn’t have the time, and some of the parents resented having to do extra work with their children on “church homework”. While doing a review of the process, I realized that I had gone about this all wrong. I should have had more buy in from parents who like to use these tools, and then they could have helped me develop a process to integrate this new catechetical form. Some of the projects by the kids were outstanding, including [|Sacrament Billboards]that they made to advertise the sacraments. These will become the basis for a video we will make down the road. So, if you would like to try digital catechesis, here is my suggestion:
 * rude awakening - (noun)** //An occurance of being made to face an unpleaseant fact//


 * 1) Pray – begin by asking God to open the hearts and minds of all involved.
 * 2) Put together a good team of knowledgeable parents, and even some students, to look at what is available and already created out there. A great resource is [] which has among it’s members some great minds that have been there, done that.
 * 3) “Begin with the end in mind.” (Stephen Covey) Look at what you want to achieve, and develop what you need for round one. Round two can always happen later
 * 4) Finally, set time aside to develop your skills and comfort within cyberspace, in a prayerful way. It is easy to get lost in “the cloud” and get too over anxious.

I will continue to look for ways to bring our Faith Formation into the digital age, as well as seeking wise helpers to lead me along the path. Dum vita est, spes est!