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IEC ENewsletter - September 2007
Stimulating and accelerating web evangelism within the worldwide Body of Christ
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| Internet Ministry Conference Update |
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The IEC thanks Gospel Communications International and its great team for the opportunity to partner together in this year's Internet Ministry Conference (IMC)!
The IEC also thanks the Internet Evangelism Track workshop leaders and those who participated in the workshops at the IMC. We pray the sessions were encouraging and thought-provoking and look forward to hearing from you on the workshops.
Videos from the IEC sessions will be posted on the Internet Evangelism Coalition website in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, here are links to more information about the just-completed conference:
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Evangelical Lutheran Churh of Denmark on SecondLife
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Source: Ecumenical News International
The Copenhagen diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark has taken the denomination into cyberspace through the Web-based virtual world of "Second Life." On this site, the online church can be found on the "island" called "Danmark," and its priest, an "avatar" (online 3D representation) called Pellegrina, is a priest in real life as well, the denomination said on its own website. "The business world discovered the possibilities of Second Life a long time ago, and now government departments, companies, banks and relief organizations have their place here. Now the national church has caught up with the times," the church noted.
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| Online Video Courses in Chinese |
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 Chinese pastors and leaders all over the world now have access to theological training in a first-of-its-kind online video program launched by Dallas Theological Seminary. The program, according to a news release, has been in the development stages for the past two years and initially included 24 students as part of a "beta test" model. As the program grows, hundreds of students will be able to take part.
"We have been afforded an unprecedented opportunity to impact people for Christ," said Dallas Seminary President Dr. Mark Bailey. "Chinese is the most spoken language in the world and the second most common language on the Internet. We can reach developing leaders in one of the largest countries in the world-and one with a rapidly growing Christian community."
The program uses flash-based video in an interactive classroom setting. Dallas Seminary is the only American seminary to offer such a program, said Mark Yarbrough, executive director of communications and online education. Two courses are available for fall enrollment with five more coming online next spring. Eventually 20 classes will be offered, allowing the student to complete a Certificate of Graduate Studies, or the equivalent of the first year of any degree program at the seminary.
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| Web Users Spend Half Their Time Visiting Content |
 Internet users are spending nearly half their online time visiting content, a 37% increase in share of time from four years ago, according to the Online Publishers Association (OPA). The OPA recently released a four-year analysis of its Internet Activity Index (IAI), a monthly gauge of the time being spent with e-commerce, communications, content and search.
According to the OPA's IAI, conducted by Nielsen/NetRatings, communications accounted for 46% of consumers' time online in 2003. A dramatic shift has taken place since then, with consumers now spending 47% of their time with content, compared with 34% four years ago. The 37% gain in share for content is followed closely by a 35% gain in share for search. However the total time being spent with search remains relatively low, accounting for just 5% of Internet user's online time in 2007.
OPA president Pam Horan says, "The dominant role of content is driven by several important factors. The first is the online transition of traditionally offline activities, such as getting news, finding entertainment information or checking the weather. Quality content sites see a consistent pattern major news drives traffic spikes, but traffic remains consistently higher even after the event. Major news events such as Hurricane Katrina and high profile seasonal events such as the NCAA Final Four Basketball tournament are clearly driving consumers to engage more deeply with online content."
Horan continued, "New online features and communities are also leading consumers to spend a larger share of their online time with content. Consumers spend considerable time with social networking sites, which serve not only as places of content but are also increasingly important communications vehicles."
The OPA found a number of other factors behind the changes, including:
- A more accessible, and much faster, Internet is driving increased overall time spent online.
- The increased popularity of video is leading to more time being spent with online content.
- The improvement in search allows consumers to more easily and quickly, find the exact content they are looking for, increasing the likelihood they will engage more deeply with that content.
- The Web simply offers far more content than it did even four years ago, increasing content's share of time.
- The rise of instant messaging (IM) as a key communications tool has been a factor in communication's reduction in share of time. IM is a more efficient communications vehicle than email.
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| NCSA: Teaching Internet Safety and Security in School |
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The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) has called upon state leaders across the United States to work with their states' education leaders to ensure cyber security, safety and ethics lessons are integrated in every classroom.
THE NCSA says Internet skills are necessary for students to develop 21st century proficiencies, but the Internet, like the real world, has various threats and dangers students may come across in the normal course of a day, like communications from identity thieves, predators and cyber bullies. "As more and more children and teens grow up in an online world, it is important they understand how to behave online, and their safety and security depends on whether or not they talk to strangers, place personal information on social networking sites or secure their family's computer," said Ron Teixeira, executive director of the NCSA. "It is critical states and schools implement Internet safety, security and ethics lessons into current technology literacy education efforts in order to protect children from identity theft but also the nation's online infrastructure."
The NCSA proposes lessons that include:
- Cyber Ethics Lessons: that teach hacking into someone's computer and taking information is just as wrong as breaking into someone else's home. Cyber bullying is just as wrong as bullying someone on the playground. Rules and codes of acceptable behavior must be set in the virtual world, just as they are in the real world.
- Cyber Safety Lessons: to protect children from online dangers, such as ways to avoid cyber predators, harassment, unwanted communications and cyber bullies.
- Cyber Security Lessons: on how to secure their computers, identities and financial information.
NCSA Website
BBC: Fight Cyberbullies
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