After installing a new learning management system to provide distance training to missionaries in the field, I was invited to participate in a workshop at a university in Thailand.

The workshop consisted of training professors who didn’t have an educational background in teaching and how to train others. I attended and helped with some of the topics, and it came my turn to teach about the availability of the online training.

I had to show them the system using a PowerPoint presentation because the access to the Internet was slow and unreliable in the classroom. Once I finished the presentation, I invited the professors to give me some feedback.

Some demonstrated interest, but one professor said that he would never use it because his current system was perfect and he did not need any innovations.

Interestingly enough, I had the opportunity to have lunch with some students, and I talked about online learning. Most of them regretted how slow their WIFI was but many said that the connection was better by night and they would not mind to use an online system guided by a good online professor.

To my surprise, several students told me that they would love to learn one of their current subjects online. When I asked why, they said that their professor would come to class and write on the blackboard for them to copy everything. He would finish writing on one side of the blackboard and then continue on the other side. Usually, he would go back and erase the first part and continue with more writing. He did not talk to them and, if they had any questions, he would answer, “all was written on the blackboard”.

This was the professor who had the “perfect teaching system”.