One of the program's most prominent emphases was its insistence on the importance of residential theological education. Mirroring this accent, ITTT underscored the fundamental relationship between effective teaching and learning and on-campus study for the successful formation of pastors. Included in the ways that CTS implemented the grant were wiring the campus with fiber optic cable, outfitting the faculty with laptop computers, creating additional public computer terminals in Walther Library, and establishing a 25 station computer lab for students. The classroom features an integrated audio, visual, and technological center for professors both to present material to students and to stimulate reflection and synthesis. Electrical and data ports at the students' seats encourage access to both intranet and internet materials.
Professors simply walk in, plug in, and pull their presentations off the seminary's server.
The faculty has eagerly received the new technologies and continues to explore new ways to bring them into the classroom. Students consistently comment on the way information technology is helping them acquire the theological skills to act as pastoral theologians who minister to the congregations of our church. One must be there to be formed by it. With the help of the Lilly Foundation in the ITTT program, CTS has continued to search for ways to improve teaching and learning on campus that augment its fundamental mission-the training of pastors to serve the congregations and missions of the LCMS with integrity, clarity, and charity.