The Classroom Goes Digital

By Mark Strout, Bible Institute Executive Dean

“I wonder where all my Bible Institute notes ended up?” Have you ever asked yourself that question? Truth be told, many of us would find that our notes ended up in a box tucked away in some forgotten corner of the house — or worse! Well, we’d like to change that.

This September, Word of Life Bible Institute is taking a bold step to better equip students with 21st-century study tools they can use for years to come: We will be transitioning our first-year classrooms in New York and Florida from paper notes to computer-based note-taking. All incoming freshman students will receive a customized Logos Bible Study software package containing a digital library of more than 450 books, including nearly all their required textbooks. Resources will include multiple Bible versions, commentaries, encyclopedias, devotionals, reference works, Greek and Hebrew lexicons, and dozens of maps, photos, and media resources. The Logos package will be included in school fees, and students will have very minimal additional textbook expenses (paper notes will be an option for one more year at an additional cost). We anticipate making the same transition in the second-year classroom in fall 2015.

In addition to the Logos package, class notes will be delivered in a format that will allow students to fill in blank spaces and add their own notes using laptops or tablets in class. Upon completion of each course, the notes can be imported into Logos. Then, as students use Logos for future Bible study, their Bible Institute notes, including both the content provided to them and the notes they type in themselves, will be a fully searchable resource that is electronically linked to all other resources in their Logos package. For example, if former students search a particular Bible text or topic, relevant material from their class notes will appear alongside all similar material from the hundreds of books in their digital library. Bible references appearing in their course notes will be hyperlinked to their preferred Bible version, allowing them to be opened alongside their notes with a simple click. Other hyperlinks will be possible as well. Students also will be able to purchase hundreds of additional digital resources to add to their collection in the future.

As we transition to a digital classroom, we anticipate taking advantage of other potential benefits, including computerized testing, which would deliver different versions of the same exam to each laptop or tablet. We also could gather questions from students during class without having to interrupt the speaker. Professors could distribute additional notes, articles, or web links.

We are excited about this enhancement to the Bible Institute program and believe it will contribute to the fulfillment of our mission to educate 21st-century students within a rigorous academic and structured discipleship atmosphere, preparing them to live lives of maximum effectiveness for the Lord!