Online education has grown exponentially in the past 15 years, increasing opportunities for students to pursue degrees at Baptist colleges and seminaries.
The National Center for Education Statistics defines distance education as instruction that uses technology to deliver material to students who are separated from the instructor. Distance education can take many forms, but increasingly, colleges utilize learning management software such as Moodle or Blackboard to deliver Internet-based courses.
Nationally the number of students selecting distance-learning courses as part of their regular college curriculum increased 150 percent between 1998 and 2008, according to EdTech: Focus on Higher Education, a publication for academic instructional technology professionals. EdTech also reports that more than half of all college students have taken at least one online class, and approximately two-thirds of students believe that virtual learning provides increased flexibility for professional adults to take classes while working full-time.
Alabama has 56 public and private not-for-profit colleges and universities, many of which offer at least some online courses or programs. Many of those programs have earned national recognition.
In its 2014 report on colleges and universities, U.S. News & World Report ranked the University of Alabama at Huntsville as the 7th best online bachelor’s degree in the country, and Auburn University as 6th best online graduate program. Alabama’s Spring Hill College and Troy University were recognized as second and 20th, respectively, among southern universities for their efforts to help active duty military and veterans pursue a college education.
Nationally four-year public colleges and universities outpace four-year private schools in online course offerings. However, Alabama’s three Baptist colleges have found ways to reach students through online course offerings and programs.
The Distance Learning Program at Judson College in Marion allows students to earn an undergraduate degree entirely online. Unlike traditional campus courses, distance courses at Judson are open to male and female students. The flexibility of the program also allows students to finish their degrees faster, according to director Kathy Chen.
“Most of our online courses are taught one-on-one, so distance learning students at Judson don’t have to dwell on learning materials which they have already mastered,” Chen said. “They are allowed to concentrate on the areas in which they need further study or often move on quickly to new learning materials, which in the end often leads to a faster path to graduation.”
At the University of Mobile (UMobile), students can participate in a variety of online courses throughout the year, including summer. Summer classes are very popular with students, according to UMobile director of media relations Kathy Dean.
“Summer is a time when students have traditionally returned home for a summer break and summer jobs, so our summer online courses provide students with the opportunity to get ahead in their academic program in a way that fits more easily into their summer schedule,” Dean said.
At Samford University in Birmingham, the Cumberland School of Law offers one of the South’s largest offerings of online law school courses. The courses, taught by regular faculty members, are often helpful to nontraditional students who need a more flexible schedule, according to the school’s website.
At the undergraduate level, Samford offers several courses online and plans to add more fully online and hybrid courses, which combine online learning with face-to-face classroom learning.
Southern Baptist seminaries have reached out to students through extension programs for many years, but e-learning has expanded their opportunities to reach out to students around the world, especially those who want to balance missions and ministry responsibilities with seminary studies. Programs in theology, missions and Christian education are offered at many seminaries through distance learning.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., offers hybrid courses that allow students to earn one year of on-campus credit toward a master’s degree through a combination of online studies and two eight-day face-to-face terms on campus. Students earn the rest of their credits through online courses, extension centers or on campus.
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., offers online and hybrid courses in addition to offerings at extension centers. Southeastern also offers fully online options for completion of an associate’s degree and three master’s level degrees aimed at missionaries, church planters and anyone serving in a cross-cultural context, according to Jerry Lassetter, director of distance learning at Southeastern.
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS), Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif., also offer graduate programs that can be completed online.
At NOBTS, fully online degrees include the master of theological studies, master of arts in biblical studies and master of arts in Christian education. NOBTS also offers a distance-learning track for the master of divinity that combines online, hybrid and face-to-face courses.
Southwestern offers five fully accredited, fully online degree options, including the master of divinity and the master of theological studies. A fully online master of divinity also is offered at Golden Gate.
Distance learning also creates opportunities for lay people to increase their skills and knowledge. For example, Leavell College, the undergraduate program of NOBTS, offers a range of online seminary courses that can be taken as noncredit courses.
Southeastern also is currently offering its second MOOC. A MOOC, or massive open online course, is a free course that offers any student with Internet access to view the same lectures as students on campus. Southeastern’s first MOOC features seminary president Daniel Akin’s “how-to-read-and-interpret-the-Bible course,” called Hermeneutics.
“We decided that offering a MOOC was exactly in keeping with our mission of equipping men and women to fulfill the Great Commission. So far, more than 3,000 students have participated,” Lassetter said.
Small-group materials are available for Bible study or Sunday School groups who want to go through the MOOC together. A Spanish version of the course and additional MOOCs in the areas of Old and New Testament studies are planned in the coming year, Lassetter said.
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