Two Free Services to Help Online Bible College Students

I have been enjoying two great web services that every online Bible college student should know about. The first service is one I would recommend for every college student...period.

Dropbox is free, and I use it every day. It provides two huge benefits:

1. It automatically creates an online backup of anything I save to my Dropbox folder. There are two main reasons online students do not backup their work: a) It is a hassle to remember to do and b) It costs money to buy a backup hard drive. Dropbox solves both of those problems. I download a small application that creates a folder called "Dropbox" that resides with all my other folders and documents. Having a backup is a simple matter of saving to that folder. Whenever I am connected to the internet, Dropbox automatically and securely uploads the file to my free space online. Both problems solved: automatic and free!
2. It keeps all my current work available to me wherever I am working.
   I find that I often need to access the same files from multiple devices. I work with two laptops, an iPad, and a smartphone. And sometimes I am working on a public computer or a family computer. Dropbox allows me to access my files from any of those devices. I know I am a little geeky to use all those devices, but almost every online student has been in the situation where he or she was at work and needed to access a school file. Dropbox makes that a breeze. (Note: Even if you cannot load the application on your work computer, you can use the Dropbox website to access your files.)

Are you ready to get Dropbox so that you can responsibly backup all your schoolwork? If you go to http://www.dropbox.com, you can sign up for an account and get 2 gigabytes of storage for free. Before you do that, let me tell you how you can get another 250 megabytes of additional storage for free—enough space to backup the final project for several online classes. Dropbox uses a referral program. If you go to http://db.tt/ieiICAL to sign up for Dropbox, you will use a referral from me. That will give you an added 250 megabytes of free storage as well as giving me 250 megabytes of additional storage (up to an 8 gigabyte limit). Yes, this benefits me, but it also benefits you…and you can choose to simply go directly to www.dropbox.com if you prefer.

Biblia.com (http://biblia.com) is a web version of Logos Bible Software. Even without purchasing Logos Bible Software, anyone can create a free account and access the free resources available for Bible study. Since all Dallas Christian College students purchase at least the Bible Study Library, that means that almost all the resources available on the computer where Logos is installed are also available on any other computer. Why is this a benefit?

With the advent of Logos Bible Study Software version 4, the software is licensed so specifically to an individual that DCC cannot legally purchase a copy of the software for public/lab computers. Therefore, unless a student has his or her laptop, there is no way to access the Bible study resources on campus (library, tutoring center, classroom, etc.). That is when Biblia.com comes in. Students can go to Biblia.com, log in with Logos credentials, and access the majority of their Logos resources from any computer. Although the web service does not have all the power of the installed software, it does provide search capabilities for specific resources or for the entire licensed library.

In addition to the web service, Logos provides applications for iPads/iPhones/iPod Touch, and the Android version is available in beta. My smartphone is Windows Mobile 6.5, which doesn’t have an application. That is when I am most likely to go to http://biblia.com. That brings up another good point—there is a mobile version of the Biblia.com website designed for a smaller screen.

In other words, you can access your Logos Bible Study software from any place you can get on an internet device!

These are two really useful web services, and they are free. What are you waiting for?

Bruce Long * Associate Dean - Online Learning * Dallas Christian College

• http://www.dallas.edu
• http://online.dallas.edu

Hints and Tips for Online Learners

June 30. 2011

On June 11 I had the privilege of officiating my son's wedding. In the homily, I gave the couple three key ideas (three Scriptures) to hang onto as they began their life together. My hope, of course, was that some wisdom from above would help them have a happy marriage. They were at a beginning point, and I wanted them to have a great start.

With DCC 101 beginning Monday, and other classes starting tomorrow, DCC Online Students are at the beginning point of a new semester of classes. That being the case, I wanted to offer a few hints and tips to help you have a great start. These thoughts come from two perspectives: 1) my perspective as the director of online learning and 2) my perspective as an online student. After you read my thoughts, I want you to post comments to this post in which you note some of the best hints and tips you have learned (assuming you have taken at least one online class).

From the Director's Point of View

• Get logged in and start working on your online class as soon as you get the notification that the class site is open. From the statistics we have gathered, one of the surest ways to do poorly is to wait until part way through the first week of class to get logged in and started with class. When the classes are only 6 or 7 weeks long, you cannot delay.
  
• Read and Post to the discussion forums! If you do not make at least one substantive post to the discussion forum, you will be marked absent. After two absences, you will automatically absence-fail the course. Just as important to your success is that some of the best learning occurs when students get engaged in the discussion forums.
• Read the comments your instructor puts on your written assignments. Do not just look at the grade and move on. The assignments are designed to help you learn, but the learning is not complete until you review the comments from your instructor.
• Back up your work!
  

From My Experience as an Online Student. I did a graduate degree almost entirely online, and I learned some things. Here are just a few:

• The best learning occurs when you engage the instructor in a dialog after you get your assignments back. Not only do you need to read the instructor's comments on your graded assignments, you need to message the instructor about any questions that are raised in your mind. If you do not understand a comment or think the instructor misunderstood your point, get it clarified. Some of my best learning occurred when I did that.
• Start a master bibliography. There were many books and resources that I used repeatedly in papers. When I was done writing, I always had to go through and get my works cited page all set and formatted correctly. If I had kept a master bibliography, I could have just copied and pasted many of those resources into the paper and saved time.
  
• Post to the discussion forum early in the week. If you post early in the week, there is a lot to say about the discussion prompt. If you wait until later in the week, then other students will have already said the things that are most apparent. If you wait, you will need to dig really deep to say something new and substantive. That can be good for you, but it will definitely take more time.

Now it is your turn! DCC Online is a community of learners. We can help one another. If you have learned a hint or tip from taking online classes that you want to pass on, please post a comment below and tell us about it. We have set the blog to allow open comments, so you do not even need to register to post a comment. Help one another!

Bruce Long * Associate Dean - Online Learning * Dallas Christian College

• http://www.dallas.edu
• http://online.dallas.edu