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January 5, 2011

Seminary goes high-tech

Meagan O'Toole-Pitts Jacksonville Daily Progress

JACKSONVILLE — Religious education is going high-tech at Baptist Missionary Association Theological Seminary thanks to a new video conference classroom and online classes.

“Our video conferencing classroom offers live classes over the Internet to our extension campuses in Costa Rica, Mexico and Conway, Arkansas,” said BMATS President Charley Holmes.

The video conferencing system, Polycom, was installed in March and the first two online classes available at BMATS, New Testament I and Old Testament I, started in the fall semester. Now to add to the list are two more online classes coming at the start of the spring semester, Jan. 24.

“We’re adding two classes — one on the life of Jesus and one on the life of Paul,” Holmes said. “We will add two online classes every semester.”

The new technology at BMATS allows instructors to do things they did not think possible, said BMATS Newsletter Designer Amanda Erickson.

“(In the video conference classroom) special markers write on the white board and allow for digital capture so the image of a diagram the instructor draws can be e-mailed or printed,” Erickson said.

In addition to online classes, Motion Classes, which started in 2001 and has since doubled in enrollment, allow pastors from outside the area the chance to study at BMATS, Holmes said.

“For pastors in Shreveport who don’t want to drive to New Orleans or Dallas to learn at a seminary, Masters in Motion Classes are helpful,” he said. “We even have students from our campus in Conway, Ark. drive here.”

Motion Classes allow students to take classes at BMATS in Jacksonville for just a few weeks out of the year during January, June and July, and then return home for the rest of the year.

“The maximum they can take is seven weeks but most take three to four weeks. In three years, they can earn a Masters of Arts in Religion,” Holmes said.

Both Motion Classes and online classes have allowed Park View Baptist Church Pastor Michael Battenfield to study while serving his church in Conway, Ark.

“A lot of students are already engaged in ministry work, so it can be hard for them to fit hours  in,” he said. “Without (these classes) it would’ve doubled the length of time. It’s a wonderful thing.”

To find out more about programs available at BMATS visit bmats.edu.

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