May. 18, 2013
Biola University today announced the launch of Open Biola, an innovative website that offers open access to hundreds of classes, lectures, articles and other educational resources — all for free.
The easy-to-navigate site — found at open.biola.edu — allows visitors to search, stream, download and share videos and other learning materials that engage a wide range of academic topics from a Christian perspective. As of its launch, Open Biola has 1,317 individual resources from 432 different Biola professors and guest contributors, including more than 829 hours of video and audio. More resources will be added continually throughout the year.
“Open Biola represents Biola’s commitment to make our most beneficial educational resources widely available to anyone who has access to a computer or a mobile device,” said Biola President Barry H. Corey. “As a source of thoughtful Christian perspectives on topics ranging from business and science to philosophy and theology, it is our hope that Open Biola will serve the needs of Christian and secular audiences around the world by helping to articulate and foster a biblically centered worldview.”
Open Biola complements Biola’s presence on other content delivery destinations such as iTunes U and YouTube, where the university will continue to offer hundreds of free resources. (Biola is one of 42 “featured providers” on iTunes U and one of the 100 most viewed university channels on YouTube.) Open Biola includes several distinct features to enhance visitors’ experiences and simplify access to content. Specifically, visitors can:
With the launch of Open Biola, Biola University joins other universities such as MIT and Yale that have created websites to offer free educational resources and course materials to the public. Open Biola is believed to be the first such open learning website from a Christian university.
Visit Open Biola at http://open.biola.edu.
Media Relations Specialist
Assistant Director of Public Relations and Internal Communications
media [dot] relations [at] biola [dot] edu
Comments
Miriam Day Aug. 22, 2012 at 9:57 AM
This is exciting. I couldn't wait to visit the website and see what is there to help improve my writing skills. Thank you Biola University for this opportunity to hone my skills through your classes.
Sheadon Ringor Aug. 22, 2012 at 10:11 AM
I LOVE THIS!
jpetul j'ernantes Aug. 23, 2012 at 6:24 PM
Thank God!!!!! What are the chances of translating the material into Spanish? Maybe as it is used and after so many presentations be able to offer certificates/recognition through Biola University? For now I am excited to share much of the material with my youth group at Iglesia Presbiteriana Emmanuel in San Diego, Ca.
Colin Nov. 25, 2012 at 9:05 PM
This is a great start, Biola! Now the next step is to release these resources as open resources. I've written a blog post at www[dot]thinkclearly[dot]ca/opening-biola-u. Changing your cc license to 'BY-SA' means @jpetul j'ernantes could create the Spanish translations and release them back to the community. No loss to you, huge gain for the community.
CBR Jan. 25, 2013 at 2:47 PM
Great job! Kudos to the web designer/graphic artist! Very nicely done!!
howard May. 13, 2013 at 3:13 AM
I find it very upsetting when I am forced to use the social network system to communicate with a business or facility such as yours. I also am having problems finding anything you talked about on the TV program - such as any so called free learning materials.