Welcome to the distance learning department at Beulah Heights University (BHU).  The mission of BHU is to develop relevant Christian leaders for ministry and marketplace.   As technological advances such as the internet, email, and blogging become necessary for successful living, what better way to train relevant Christian leaders than through online learning?  Online learning allows students to pursue higher education who do not have the professional or geographical flexibility of the traditional student.
If you are interested in pursuing a degree online, please take time to view our degree programs to see which one best fits your personal and professional goals. 
We now offer an Associate Degree entirely online!
It is also highly recommended that you contact an Admissions Counselor to learn more about our degree programs as well as the rich tradition and diversity of the BHU community. This link will also contain all the necessary material needed to apply to the University.  If you are a current student and interested in taking courses online, please contact the admission department for more information.

Is Distance Learning For Me?

Do you desire a degree but are not in a position to relocate because of professional or geographical constraints? 
Are you self motivated and self disciplined?
Do you have a desire to be a lifelong learner?
Are you computer literate?
Are you a self learner?  If you said yes to these questions then you are a candidate for online learning.  Online learning differs from the traditional classroom in a variety of ways.  The most obvious is that students will not be in the classroom. This results in a loss of accountability and forces the students to be self disciplined.  The following test will help you determine if you would be a successful online student.

Take our ONLINE LEARNING TEST

Use the scoring rubric below to determine how successful you would be in an online course.
Test Results:
0-2    Highly unlikely to succeed in an online course
2-5    Unlikely to succeed in an online course
5-7    Likely to succeed in an online course
7-10    Highly Likely to succeed in an online course

Study Tips For Online Students

Read the guiding documents carefully for the course.

The course syllabus contains all of the information the student needs to progress through a distance learning course.  This includes information about the course description, objectives, and requirements, course meetings, assignments and testing, media and technology needed to successfully complete the course. The course schedule provides an overview for the material to be covered every week. This document will help the students to plan for the course. The grading rubric provides the students a detailed description of how each assignment will be accessed.  

Complete Weekly Course Work

In a traditional onsite course the student is in class for approximately three hours.  In addition to this, students are expected to invest two hours outside of the classroom. Since online students are not in the classroom, your time is much more flexible.  Students should consult the course schedule as a guide for how to investment their time.  Students who get behind will have a difficult time succeeding in the course.

Communicate regularly with your instructor

Do not hesitate to contact your instructor if you have any questions or concerns during the course.  It is much better to be safe than sorry.

Set goals

It is wise to keep a calendar with all the assignments and due dates for each course you take. Your blackboard account has a calendar that could be accessed. This will prevent the student from falling behind in the course. 

Be Proactive

A little work on an assignment each day will allow you time to give attention to its quality.  Your workload will be spread out, so you will avoid doing it at the last minute.

Registering and Engaging in an Online Course

Students register for an online course the same as an onsite course. New students will be required to check their BHU email for a username and password access to the course(s) they are enrolled.  Returning students may skip this step.
Once you have your username and password you may log onto BHU website and access your online course by clicking on the link named Blackboard. You will be taken to screen where you are to enter your username and password. The following tutorial can provide further assistance.

• How to access your student email
• How to log into to blackboard

Online work is self managed. You may complete the work when it is most convenient for you. However, most courses do have weekly course work that is required to be completed during a specified week. Students will not have access to weekly course material during the entire semester and therefore must plan to complete this material during the assigned week.
To view a sample online course please click on the following link.  Enter “Guest” in the username box and “password” in the password box. 

System Requirements

In order to use Blackboard effectively, it is recommended that students meet the following requirements:

Skills

• Use of Web browsers.
• Entering Uniform Resource Locators (URL's ).
• Downloading files from the Internet.
• Completing online forms.

Hardware Requirements

• PC running Windows 2000 or above or a Mac Running OS X
• A live Internet connection. Students will need access to the Internet using a telephone connection, DSL, or cable modem. A high speed internet connection is recommended.
• A monitor capable of displaying information at least 800x600 pixels. For best performance, access Blackboard using 1024x768 resolution or higher.

Software Requirements

• If you have a Windows PC, use the Microsoft Internet Explorer (6.0 or higher), Mozilla Firefox or Netscape Navigator 7.1 or higher. Mac users are recommended to use the Mozilla Firefox Web browser. (The link to install Mozilla is http://www.mozilla.com )
• Do not use the AOL browser or Opera to access Blackboard.
• Although it is not required to access Blackboard, students should have Microsoft Office 2003 or higher installed in their personal computers to view and access documents provided by the instructor. A Free (Open Source) alternative is available at www.openoffice.org

Recommended/Required Plug-ins

Microsoft Office Converters & Viewers
With the help of these converters and viewers from Microsoft, you can share your Microsoft Office files with people who have versions of Office applications different than your own, or even with people who don't have Office at all. Download here.

Windows Media Player
Microsoft® Windows MediaT Player contains a set of digital media components that displays news, information, and entertainment in audio and video format. Download here.

QuickTime
Apple QuickTime adds over 200 digital media capabilities and capabilities to your Mac or PC. Besides letting you enjoy MP3 music, QuickTime supports key standards for web streaming as well as every major file format for images-including JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PICT, PNG, MJPEG, GIF and Flash. Download here.

Shockwave, Flash & Authorware
Macromedia Shockwave, Flash, and Authorware Players are the Web standard for entertaining, engaging, rich-media playback. Macromedia Web Players display content such as interactive multimedia product demos and training, e-merchandising applications, and rich-media multiuser games. download here.

Adobe Acrobat Reader
Adobe® Acrobat® ReaderT is free, and freely distributable, software that lets you view and print millions of Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Download here.

Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE), Version 1.4.2
Java 2 Platform allows you to use Java components available on the Internet. You need to install this plug-in if you are planning to use the Blackboard Virtual Classroom. Download here.

BHU Online Course Policies

Communication/Email Protocols:

Students are required to use their BHU email account for ALL online communication with their instructor.  All official correspondence from your online course will come to that account.  The library staff will gladly assist a student having difficulty with student email.
Because your email address does not include your personal name, please make sure you identify yourself on all email correspondence to your course instructor.  The subject line of all email correspondence related to the course should contain the course name and the student’s name.

Frequency of Coursesite access:

Students are expected to login and participate in course activities at least once per week.  Failure to login to course after 14 days will result in the student being locked out of the course. To re-enter the course the student must have the approval of the Registrar.

Access to technology – Recommendation

Students who do not have reliable PERSONAL access to technology and the internet are strongly discouraged from taking online courses.  In addition, please check the system requirements section of this guide to ensure proper access to all course material.

Academic Integrity/Plagiarism

Students are expected to complete this course with integrity. The students work must be a reflection of the student’s own work and can only be submitted for this course. Where secondary sources are required the student is expected to use the proper citation of those sources even in an online environment. If the student fails to comply the instructor will have no option but to consider the student is cheating and/or plagiarizing. This will result in a failing grade and the possibility of further disciplinary action from the college. Plagiarism is defined as intellectual property of others without proper citation, giving the impression that is the student’s work.  For further information please consult the BHU student manual.