About BJ LINC

Teaching for Understanding

The BJ LINC program was started in 1995 due to an acute need in Christian schools to provide quality Christian education in high school courses that lacked qualified faculty to teach them. Schools were having difficulty finding qualified teachers in such high school courses as physics, precalculus, foreign languages, etc. Several alternatives lend themselves to teaching at a distance: audio recordings, DVDs, and live satellite-delivered TV instruction. However, none of these methods would allow for one of the foundations in Christian teaching: teaching for understanding, which requires interactive instruction. BJ LINC was created to provide Christian education in an interactive distance learning environment, using Christ-like teachers and thoroughly Christian texts.

Scripture tells us that the accumulation of knowledge is "easy to him that understandeth" (Proverbs 14:6b). David points this out in Psalm 119:34: "Give me understanding and I shall keep thy law; I shall observe it with my whole heart." Understanding a concept is crucial to applying it, but teaching for understanding is the foundation for something more important in the student's life - the ability to use principles in making decisions. Principled thinking brings the student to the highest level of learning.

Using distance-education technology to its fullest advantage, BJ LINC offers two levels of interactive learning: Live Interactivity and Data Interactivity.

Live Interactivity

Live interactive instruction is offered for the first airing of each daily course lesson. These live classes offer three types of interactivity to develop student understanding. These three interactive options (verbal, signal, and pop question) are transmitted from the student to the teacher through the student's Interactive Response Unit (IRU).

With the verbal option, through the IRU, the student can ask questions directly of the teacher, with every BJ LINC student across the country able to hear the question and the response.

The second option of interactivity is the student's ability to signal the teacher instantly when he does not understand. When enough students indicate a lack of understanding, the teacher can repeat the concept or ask for verbal clarification from the students.

The third level of interactivity, and the most potent, is a pop question or questions directed to all the students. This option is available to both our live interactive courses and our data interactive courses.

Data Interactivity

Data Interactive instruction is offered for specific rebroadcast times of the first live interactive session. This allows the teacher to ask a specific question and students are then instructed to enter their answers using their IRUs. Each answer is recorded and logged. Results of the carefully crafted question give the teacher an indication of the overall level of student understanding and, importantly, give direction in further teaching that particular curriculum. This interactive option also allows students to participate in quizzes and tests, all while recording and logging their answers towards a final grade.

With the well-known strength of academics available from Bob Jones University Press complimented by teaching for understanding, BJ LINC enables the Christian school to provide quality Christian education by assisting Christian schools in training their students academically and training them to make decisions based on principles.

Technology and Service

Each class day we beam quality instruction to a satellite in geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. The satellite relays the program directly to your classroom. Students and teachers interact in real time using our unique BJ LINC communication system. If you experience difficulty technically or educationally, you may call our toll-free number (1-800-876-5462), e-mail us (linc@bjupress.com), or send a fax (1-800-876-5465) to our trained customer service team. Our operators, engineers, and educators are available throughout each broadcast day. Using the telephone provided in your classroom, you can let us know immediately if you experience difficulty. We are committed to serving you. Let us know how we can continue to make BJ LINC effective, economical, and convenient.

Research

Several doctorate studies have been done regarding BJ LINC. The following links are abstracts of the dissertations.