Preparing Online Course Material

By Tom Castor | May 7, 2020 |

Sometimes we are asked how we decide on what projects we become involved in. The answer to that is not always straightforward. However, for the most part, the projects that we engage in are not things that we have sought out. Our projects have a way of coming to us.

Since March of this year, we have been working to respond to a request from our friends in Burkina Faso. We have been involved in this West African country since 2015, completing seven translation projects there so far. In 2019, Clear and Simple Media launched our French website (www.véritésimple.org) in Burkina Faso, and early in 2020, in Togo and Benin.

But for some time now, our team in Burkina has been requesting that we create an online education option for our French site. Nebié Badiou, not only leads a fellowship of churches in the country, but he also teaches in a local university in Ouagadougou. He has been urging us to develop this option, allowing people to sign up for an online course, using our Travel Guide to the Bible as content. Then creating content exams with the offer of a certificate of completion once the student has finished the course successfully.

Although that may not sound complicated, it involves major (and expensive) changes to our website. We are currently taking the first steps by adding Learning Management Systems to our A Simple Word site (www.asimpleword.org). Completing the project also involves creating reasonable content questions based on each of the 70 chapters of the book. If we create twenty to twenty-five questions for each chapter, that means we will need to write between 1,400 and 1,700 questions to complete the exam content.

After the website software has been updated and the course created, we will go through a period of field-testing. Then, once we are certain that the systems work and the content is satisfactory, all of the material will be translated into French for use in West Africa.

In a recent conversation with a missionary working in South America, we are reasonably certain that we will be asked to produce a version of our A Simple Word site and the online course options in Spanish.

Please pray that God will provide the stamina and the needed funds to complete these projects. And pray for those in various parts of the world who will be using the websites in the days ahead.

To give you a sense of what this project involves, here is a partial set of questions for Chapter Three of the Travel Guide to the Bible on the book, How The Bible Fits Together.

INTRODUCTION CHAPTER THREE

HOW THE BIBLE FITS TOGETHER

  1. The Bible has two main parts. We call the first part the _________ Testament. We call the second part the _________Testament.

Which words best fit in the blanks.

  • Hard; Easy
  • Old; New
  • Early; Late
  • None of these

2. The books are put in the Bible in the order of when they were written.

  • True
  • False

3. We call the first five books of the Old Testament, the books of _____________________.

  • Moses
  • Stories
  • David
  • Songs

4. The books of Moses tell us about the beginning of the heavens and the earth.

  • True
  • False

5. The books of the Old Testament tell the story of the special promise (covenant) God made with _____________and his family. 

  • Matthew
  • Abraham
  • Jonah
  • John

6. How many books are in the Old Testament books of history?

  • 66 books
  • 16 books
  • 5 books
  • 12 books

7. The last book of history is about a young woman. What was her name?

  • Esther
  • Deborah
  • Mary
  • Phoebe

8. The books of history show how God kept his promise to Israel. 

  • True
  • False

9. What do we call the next part of the Old Testament?

  • The books of laws
  • The books of promise 
  • The books of wisdom
  • The books of loss

10. What kinds of writings are found in the books of wisdom?

  • songs
  • poems
  • stories
  • All of these

Tom Castor

Thomas Castor, founder of Clear and Simple Media Group, is a seasoned writer and communicator who has been delivering content with clarity and simplicity for 30 years.