Zondervan Academic, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and BibleMesh, a producer of online courses for theological education, announced Thursday a collaboration to offer distance learning courses. Online courses offered through the partnership will be available to colleges and seminaries for use in their curriculum as well as to individuals interested in non-credit, online continuing education.

The first courses will be available in November, with as many as 25 available by fall 2016. Courses available in November will include Basics of Biblical Greek, Basics of Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Interpretation, New Testament Survey and Old Testament Survey. Courses will be taught by leading evangelical scholars, including Wayne Grudem, Andrew E. Hill, William D. Mounce, Gary D. Pratico, Miles V. Van Pelt and John H. Walton.

Dr. Stanley N. Gundry, Zondervan senior vice president and publisher, commented on the collaboration.

“We are committed to publishing the highest-quality resources for schools to help instructors teach and students learn,” Gundry said. “Building the best online courses for both undergraduate and graduate level study is a natural extension of that commitment. Zondervan Academic has superb content that will be built into the courses, and BibleMesh has experience and expertise in online distance learning. This is why this collaboration makes such good sense and will be such a quality service to schools.” 

Michael McClenahan, executive director of BibleMesh, is pleased with the new opportunities afforded by the partnership.

“BibleMesh has invested years in developing a superior online learning experience for students using cutting-edge technology,” said Michael McClenahan, executive director of BibleMesh. “Now the collaboration between BibleMesh and Zondervan Academic will give schools the chance to offer even more online options for their students.”

Many Christian colleges and seminaries have begun to offer online courses to meet the demand for online courses and stay competitive, seeing their importance for growing enrollment and leveraging new learning technologies.

The new courses can be used as part of a traditional residential program, within a flipped classroom model (where students watch video lectures at home, and classroom time is used for exercises, projects and discussions) or as part of online-only degree programs. Schools can use them to supplement an existing online program or start a new program using courses with content from Zondervan Academic incorporated into the BibleMesh platform.

Individuals not enrolled in a college or seminary will have an option to receive credit for these classes from a partner institution.

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