Portions of this article were used in a magazine article for Christian Computing Magazine entitled "PC ON THE TV- The Computer in the Sunday School".  The portion of the article printed in Christian Computing Magazine has been updated and is reprinted by permission of the publisher. 

(www.ccmag.com).

       Typical costs to purchase presentation systems are explained in this guide.  PLEASE NOTE THAT PRICES GIVEN ARE BASED ON EARLY 1999 ESTIMATES.  The price of electronic equipment varies quickly so check prices regularly.

WHY HAVE A BIG SCREEN DISPLAY?

    There are a lot of benefits from having a computer display large enough for the whole Sunday School class to see.  Being able to project your computer's display on the large screen makes all the features of your Bible software available to the whole class.  If your software has maps then the whole class can see those maps.  Your search abilities, dictionaries, cross references, commentaries and other reference works are available.

    There are many other advantages as well.  In many churches, class members will be reading from a variety of translations.  A new student using a King James Version Bible, for example, can find it pretty frustrating to try to follow a teacher who is reading from a more modern translation.  Displaying the featured Bible text on a large screen helps keep the class together and gives the opportunity for class members to compare different versions.  The teacher can also instantly switch versions when he feels that a different translation gives enhanced understanding.
It is easy for your class to get off track.  Putting your discussion questions up on the screen helps keep the class focused.  Being able to display your class material on the screen at your discretion allows better control of the flow of the class.

      The same Bible software features that the teacher used to prepare his lesson can often be used "on the fly" in the class.  A really handy use of the computer is for improving the teacher's ability to field questions.  When a class member asks about the "tabernacle", for example, a teacher can simply pull up the dictionary from their Bible software for a quick definition.  In some software the teacher can pull up a drawing, artist rendering or even a 3D mock-up to show on the screen.  Many Bible software packages can make Hebrew and Greek dictionaries instantly available if the teacher is so inclined.  A lot of Bible software packages have handy maps and other visuals that are very useful in a classroom setting.

      How many of us have been in class and thought "I know it talks about this in the Bible somewhere but I just can't remember where!" A quick use of your Bible software's search feature can bring the verse to the screen for everyone to see.

      The advent of more and more multimedia religious software makes the use of the computer in the classroom even more attractive.  In a Christian Computing Magazine review of the multimedia CDROM "Voyage Through the Bible" it was noted that this software allows you to do a virtual walkthru of the temple and other buildings.  Such methods for Bible teaching have never before been available to teachers.

    In addition to simply displaying the selected Bible Text on a large TV, it is easy to put class discussion questions, "quotes of the day" or announcements on the big screen.  Presentation software packages such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Harvard Graphics, Corel WordPerfect Presentations or Lotus Freelance Graphics make it easy to prepare slides for use to augment your study.  It's a snap to add graphics to your computer slides.  Making changes is also easy.  Often I will get an idea within an hour of class time.  It is simple to add an additional discussion question or thought for the day.  I couldn't do that when I was printing out overhead transparencies.  There just wasn't enough time to get it done but now I can even make last minute changes.  In addition, instead of straight black and white transparencies or expensive color overheads I get bright colored graphics.

If you really want to get people's attention, use a scanner or video to PC converter and scan in pictures of your local church members or community scenes as appropriate to enhance your presentation.  Graphics and pictures can really help build interest in your class.  I once scanned in a picture of a model of Herod's temple.  Later I scanned in a picture of our local church building.  I used the computer to resize both images to the same scale and put them together on the screen.  The resulting image instantly helped the class realize the immense size and grandeur of the temple in a way they had never seen before.

      It has been clearly demonstrated that we learn a lot more when both our ears and eyes are involved in the learning process.  Color images generally have more impact than black and white.  Putting the message on the screen helps improve the whole learning experience.
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30+ THINGS TO DO WITH THE BIG SCREEN (Ways to use your multimedia projector or PC/TV converter in the church.) MISSIONS   -  Don't let your missionaries be "out of sight - out of mind" show pictures of your missionaries and mission points in action.  Information about missions results in more prayer and support.   -  Show pictures of baptisms.  Supply your missionary with a digital camera and have them send the pictures over the Internet.   -  Show videos of last year's campaign trip to attract more participants in this year's trip. YOUTH   -  Show videos and digital pictures of the youth in action.  This will encourage both you and them.   -  Retreats   -  Play "Bible Baseball" on the big screen.  Divide your classes into teams and use the contest to review the previously taught material (http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?fcode=000855&b=)   -  Have youth do skits to illustrate lessons/classes/sermons and show on the big screen EDUCATION   -  Show videos of last year's VBS to boost enthusiasm for this year's VBS TEACHING   -  Use your Bible study software in the class room.   -  Put your notes, outlines, key points and "quotes of the day" on the big screen.   -  Show the scripture text in the version of your choice and contrast how different versions translate the text.   -  Display photos of the holy land sites being described in the Bible   -  Use your software Bible Atlas   -  Put your discussion questions on the big screen to keep the class focused   -  Show satellite photos of the holy land   (https://members.tripod.com/bibleclass/images.html)   -  For multilingual groups, show the scriptures in two different languages.   -  Use Internet resources while in the Bible class.   -  Show Christian educational videos   -  Illustrate Bible stories with clips from movies depicting Bible events. ANNOUNCEMENTS   -  Display the announcements for all to see.  Add details such as addresses and phone numbers that you might not normally mention in verbal announcements.   -  Show short videos of upcoming visiting speakers to build enthusiasm for the upcoming activities   -  Replay TV news items that discussed your your congregations activities   -  Show photos of special needs for raising funds   -  Display pictures of new members (especially good for churches with multiple services) WORSHIP/SPECIAL EVENTS   -  Show songs on the big screen (http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?fcode=000OF7&b=)   -  For overflow crowds, send a live video projection to a second room.   -  Put on a seminar concerning marriage, family, finance, etc using one of the excellent videos available for this purpose and invite the community. OTHER   -  In budget meetings, display spreadsheets for showing the affects of different decisions.  Show amendments as they are made.   -  Have a movie night and show movies with Christian values as alternate entertainment for your youth on weekends.   -  If you have a portable projector, take your activities on the road to share with residents of nursing homes, etc. THE FUTURE  (These are the types of uses we anticipate as the technology matures)   -  Have a guest speaker or panel from different cities present a lesson in your Bible Class   -  Conduct a combined service with a mission church that you support.  They see your congregation and you see theirs.   -  Get prepared for "distance learning" to be provided by schools and universities in the future. SPECIAL NOTE:  Be careful of violating copyrights.  Read the copy right restrictions on any items that you plan to display.  Make sure that you have permission  to use items prior to displaying. Do you have other ideas?  Tell us how you are using your large screen system!

 

Reasons that you should NOT use the computer in the Bible class (Check back soon for this new addition.)