To take an Online course, you first need to be admitted as a student at SWBTS. Visit the Admissions webpage for an application!
Once you’ve received your acceptance letter and/or phone call, contact the Distance Learning office to be registered. A student must register through the Registrar or the Distance Learning office for the first course/semester in order to gain access to WebAdvisor, Student Email, and Blackboard. A few days after being registered, start trying to log into your various accounts and notify Information Services if there is a problem.
If you are already a current student, you may register for Online courses through WebAdvisor (Internet courses will all be section letter “I.”)
You’re probably saying to yourself, I’ve registered, so now what?
Well, there are a few things you need to do before the first day of class.
We provide each student an official email account at Southwestern. The email account is web-based (like Microsoft's Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail), so all you need is a web browser and an Internet connection to access it. Your instructor will send any course-related email to your student email address. Your login information for your student email account will NOT be the same as your login information for Blackboard. You can find your login for your Student Email account at:
http://www.swbts.edu/information/
If you are not able to log into the information page, an 800 phone number will appear. Call this number. Someone in the Office of the Registrar will be able to look up your information in the seminary database.
Once you have your login information, you can access your student email account at:
http://elearning.swbts.edu
View step-by-step help for logging into Student Email and changing your password.
IMPORTANT! ALL CORRESPONDENCE WILL BE SENT TO YOUR STUDENT EMAIL ACCOUNT.
Don't forget to change your student email account password!
For more information on payment options, visit the E-Cashier!
Your course will “take place” in a software called Blackboard. It sits on our server, and you access it like a website. Once you’ve registered, that will trigger a process in which our Information services staff creates several accounts for you as a student, including a Blackboard account.
You can access Blackboard at: http://blackboard.swbts.edu
On Blackboard's Welcome page, click the Login button. This will take you to the Blackboard Login page - on this page enter your student ID (the seven-digit ID issued by the seminary - including the initial zero) in BOTH the username field and the password field. Then click the Login button.
For help logging into Blackboard, click here.
You need to find your student ID number. It will be on your acceptance letter from SWBTS, or you can find it on the student Login Information page:
http://www.swbts.edu/information/
Of course, if you have already changed your password, use the new password that you created. (NOTE: Pay special attention to the message about overwritten passwords on the Blackboard home and login pages.) For help on changing your Blackboard password, click here: Changing your Blackboard password
"I got into Blackboard, but it doesn’t show any courses!”
Your courses may not be available yet. Click on the Registrar’s calendar link to see what day classes start. You should be able to access your class on that day. (Internet classes start on the same day as campus classes.)
The Web-Based Education office publishes a website with the list of textbooks for Online courses, and this link is emailed to your Student Email account prior to the start of classes. The Web-Based Education office can also provide the link.
Notice that we provide a list of textbooks for Internet courses only. The list of textbooks for any other campus courses will be posted in the Life Way bookstore two weeks before classes start. Students can call them at 1-800-656-2215 for more information or to have books shipped to them.
View the online manual, Student Guide to Blackboard and Student Email.
Save yourself hours of trial and error by downloading and reading this guide!
Hope you enjoy the semester!
The Department of Web-Based Education