Faith for Life
Digital Learning with SummitU
A Digital Learning Platform
SummitU is a digital platform that gives teachers, students, and administrators access to a unique learning environment. Learn more about how you can access a unique interactive textbook, student workbooks, supplementary readings, supplementary videos, and an editable syllabus all from your computer.
SummitU Features
- 350-day access
- Interactive digital textbook
- Editable syllabus
- Searchable Digital Glossary
- Printable Quizzes and Tests
- Student Communication Tools
Understanding the Times in Digital Format
Understanding the Times is a curriculum that functions more like a crash course in everything rather than a careful introduction to a few key things. In the revision and digitalization of the Understanding the Times curriculum, we want to maximize the opportunity that a 36-week course can provide.
To achieve that goal, we have taken most of the topics covered in past editions and laid them out across three, one-year or one-semester courses:
Understanding the Faith: A Survey of Christian Apologetics lays the groundwork for a Christian worldview. The first half of the book introduces students to some of the core beliefs of Christianity (God, Scripture, Creation/Fall/Redemption metanarrative, Loving God and Neighbor). The second half of the book is all apologetics. (How do we know that God exists? Did Jesus rise from the dead? What about evolution and science?).
Understanding the Times: A Survey of Competing Worldviews shows how Christianity compares with five other worldviews (Secularism, Marxism, New Spirituality, Islam, Postmodernism) in ten areas of academic discipline (Theology, Ethics, Philosophy, History, etc.). The goal is to help students see how Christianity is the worldview that really helps us make sense of the world.
Understanding Cultural Engagement: A Survey of Social Engagement challenges Christian students to give hands and feet to their understanding of the times—encouraging them to bring redemption to issues like poverty, community renewal, politics, creation care, and sexual brokenness.
While the volumes in this series support one another, they are not dependent on each other. Each of the three books also works well as a stand-alone course. It is not required that students complete or have already completed any of the other courses first. They can be reordered and used in whatever way best serves your students.
Get our new Understanding the Times Series
Summit will be releasing the first book in its new high school curriculum later this year in digital and physical form. Learn more about Foundations.
Digital Licenses
Digital Access Only-
1 Teacher License
-
1 Student License
Licenses and Textbooks
Digital Access + Printed Resources-
1 Teacher License
-
1 Student License
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2 Textbooks
Walking in Truth Textbooks
Digital Textbooks Only-
1 Student Textbook License
Manuals & Textbooks
Printed Resources Only-
1 Teacher Manual
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1 Printed Teacher Textbook
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1 Student Manual
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1 Printed Student Textbook
Frequently Asked Questions
SummitU offers many unique features that students cannot get with printed text. Some of the features are included in the list below:
The digital textbook has updated resources and references (over 500 individual sources cited) making research and learning more accessible for students.
The digital textbook and syllabus allow for easy navigation, note-taking, real-time search, instant assignment updates, and much more.
The digital textbook is equipped with:
3–5-minute chapter introduction videos by Dr. Jeff Myers that are integrated into the text
Hyperlinked key terms
Pop-out and hyperlinked footnotes
Searchable text
You can sign up for a six-week trial of the digital course. Or take a video tour of the platform.
Yes! SummitU has homeschool versions of the Understanding the Times and Walking in Truth curricula. SummitU includes all the same, great resources as the classroom version — tailored to fit a homeschool environment:
Each course comes pre-populated with a Weekly Syllabus. All assignments are arranged and distributed per week and intended to be completed by the following class period when a test will be taken, assignments collected, and the next week’s coursework distributed. As always, the teacher has full ability to rearrange, remove, or add assignments to the syllabus.
Teacher and Student Licenses are valid for 350 days from your License Start Date (selected at check out). Teachers may access their materials prior to the start date to set up and prep for their classes.
Understanding the Times Digital has been designed as a website and is currently functional on any device running the Google Chrome browser. Get more information.
We offer a print version of the curriculum with textbooks, student workbooks, and a teacher guide. The only online feature in the printed version is the online videos.
No. The text of the textbook sits inside the digital application and as such cannot be printed. However, printed textbooks will be available for purchase for $29.50. Or a print edition can be added to a digital subscription during checkout for only $22.50.
No. The digital edition of the textbook is only available through the web application. However, print editions of the textbook are available for purchase.
In order to use the course to its fullest potential you will need:
- A Teacher License for each teacher. (Or a Teacher’s Manual & Textbook)
- A Student License for each student. (Or a Student’s Manual & Textbook)
- You will also have the option to add one textbook per digital license at a discounted rate at the time your order is placed. Textbooks ordered apart from digital licenses cannot receive discounted pricing.
Please ensure that you have clicked to send a welcome email to your student.
- Please ensure that you have clicked to send a welcome email to your student.
- Ensure that the email address you’ve entered for the student is accurate.
- Please speak with your IT department to have “@summit.org” added to the incoming server whitelist.
If you continue to experience difficulties, please reach out to our IT by utilizing the chat feature in SummitU.
You can purchase all digital materials from our order page. Account creation, purchase, and setup are covered in the following walkthroughs for homeschool use and for classroom use.
Printed resources—including printed teacher and student manuals as well a textbooks purchased without a digital license—may be ordered through Summit’s online store.
- Homeschool Order Instructions
- Classroom Order Information – Tutorial, Part 1: setting up an account, purchasing courses.
- Classroom Order Information – Tutorial, Part 2: creating course sections, adding and activating teachers and students
If you have a question about how to use SummitU, please utilize the chat feature within the platform or on the login page.
More Information
Supported Browser
We’re excited to release a reliable, easy-to-use platform for our teachers and students. Most devices running Google Chrome version 49 or higher will deliver a consistently stable experience.
Non-Supported Browsers
SummitU will not function properly on the following browsers:
- Mozilla Firefox
- Apple Safari
- Microsoft Edge
- Microsoft Internet Explorer
Advanced Browser Check
An advanced browser check is offered for system administrators looking to confirm compatibility. Click here to produce a print-out.
NOTE: To confirm accessibility for a device, at the bottom of the print-out, “Is App Accessible” should read “True”
Device String: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/104.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
Client IP: 174.24.71.87
Mobile: false; Tablet: false
Apple iOS: false
Google Android OS: false
Apple Mac OS X: true, Version: 10.15
Microsoft Windows: false
Amazon Kindle: false
Samsung Device: false
BlackBerry Device: false
Chrome: true, Version: 104.0.0.0
Safari: false
Internet Explorer: false
Edge: false
Silk: false
Firefox: false
Opera: false
Samsung Browser: false
UC Browser: false
Is App Accessible: true
Overview of SummitU
Walk through the contents of Summit U to learn what this digital curriculum includes and requires.