New software helps create educational materials

International (MAF) – Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) has released Lumin, a free software program that makes it easy to create digital curriculum, presentations, eBooks, exams, and more.

“According to some estimates, 85% of the world’s churches are led by people who don’t have any theological or ministry training,” said Elliot Dawson of MAF, who was instrumental in the development of Lumin. “They don’t have access to libraries or Christian educational materials, but they may have a digital device of some sort. Lumin was developed as a resource for these isolated believers. It’s an easy way to create learning materials that can be shared across a wide variety of devices and operating systems, without the need for specialized software.”

Lumin allows churches, teachers, pastors, and trainers to produce and deliver educational resources, even in areas where access to the Internet is limited. Materials created in Lumin can be exported and viewed in most modern web browsers or exported directly into Estante, MAF’s digital library app, for storage and sharing.

“You don’t need an Internet connection to use Lumin, and you don’t need any special skills,” said Dawson. “If you can use a Windows computer, you’re ready to create educational materials.”

Lumin comes with exam builders, easy archiving features, basic text formatting, and the ability to add images, video, audio, and music. Exported Lumin projects, called “Paks,” can be viewed on almost any mobile device or computer. The Lumin user interface can be changed for English or Spanish, with more languages expected to be available in the future.

Although Lumin can be employed in classroom settings, Dawson says it is especially useful for non-formal, personal learning. It can also be used for homeschooling.

Lumin can be downloaded for free at www.maf.org/lumin. In addition, MAF is hosting a contest for those who want to create a project with the new software. Just download Lumin and follow the instructions at www.maf.org/lumin/contest for a chance to win a Samsung Tablet 3.