AVI CHAI Educational Technology

As The AVI CHAI Foundation sunsets, this blog will close

2019-12-04T13:59:00.000-05:00

Dear friends and colleagues,

This blog was read over 121,000 times since it started during 2006. The blog was used to report about experiments using educational technology, most of them focused on Jewish studies in day schools. Over the past few years other venues to share ideas emerged, and this blog was used less.

The blog will close over the next two weeks.

Thank you all,
Eli

Is it Allowed: A Virtual Minyan with Video Streaming

2015-02-20T07:32:00.005-05:00

By Rabbi Jason Miller

It was 1998 and I was in my first semester of rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary. My Talmud professor, Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner, approached me after class one day to discuss a project he was working on. As a member of the Conservative Movement’s Law Committee, he was examining the acceptability of a virtual minyan (prayer quorum). Knowing my interest in technology, he picked my brain about some of the technical implications of video-conferencing. He sought to answer the halakhic (Jewish legal) question of whether a minyan could be convened using non-traditional, electronic means. Some of the sources he was considering were drawn from the same pages we were then studying in his class, namely Tractate Rosh Hashanah as it deals with hearing the sound of the shofar to fulfill the obligation.

Rabbi Reisner’s project resulted in a teshuva (legal position paper) titled “Wired to the Kadosh Baruch Hu,” in which he ruled that a virtual minyan conducted via video-conferencing was not “kosher.”

Continue reading "Is it Allowed: A Virtual Minyan with Video Streaming" on the Jewish Techs blog

Rabbi Jason Miller is a tech entrepreneur, blogger and educator in Detroit, Michigan. He is president of Access Computer Technology and Access Social. He blogs at blog.rabbijason.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RabbiJason.

Scan B'vakasha! - QR Codes in Jewish (and General) Studies Class

2014-06-20T16:57:00.000-04:00

QR (short for “quick response”) Codes are those black and white squiggly squares that have been popping up in recent years on the pages of magazines, edges of brochures, sides of packaging and anywhere else marketers might choose to give consumers access to more product information. They are similar to supermarket barcodes, but they hold more data, and can be easily scanned without the beam of light with a scanner on your mobile device. As educators have sought to harness technology to enhance classroom learning, many resources for utilizing QR codes in educational contexts have been disseminated (e.g. see Edutopia or Scholastic.com). After attending the ISTE conference last summer (thanks to a grant from AviChai), I learned about some of these techniques firsthand. As I set about thinking of how QR codes could enhance my classroom, I learned that the 5^th grade General Studies teacher was also working to utilize QR codes at school. We shared some ideas and resources, and by the end of the year, QR codes were taking over the walls …!

Following are some of the ways we have made use of QR technology at KBA this past year:

· Fun, games, and anchor activities.

o To kick off the first day of middle school, we created a QR code scavenger hunt. It helped acclimate students to their new iPads, gave them practice using their scanners, and included clues that were both fun and silly as well as subject-oriented. Scanning each code took users to a website that I made (for free!) using Weebly. For more info on how to create such a site for scavenger hunt, check out http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=4211.

o I used badges on Edmodo this year to “gamify” the learning experience a bit for my 6^th graders (I learned that term at ISTE!). For example, if they completed a Rashi assignment, they might find a “Rashi Decoder” badge the next day on their Edmodo account. Earn 5 badges, and you move up a level… To add to the engagement, I would place a QR code at the bottom of a worksheet, which would link to a website with the necessary information for students to complete their badge. A bit time consuming to prepare, but worth it for the fun factor.

o QR codes are perfect tools for giving students engaging “anchor activities” if they finish their work early during class. This photo shows different online learning activities the 5^th graders would access with via QR codes on the wall.

· Student Presentations: Empowering students to become the teachers for a wider audience

o After students in sixth grade learned about Mishnah and Torah Sheba’al Peh, they recorded skits introducing the history and content of those texts. Next, we made QR codes linking to their videos, and posted the codes in the Beit Midrash where the Talmud volumes sit. Anyone—student, faculty, parent, guest—who now enters the Beit Midrash can scan the codes to learn more about the books they see. When they scan, the students’ skits pop up onto their device!

o Fifth graders read a variety of books and then created iMovie reports about their favorite stories and authors. These video reports were put online and are now accessible by simply scanning the codes on the book poster in the corridor.

o To introduce a school-wide Author’s Night program, parents scanned QR codes when they entered the building to see unique “trailers” created by the budding authors in each grade, building excitement for students and parents alike.

· Integrating Content

o In our Humash class, we studied a chapter in B’midbar wherein Moshe becomes depressed as a result carrying the whole nation upon his shoulders. His despair is so great that he asks God to take his life rather than continue the status quo. One of the “big ideas” of our unit was that “carrying a burden in isolation can lead to desperation,” a theme that we connected to instances in our own community. Our classroom learning led to researching a youth hotline in New Jersey for teens who need to someone to turn to. As part of the final project, students created fliers with advice for people who were feeling depressed, and together we created our own QR codes for the fliers that link to the real youth hotline. If anyone walking our halls is in need a place to turn, they can privately scan the QR codes for more information. (See pics above and below) Using the QR codes helped integrate the biblical text with the students’ lives in a powerful way.

· So how do you make a QR code?

o There are many user-friendly QR generators online you can use, such as Kaywa. Copy and paste the URL for the site you want to link to into the generator on Kaywa. It does the rest for you in seconds. You can then print the code, or save it, or paste it, and you can resize it and color it, as well. IPads also use QR Reader apps, which can both read and make codes. If you have an Android, try QR Droid for your phone.

Happy scanning!

Micah Liben is Rabbi in Residence at Kellman Brown Academy.

Training Bar Mitzvah Kids with New Technology

2014-02-12T09:17:00.002-05:00

Bar and Bat Mitzvah Preparation in the 21st Century

By Rabbi Jason Miller

In the Coen Brother’s movie “A Serious Man,” we see young Danny practicing his haftorah for his bar mitzvah by listening to the cantor’s rendition of it on his record player. That scene was undoubtedly sentimental for Jewish men of a certain age who prepared for their bar mitzvah by keying up the phonograph in their parents’ living room.

Bar Mitzvah preparation has come a long way since the days of the record album. In the 1980s and early 1990s cantors and bar/bat mitzvah tutors recorded their voices onto audio cassette tapes so their twelve-year-old students could walk around the house listening to the chanting on a Sony Walkman. In fact, I remember many nights falling asleep with my black foamy headphones on while I listened to the late Cantor Larry Vieder of Adat Shalom Synagogue repeating the Torah trope (cantilation notes) and the long haftorah for my bar mitzvah. The mid-1990s saw the transition from the audio tapes to music CDs when bar mitzvah tutors began hooking up microphones to the computer and recording the bar mitzvah portion onto blank CD-Roms.

In recent years we’ve seen bar and bat mitzvah students receiving the audio version of the haftorah and blessings they need to learn via email, a concept that anyone over the age of thirty would find amazing.

The way Jewish teens prepare for their bar or bat mitzvah has changed dramatically thanks to technological innovation. Not only has the audio format changed over the years, but so too has the way in which these young men and women are being tutored.

I was recently at a retreat for Jewish leaders where I met Todd Shotz. Todd launched Hebrew Helpers several years ago as a way to provide in-home, one-on-one personalized bar and bat mitzvah instruction. In addition to coordinating private bar/bat mitzvah services for families that do not belong to a congregation, Todd’s company arranges for tutors to work with children to prepare for their b’nai mitzvah. While many of his students are matched with local tutors in the Los Angeles area he has also found that he can help Jewish teens around the country through Skype and other video conferencing applications.

Shotz isn’t the only one taking advantage of this new technology to help students prepare for their bar or bat mitzvahs. Even local tutors who frequently meet with their students in person are using Skype, Apple’s Facetime or Google’s hangouts to conduct reviews with their students before the big day. Today’s teens have such busy schedules that it’s not always feasible for them to meet with a tutor at the synagogue so late night sessions over the internet are more conducive.

Continue reading...

Rabbi Jason Miller served in several capacities for the Ramah Camping Movement and was the year-round rabbi of Tamarack Camps in Michigan. He is an entrepreneurial rabbi and technologist, who serves as president of Access Computer Technology in Detroit, Michigan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter at@RabbiJason.

Reflections from attending iNACOL

2013-11-01T17:26:00.000-04:00

Sweetly Mixing Torah Learning with Computer Technology[1]

In his commentary on this weeks’ Torah portion, Toldot, the holy Piaczesno, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, in his book Derekh Hamelekh, talks about the connection between body and soul:

In the upper worlds there is a lot of holiness; the essential glory and kedusha of the soul is also revealed there. But there is a need to reveal this holiness also in this world, in the earthly body. Not simply putting the body and soul together… but rather, that through the connection of the body and the soul there will be revealed a type of holiness that is not present even in the upper worlds: the soul and the body transformed together into a united holiness.

Consider the metaphor of a burning candle. There is, in the fire, oil and wick. However, do we call the fire 'oil and wick?' In the beginning there was 'oil' and 'wick' but now they have transformed to light, one united illumination.

I’d like to extend the Rabbi’s teaching about the importance of truly uniting body and soul – and not just having them be put together, side by side – in order to explore how to combine Torah learning and technology. Indeed, we are encouraged in the morning blessings to engage in Torah in ways that create a sweet mixture - Ve’ha’erav na Hashem Elokeinu et Divrei Toratekha Be’finu, G-d please sweeten/combine the words of Torah [emanating from] our mouths. The word “Ve’ha’erav” from the root e.r.v means both “sweeten” and “combine.” I read this as guidance to create sweet combinations – of tradition with contemporary life, of text and self, of ancient content and contemporary technologies, and of wicks and oil that transform into innovative illumination.

To be sure, some approaches to combining Torah learning and computer technology - are merely doing what the Rabbi has called ‘simply putting them together.’ But I’d like to think there could be more than that. Much more. Indeed, what would be the equivalent of “transforming body and soul into a united illumination,” an approach that unites Torah learning and technology to deliver 21^st Century learning befitting Jewish day schools?

The term “blended learning” perhaps reflects a hope of combining the best of what the teacher has to bring, with the best of what online learning can offer – a synergistic illumination. For synergy to happen it is important not to lose the real-time nature of learning. Teachers selecting a pre-packaged course - “off the shelf,” so to speak – even if the teacher is in the room interacting with students, still may not be coming close to what’s possible. It is important to allow learning to emanate from the creativity of the teacher. Indeed, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov teaches that there is a real – hiluk – difference between learning from a book and learning from a teacher.[2]

On one hand, learning benefits from having top quality presenters delivering excellent content – and the prospect of bringing world-class presenters into every class is exciting. On the other hand, quality learning is not only about the presenters, it is also about the students. Learning is most engaging and dynamic when it resonates with what is happening in students’ lives, with other subjects they are studying, with current events in the community and the world, with students’ interests and challenges.

Teachers in the room may not be serving as the main presenters, but they need to play an essential and creative role in connecting learning to the uniqueness of students in the room. Teachers also need to bring in their own presence to enable direct human encounters between students and teacher – and as Martin Buber has described, this encounter also brings in the presence of the transcendent. This may be why Rabbi Nachman stresses the difference of learning from a teacher.

At the iNACOL symposium, my most exciting take-away is something that seems to begin addressing this need, and may lead toward creating a “sweet mixture” of Torah learning computer technology. Here’s what I learned: Raymond McNulty, the Chief Learning Officer at Pennfoster, told me they have a large selection of vocational high school stackable modules of content that educators can select from and use to creatively customize learning for their students.

A learning module is a succinct block of on-line content available for teachers to use in building their course or for self-directed learning. An educator could stack learning modules – that is assemble them - for students to experience them sequentially or could allow students to explore a set of modules in an order of their own choosing. The relatively short duration of modules can allow an educator to respond to real-time needs and to appropriately select and assemble modules to meet emergent learning needs.

Platforms that make it easy for teachers to select and use “stackable modules” can enable them to customize learning to fit each student and the teaching moment. Done well, it could combine teachers’ own creativity and sense for what will uniquely resonate with students, with top quality pre-packaged content, and foster real-time context-rich learning.

For example, at The Binah School, middle and high school students are currently engaged in a learning expedition that builds on Torah teaching about areyvut (mutual responsibility) and engages students in creating something in the area of assistive technology that can help people with disabilities. I can imagine using stackable online learning modules to get students up to speed on engineering basics and tools they will be using (such as computer aided design). Getting the new content from a honed online resources and then brining in an expert to work with the students on their projects may exemplify “a sweet mixture.”

My colleague, Nomi Feinberg, pointed me to how the Gates Foundation is creating a resource for such modular units with PowerMyLearning – a free digital learning platform for K-12 students and educators with learning activities selected from across the web. Their educators vet games, videos, and interactive simulations from publishers like PBS, Discovery, National Geographic, Khan Academy, Scholastic, and tag them by subject, grade, Common Core standards, and other criteria.

I believe we have an important opportunity: to develop a user-friendly platform of quality online Jewish content in stackable modules. There are beginnings of this already happening, for example with Aleph Beta and other resources. These will support teachers to blend more quality Torah wisdom, not only into Jewish studies classes, but also into general studies and even into supplementary learning, where time is even more limited.

I would appreciate learning from you about new resources that are becoming available in this rapidly evolving field. Please share what you know, either as a comment to this blog or send me an email at: ronit.zivkreger@gmail.com

Stackable Torah modules may be one in a set of the tools, that taken together, will enable teachers to play creative roles in connecting learning to the uniqueness of students, and to foster direct encounters between students and teachers. Part of the work will always include the teacher's inner-journey. Parker Palmer puts it this way: "The transformation of teaching must begin in the transformed heart of the teacher." Indeed, Torah teaching benefits greatly from a teacher's connection with G-d.

The word in Aramaic for Torah is Oraita, which means light. I'm excited to continue to be in the conversation with remarkable educators on how we can most synergistically use technology to spread the light of Torah.

Dr. Ronit Ziv-Kreger combines her passion for Jewish learning and life with her MIT training in management science to train and coach educators and to offer school and learning design consulting for The Binah School, other day schools, and for CJP’s initiative to reinvent supplementary education in the Boston area. She is a graduate of the Pardes Educators Program and received her PhD from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

[1] I’m grateful to the AVI CHAI foundation, and to Program Officer, Rachel Abrahams, for generously supporting me to attend the iNACOL symposium to represent educators from The Binah School, in Sharon, Massachusetts, together with the school’s director of humanities, Nomi Feinberg.

[2] Likutei Moharan, Torah 20:4

“Hafoch Bah v’Hafoch Bah” – Flipping the Judaic Studies Classroom

2013-10-20T23:32:00.001-04:00

“Hafoch Bah v’Hafoch Bah” – Flipping the Judaic Studies Classroom

Reflections on my flipped class journey and lessons from ISTE

Over the past few years, “flipped classroom” videos of the Khan Academy variety have become increasingly popular and widespread among educators, particularly with the proliferation of (free) whiteboard apps. Teacher-generated video lessons can be valuable tools for differentiating instruction and enabling students to work at their own pace. They shift the focus away from lecture-style presentations onto teacher-guided work or activities, wherein students apply the lessons learned from the video. They may serve as anchor activities for students who have moved ahead in class. And of course, videos enable busy students to pause, rewind and re-watch their teachers whenever and however often they want. The flipped class methodology—which generally entails units built around short videos which students watch at home, followed by “homework” done in the classroom where the teacher is available to clarify and guide the learning—has been shown to make assignments more effective, and to increase student engagement as well as achievement.

In the Jewish educational context, I had certainly seen (and created) YouTube videos of the how-to variety (“how to have an aliyah”) or the talking head variety (“weekly d’var Torah”), some of which were quite engaging and some which were as dull as any classroom lecture. But I had never encountered instructional videos that were integrated in a systematic way into a class setting. Wondering if flipped videos could be applied to a day school Jewish Studies classroom, and excited and intrigued with the possibilities, last year I set about experimenting with flipped videos for my middle school Tanach and Mishnah classes.

My initial thinking has been to create video content on relatively broad topics which are not overly curriculum-specific. That way, they could be utilized by our Judaics faculty across grades, years and curricula, since they could potentially be applicable to a variety of content matter and re-watched in various contexts. Additionally, they could serve as online resources to other students or educators beyond our walls. So, for example, I made several videos about broad concepts in Rabbinic/Torah Commentary, such as “Kal Va-Chomer” and “Gematria.” Since we use iPads in our middle school, I initially have worked with Educreations, which the students can easily pull up through the app on their iPads or watch through a link on our website. Educreations (or the comparable ShowMe app) is also useful for students to create their own instructional videos as class-work, an enrichment activity or a summative assessment.

Screenshot from "Kal Vachomer" Video made with Educreations app

At the end of last year, I asked for student feedback regarding the videos, and they gave positive reports regarding their level of engagement, desire to watch more videos, and using the videos at their own leisure. Based on their surveys and their work in general, I felt it was a successful “beta-test” year. However, I knew there was room for improvement in many areas, including editing capability and interactive questions.

Screenshot from Educreations video on "Gematria"

Thanks in part to a grant from AVI CHAI, I was fortunate to attend the ISTE ’13 conference, where I was able to explore in greater depth some best practices for integrating technology, including creating flipped classrooms. There is certainly much to be said about the teacher practices and pedagogy which must accompany flipped videos, to ensure real learning. But sticking to tools and resources, here is just a small sampling of new info and insights I came away with from ISTE:

· Web Content Concerns. There is always anxiety, with good reason, regarding what students will come across when watching online content. Quietube is a great way to share videos online without the distractions and “crud” that accompany many Youtube videos. You may choose another video platform like Vimeo, or distribute video files by uploading to an internal class platform like Edmodo, instead of via the internet.

· Flubaroo. This is a mechanism for managing online assignments with a Google Form, for students fill in after watching. With this tool, teachers can include quick formative assessments with the video to check for understanding. This increases the interactive element, and gives teachers a sense of where students’ understanding is and how to tailor instruction for group-work in class. A follow-up also can be created to engage parents.

· Aaron Sams’ Video Rules. The flipped class guru, whose book I got at ISTE, preaches several rules for flipped videos. Some—like animating your voice and adding humor—can be done regardless of what software or video tools you use. Others—like adding zooming, callouts and annotations—are much more difficult with the free products (you get what you pay for). Over the year I was fortunate to receive a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation in Cherry Hill for Camtasia screen capture software. Camtasia is the industry standard – superlative editing tools, but not as simple or user-friendly (or free).

· Captions and Subtitles. A teacher may choose to use a script to read off of to narrate the video. If a script is used, then it can be synced with the video once uploaded to Youtube. (Instead of Educreations, which uses its own site, try Screencast-O-Matic or Aww – A Web Whiteboard, for this.) Save your script as a plain text (txt) file. Then, in the Edit menu on your Youtube video, choose Captions and upload your file; your words will now appear on screen, enhancing the level of engagement and interaction.

· Whose videos? The consensus is that making your own videos is the best course of action when possible, because it creates a more personal connection with your students. Ultimately, good teaching is based upon relationships, and flipping the classroom can help foster this. But teachers should also make use of the myriad videos that are already out there, and not feel it’s necessary to reinvent the wheel for every topic. Sites like Blendspace (Edcanvas) list video content by subject, and can be shared to Edmodo for students to watch and discuss. My hope is to see more Jewish Studies videos out there in the near future to share and collaborate with!

The Mishnah teaches, “hafoch bah v’hafoch bah d’kula vah – turn it [Torah] around and around to find everything inside.” Likewise I hope that flipping the classroom around will be one more tool to help students reach deeper levels of knowledge, insight and understanding.

Micah Liben is the Rabbi in Residence at Kellman Brown Academy.

ISTE 2013

2013-08-06T13:38:00.004-04:00

I want to thank Avi Chai for giving me this amazing opportunity to be at ISTE in San Antonio. i felt like a child that got to play in a huge playground and can't wait to learn and try more and more new things. It was great to be part of an amazing group of educators that are excited about technology and see the opportunities in emerging developments in educational technology. All Avi Chai team made my experience positive and valuable. Rachel Abraham, Ayelet, Jennifer Newfeld that welcomed us in San Antonio and took care of our meals. Every evening Eliezer Jones, always with a smile engaged a group of tired and overwhelmed teachers in great conversation. TODAH RABBA As an educator, I was excited to hear the keynotes presentations focused on the application of game design to education by Jane McGonigal, an American game designer, she spoke about her research in creating games designed to teach students how to solve real world problems. She described how the player is engaged, using critical thinking, motivated and keep on reaching higher goals when playing. Being busy all year with curriculum, Instruction, assessments, report cards and parent meetings I never had the chance to take the time and learn about how games can be part of my instruction. This keynote presentation introduced me to this unique topic and showed me the potential gaming has to remove boundaries in education by engaging students and forcing them to think critically. Our Avi Chai conversation in the first evening was focusing on gaming and why it's important to use it in education. It was very interesting to hear each person's thoughts and personal experience. The gamers in the group were so excited and shared some project they are using in their school. I specially remember that in one school students had the option to use 'Minecraft' to build a model of 'Beit Hamikdash'. the teacher shared how this experience kept them engaged and motivated. I’m excited to share this topic with other teachers in my school and i hope to continue the conversation with other educators using social media.

2013-07-19T13:37:00.001-04:00

As I was waiting for my baggage a few weeks back at LAX, after arriving home from an amazing four days of ISTE learning, I struck up a conversation with my baggage claim neighbor Marcy. She was telling me about the events and parties she went to during the ISTE evenings. They sounded fun and I know I would have rocked out at the Edutopia Karaoke. However, as I told her, I had the privilege of facilitating a group of Jewish educators who were sponsored by the Avi Chai Foundation to attend ISTE. In fact, I had the privilege of facilitating a larger group as Avi Chai invited many Jewish educators to the kosher dinners and many chose to stay for the intellectual desert of reflection. And reflect we did.

Each night at ISTE the Avi Chai cohort met for dinner and after we discussed our day of learning and plans for the next day. The first night was focused on getting to know each other, what we wanted to get out of ISTE in general and how we experienced the opening keynote by Jane McGonical on gamification (click here for a previous post on that keyote). The other nights we shared what stood out for us and how we might apply it to our classrooms and schools. We not only shared our own experiences which enhanced our learning by having to remember what we actually experienced, but increased our learning through hearing what others learned. We also shared different perspectives, provided support for new ideas and gained from each others experience. Additionally, as evidenced by the first night and the subsequent ones, the group reflection was a powerful way to learn and revise our focus for the upcoming day. These discussions had immediate positive impact on our learning at ISTE and I suspect beyond.

I explained all of this to my baggage buddy as I was daydreaming about belting out my version of “baby, we were born to run” by The Boss, when I realized Marcy looked disappointed. How could she be? She went to all these great after ISTE parties. So, I asked her what she was thinking as clearly we have bonded over the hypnotic twirl of the LAX baggage carousel. She said she wished she had spent some time with her colleagues reflecting on her learning instead of enjoying tequila shots at the PLP Party Barge.

Upon reflection of our conversation about reflection, it is no wonder an educator would find value in the activities the Avi Chai cohort engaged in each evening. It is a critical element to any learning, whether for our students or us as professionals. To take a page from the project-based learning playbook, we need to spend more time reviewing and reflecting through giving and receiving feedback on what we create as well as as think about what and how we are learning. Although it was only three discussions, I think we did just that each night. We were sharing ideas, the ways we practice our craft, giving each other feedback on those ideas and ultimately improving our choices for the next day at ISTE and hopefully in the way we educate.

So, thank you to the Avi Chai Foundation for asking me to facilitate a fantastic group of educators. Thank you for also affording this group the opportunity to come together to learn at ISTE and with each other. Finally, thank you for continuing to make a difference for Jewish education.

I will leave this post with a good article of fostering reflection. Enjoy!

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb09/vol66/num05/Fostering-Reflection.aspx

Cross-posted at OpenDaySchool.org

Finding Torah in Technology at ISTE

2013-07-11T17:44:00.000-04:00

A favorite joke of mine depicts a congregant approaching the rabbi before Kol Nidre. “I can’t make it to services; it’s the World Series, and I have to watch the game.” The rabbi nods sympathetically, but suggests there might be some middle ground. “Isn’t that what a DVR is for?” The congregant pauses as the wheels turn, then exclaims: “Great—so you’re saying I can record Kol Nidre!”

It’s a classic, but still resonates today. The tensions it highlights (Jewish observance versus American pastime, emergent technology versus established religious norms) are very much at the heart of contemporary discussions regarding technology in Jewish religious/educational contexts.

It was this dichotomy that I was, on a certain level, most interested in exploring at the ISTE conference, which I attended thanks to a generous grant from AVI CHAI. As a school administrator, I was committed to gathering new resources for bringing educational technology to our Jewish Studies classrooms back at KBA. As a teacher, I was seeking practical information and tools to aid in my own ongoing project of “flipping” my Mishnah classroom. But beyond all the tachlis, I was hoping to gain a greater insight into the relationship between using new tech resources and teaching Jewish values.

It is not merely a theoretical concern. As our tools and technologies change ever-more rapidly—and with them our established cultural norms and values—the tension inherent in the “DVR vs. Kol Nidre” paradigm continues to grow. I have heard some skeptics speak in dire tones about the evils that can result from technology, and I have been advised by others about the merits of simply taking it slow, so as to ensure adequate reflection and evaluation before racing onward to a brave new world.

Some of these points are well taken. Indeed, to what extent does technology itself challenge the values that we hold dear? To what extent does the use and culture of the Internet increase the “borrowing” of words for assignments, provide a platform for bullying or slandering, or simply dissolve the authentic discourse of personal encounters?

More and more, the value of modern technology for the classroom is becoming a given in day schools (as it should be!), and KBA is no exception. To that end, we currently have iPads for all 5th-8th graders, flipped video archives, and a host of apps and software programs for math, science, and languages (to name just a few things). We also utilize the Gemara Berura software program to build skills for decoding rabbinic texts.

But while the benefit of educational technology for both students and teachers is becoming more widely accepted, it is still met with some skepticism. Some in the religious world recognize the value of things like databases that hyperlink texts and commentaries, yet continue to see the technology itself as a sort of necessary evil, one that may help students learn but ultimately threatens more traditional methods. And for their part, many students see new technological innovations as existing in a separate sphere, divorced from Jewish Studies rather than an integral part of it. As we continue to integrate technology into our curricula, Jewish educators have a responsibility not only to help students navigate the questions posed above, but to proactively inject Jewish values—as they relate to technology itself—into the curriculum.

It was with this in mind that I approached my first day of ISTE sessions—and was delighted by what I encountered. The presenter in my afternoon class (named Philip Vinogradov) had sent all the attendees a Google Doc ahead of time, so that if anyone learned a new insight or resource about the topic from an earlier session they could share it with the group. By the time the class began we already had a dozen new tools and ideas to use as jumping off points. From there, it only got better. The instructor had us sign into TodaysMeet, where we could post questions and comments on a back-channel throughout the session. Mr. Vinogradov would respond to posts every so often, but essentially the back-channel served as a way for attendees to bounce ideas off each other as the session went on. I was so impressed by the collaborative nature of the session that I was fully prepared to write an eval at the end of the week extolling Mr. Vinogradov as a stand-out instructor—until it turned out that this was essentially the norm in all the sessions! Whether by using TodaysMeet or creating unique Twitter hashtags, almost every presenter encouraged and enabled participants to connect and work together en masse in a way I had never experienced, sharing insights in real time and ultimately heightening the learning experience for all involved.

I knew I'd seen this concept somewhere before… The Gemara discusses the notion of scholars sharpening each other’s minds in matters of law (“mehadedin zeh at zeh”). This Talmudic passage expressing the idea that two heads are better than one exemplifies the traditional havrutah method of partner-based learning, and has its application in contemporary cooperative learning models. At ISTE, I truly felt as though I was participating in a digital display of mehadedin zeh at zeh at the highest level, with all the learners sharpening each other’s thinking and ideas. How powerful it would be to introduce students to the expanded uses of Twitter—with all of its ability to connect, collaborate and communicate ideas—in the context of this sugiyah, or of Pirkei Avot’s teaching of “kneh l’cha haver,” finding a partner for study.

This theme of collaboration—which is truly a hallmark of technology today—continued through the closing keynote address by Adam Bellow. “I love to share!” he declared. Mr. Bellow displayed a model very different from the proprietary, ego-driven model that is characteristic of many disciplines. In stressing the benefits of technology for collaboration, Mr. Bellow also displayed modesty about his personal accomplishments. Near the start of his speech, he gave a “shout-out” to those in the tech world who preceded him, specifically referring to a woman who, as he put it, “was Edutecher before Edutecher was invented.” (Edutecher is an online resource Mr. Bellow created.) Here was an individual being honored as the keynote speaker at ISTE, with an impressive resume of innovations and inventions, who chose to lead off by recognizing the work of others—others whose shoulders he acknowledged he stood upon. What a wonderful model. Pirkei Avot teaches, “One who says something in the name of its source (b’shem omro) brings redemption to the world.” Perhaps it was no coincidence, then, that his speech was entitled, “An Invitation to Change the World.”

If we can use technology to enable students to connect and collaborate on a greater scale, and do it through the lens of hevruta; if we can guide students through the process of gathering and curating material from among the vast store-houses of information on the web, and do it in the context of“b’shem omro;” if we can encourage creativity and innovation tempered by anivut (humility); then we truly meet our goals both as educators and Jewish role models.
Armed with technological know-how informed by Torah principles, perhaps our students truly will change the world…or at the very least, they’ll both be tech-savvy and also attend Kol Nidre!

Micah Liben is Rabbi in Residence at Kellman Brown Academy

ISTE 2013...AVICHAI Style!

2013-07-07T13:22:00.002-04:00

This was my second time at an ISTE (International society for technology in education, now say it five times very fast, GO!) conference and as usual it was an earth-shattering, overwhelming, and exhausting event. From the opening keynote about Gamification (Yes, we are now turning every classroom into one giant Kinect thingamajig) to the closing remarks by Adam Below, everything had a significant impact on my life as an educational technology coach. But, as opposed to last year where I went on my own, this year I was fortunate to be part of a remarkable group of individuals spanning the United States, brought together by none other the spectacular AVICHAI Organization.

I originally thought that the sole benefit of this cohort was free room and food (seriously!); I figured I’d do my thing at the conference, come to the hotel, eat some “airport food,” (No Kosher meat eateries anywhere!!!) and be on my merry way. I had no idea that this would be an experience I probably will never forget!

Every evening, after an exhausting day of workshops, sessions, and vendors marketing ploys (Yes, the chachkas are great, but seriously…), we were treated with a big smile by Jennifer Newfeld, who so graciously arranged all of our meals, and was one of our liaisons for Avichai throughout the trip (You were awesome Jennifer!). At each table you could hear each person’s excitement, sharing ideas, schmoozing with one another and trading business cards (yes, we’re at a tech conference and we are still using these.)Then the magic really began (cue Indiana Jones theme song); the famous Dr. Jones…Eliezer Jones closed the night by facilitating a great group talk reflecting about the (e)vents of that particular day.

Thanks to Mrs. Rachel Abrahams, a wonderful program which allowed me to connect with people from LA (My hometown BABY!) to New York and everything in between was done beautifully. From the first time we met in the unforgettable River room (San Antonio has this scary obsession with the word “River”), down to the last Minyan on Wednesday morning (yes you read that right, we had a Minyan, with a real Sefer Torah, every single day of the conference, Shachris, Minha and Mariv, first time ever!), I was able to build great relationships and excellent networks of like-minded Jewish educators whose sole purpose is to enhance the way we do Education in all Jewish Day Schools.

Thank you!

Cross posted from: http://rabbimichaelbitton.blogspot.com/2013/07/iste-2013avichai-style.html

Gameification and Trouble with the Curve

2013-07-05T15:41:00.001-04:00

The night before I was headed to ISTE13 I enjoyed the movie Trouble With The Curve starring Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake. While this is not a movie review, I thought the movie was good, enjoyed the story and appreciated the messages delivered. One of these messages is one I believe in strongly and was reinforced the next day at the ISTE opening Keynote given by Jane McGonigal, Learning is an Epic Win, which was focused on gamification in education.

Towards the end of the movie, Johnny (timberlake), a scout for the Boston Red Sox is talking about his short lived career as a baseball player and says, “as you know, to hit the magical 300, you fail seven out of ten times.” In fact, the highest career batting average of all time is only .366 by Ty Cobb and the second best average (.358) was by hall of famer Roger Hornsby who was quoted saying, "I don't like to sound egotistical, but every time I stepped up to the plate with a bat in my hands, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the pitcher.” That is pretty cocky for someone who misses nearly 65% of the time. Although, I doubt anyone would call Cobb or Hornsby a loser by any means.

Jane McGonigal echoed a similar statistic where gamers, during game play, typically fail 80% of the time, yet continue to play until they achieve their goals. With over 1 billion hours of gameplay accounted for daily, according to McGonical, what is it about games that keep us coming back even in the face of that high fail rate?

Gaming is all about solving puzzles, reaching goals, staying alive and above all learning from mistakes to become better at the game. Each time a gamer jumps into a world they explore and work at achieving whatever goals are set forth by the game. At first the game environment is new and the mechanics might be unfamiliar. Yet, there is only one way to go from noob to prestige and that is to press start and figure it out along the way. Everytime you fall off a cliff, get shot, explode, freeze, crash, come in last or just plain die you start over and try again, often doing better than the time before. Most gamers do not give up when they do not score or receive a score that is less than brag worthy. They fail time and time again so that they can come back into the game better for it and continue to level up. In education, we simply do not afford enough opportunities for our students to level up and I wonder what impact that has on our student’s motivation to learn.

As a proud lifelong gamer myself, I enjoy the challenge of the various games I play and the learning that occurs. As a young child, my grandparents bought me an Atari 3000 when I was home sick with pneumonia and having a miserable time with it. Frogger and Pitfall certainly made the medicine go down and I was hooked. I graduated over the years to Nintendo’s NES, a short stint with the TurboGrafx16, the first playstation as well as the second, a handful of handheld devices and eventually grew into the devoted XBOX fan that I am today. Besides the acceptance of and learning value I find in failing time and time again in games, I also find many other aspects of gaming that are important to education.

As a gamer, you have choice over a huge library of games that you purchase based on your interests. During gameplay you are given constant feedback (points, badges, items, etc.) on how you are doing and that feedback helps you improve. Another wonderful factor of more recent games is multiplayer modes where you play with others and can collaborate to achieve success. Often the challenges in games also require high levels of critical thinking, problem solving and creative solutions to unusual problems. Finally, failure is an option. In fact, it is a necessity. I am not aware of any gamer, although I am sure there are a few, that have finished a game completely the first time without losing once. Yet, we still play even though we know it is impossible not to fail at least a few times and in most cases hundreds of times. However, the score is not a sign of failure, but real-time evidence of how you are doing and, generally, how you are improving.

In gaming your score is something you are always motivated to increase and with the many points, badges, unlocks and levels there are many real-time methods of assessment that it inspires instead of frightens. As educators, there is something to learn from gaming in regard to how we assess, what we assess, why we assess and how often we assess. One of the reasons I am excited about aspects of blended learning is the real-time data it collects which can be used to assist educators in making data-driven decisions more often than are traditionally made.

I have always hated the games where the save points were very far from each other. You wind up spending what feels like an eternity trying to reach a goal only to start over again even if you lose right before the save point. Yes, it is a great sense of accomplishment and relief when you finally do reach that goal, but if the goal is so far from attainable with little support and reinforcement along the way you no longer care about the goal. The great games save often, have a wide array of challenges, have many opportunities for scoring and never start from zero when you have no more health or lives. The score is something that you are always building upon no matter how much or how little you achieve during that gaming session. However, in school, the save points are often too far apart and the score you get is not used as a building block, but rather a final score that you have little or no opportunity to change.

In her interview on the wonderful colbert report, Jane McGonigal states, “when we are playing games we are tapping into our best qualities; our ability to be motivated, to be optimistic, to collaborate with others, to be resilient in the face of failure.” Wouldn't that sound wonderful if she was also talking about our schools? I am not suggesting that gaming frameworks and mechanics are the only answer to stale and unsuccessful teaching and learning. There are many strategies and models of 21st century learning that are critical to successful education. However, I am suggesting that we take a closer look at why gaming is nearly a 70 billion dollar industry despite an 80% failure rate and what aspects of it might be useful in our 21st century educational tool box.

Cross-posted at OpenDaySchool.org

Back Channels

2013-07-04T16:19:00.001-04:00

Thanks to the AviChai foundation, I spent four days at the annual ISTE conference. Four days of lectures, workshops, exhibits, brainstorming, networking, and a fair share of corporate marketing. When I had to capture the essence of those four huge days in one small blog post, I realized that it wasn't about a specific app or strategy or even a keynote speaker's powerful one liner. For me, it was about the way the presenters and attendees at ISTE

embodied all of the reasons we try to integrate technology: ease of access to resources, creating shared knowledge databases, and most importantly - greater communication.

Conspicuously absent were the professors who lecture for three hours about the need for hands-on, individualized learning while their idealistic students scramble to take notes so they can prepare for a traditional test. At the conference, each session would begin with the sharing of a blog, twitter handle, and links to the slides and websites. Then, the presenter would encourage the participants to start a back channel. Checking phones or typing on tablets was not considered rude. People were tweeting their observations, joining virtual conversations on TodaysMeet, and jotting down their notes on a shared GoogleDoc. And it was okay because it meant that they were participating in a parallel, yet connected conversation. Because of those backchannels, each session was so much more than a presenter and what he/she had to say. It was about forming connections: between presenter and participant, among participants, and between participants and the world.

At the ISTE conference, I learned that if a teacher is willing to cede some control, his/her message can reach deeper and farther and wider...

- Chaya Goldberg

Integrating or innovating with technology?

2013-07-03T16:16:00.003-04:00

One of the most meaningful sessions I attended at ISTE13 was a presentation by 5th grade teacher Julie Ramsay, about the difference between integrating and innovating using technology in the classroom. Ramsay articulated a clear and powerful vision for teaching and learning, based on 21st century skills and encouraging students to engage in higher-order thinking. Ramsay emphasized the difference between integrating technology into education - using new technology but teaching with the same goals and pedagogy - and innovating with technology - using technology to transform classroom teaching, resulting in different pedagogies, different goals and different leaning outcomes. Technology can be used to get students to engage in higher-order critical thinking. Technology is a tool that opens up possibilities for a smart teacher to have students involved in higher order thinking, but it is still just the tool. The tool can't define the learning. The teacher always plays a critical role in shaping student learning. If a project is called the 'PowerPoint project' that's missing the point.

Ramsay shared a number of captivating examples to illustrate her point.

Student presentations can be 'innovated' using technology, making it easier to assign students engaging and meaningful presentations in a format that appeals to today's learner. Ramsay demonstrated how a linear PowerPoint slide presentation assignment can be transformed so that students create interactive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure stories.
Student work can and should be shared online, so that it can have a global audience, rather than the audience of one (the teacher). Wikispaces and LiveBinders are two websites that make it easy.
Students can engage in 'books chats' on student-blogs on websites such as Kidblog.
Another idea I liked is to have the students do a tech tools scavenger hunt, looking at previous students' work. This way students get familiar with the wide range of tech tools that are available, and will be able to make choices about the most appropriate tool to use to create each assignment.
Kids need time to explore their passion. One way to do this is modeled after the 20% time that Google employees receive to work on projects they are interested in that are not directly related to their specific job responsibilities. Giving students an 'Innovation Day' or 'Genius Hour' allows them to learn and share about areas they are passionate about that might not be on the school curricula. Most of these projects are not digital, but by documenting the students' experiences with video, the event becomes 'amplified' and receives a larger audience.

Ramsay's presentation was a breath a fresh air amid the numerous sales pitches disguised as presentations by corporate sponsors and their fans. While it seemed that many people at ISTE were distracted by the new and shiny, Ramsay articulated a clear, focused and powerful rationale for using technology to innovate teaching and learning. I hope more educators continue to be influenced by her ideas, choosing to prioritize pedagogy over products, and encouraging learners to use technology to become producers not just consumers.

Jared Matas
JCDS, Boston's Jewish Community Day School
jaredm@jcdsboston.org
@jaredmatas

Change the World Through "Connected Learning"

2013-06-30T00:59:00.001-04:00

By: Michelle Andron, Elementary Vice Principal at Emek Hebrew Academy

The new ISTE tagline is “Connected Learning,” and that’s definitely the vibe that I left the conference with. Connection is the key to changing the world. Connecting, as in sharing of ideas. Connecting, as in engagement. Connecting, as in building relationships. Connection leads to innovation and makes it possible for us to change the world. When the incredibly inspiring keynote speaker Adam Bellow talked about how his childhood dream of being Superman transitioned into his drive to change the world in a very real way, I think everyone in the room felt like unlocking the superman within. This was my first time at ISTE, thanks to the incredible generosity of the AVICHAI Foundation, and I made sure to cram in as much as I could. I attended several sessions, spotlight presentations, all the keynotes, spoke to countless vendors at the EXPO and participated in the nightly Avichai reflection discussions. An overly saturated sponge doesn’t even come close to describing the feeling I had post ISTE. So, as I continue to work on synthesizing everything I experienced in the four amazing days at ISTE I leave you with some thoughts, quotes, and reflections that inspired me to change the world.

Teaching starts with building relationships. Students only care what you know when they know you care.
“We need to do more listening and less talking.” -Alan November
With content literally at everyone’s fingertips the most important skill we should teach our students is how to ask questions.
“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ but I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why NOT?” - George Bernard Shaw
You must take risks in order to innovate. “Innovation is the intersection of fear and bravery.” - Adam Bellow
We need to embrace and celebrate failure! When playing video games, people fail 80% of the time but those failures force players to try new things, problem solve, and think critically. We need to encourage kids to take the risks, learn from failures and love the process.
Project Based Learning is really Passion Based Learning. Give up the locus of control and let students wonder, explore, and question things they are passionate about.
We need to give students more opportunities to collaborate, create and share with global audience. A global audience can be a tremendous motivator for disengaged students.

All of the above are important because we need to do a better job at GETTING OUR STUDENTS ENGAGED! We need to take risks, innovate, and inspire our students and everyone around us to change the world!

Google Glass Potential in Jewish Education

2013-06-27T09:54:00.001-04:00

How will Google Glass affect Jewish education? This is the blog post I recently published on The Jewish Week's "Jewish Techs" blog on that subject:

In 1982 when I was in first grade at Hillel Day School, a Jewish day school in Metropolitan Detroit, my father brought in our family’s Apple II computer for show-and-tell. There were no computers in the school at that time so it was a seminal technological moment for the school. I’m sure my father figured he would blow my classmates minds by showing them how to type a few lines of the LOGO programming language and get the turtle cursor to turn and move across the screen. However, my peers didn’t have any mind-blowing experiences that day -- it was only the beginning of what our generation would come to expect from computers and technology.

Fast forward to 2013 when, earlier this week, I was a guest speaker in my son’s third grade classroom at the same Jewish day school. Speaking on the subject of technology and Jewish education, I became nostalgic and told the students how when I was their age we would save one word processing document on a floppy disc. I then took a USB flash drive out of my pocket to explain Moore’s Law -- the observation that, over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. They weren’t impressed. These young people have become accustomed to better, smaller, faster technology being rolled out every few months. They see their parents turning in their smartphones for better ones and downloading new versions of operating systems. They know that the graphics on the next generation of video game consoles in their basements will be more realistic than the ones before.

Continue Reading »

Rabbi Jason Miller is an entrepreneurial rabbi. He's a "Rabbi Without Borders" who is connected to thousands through Facebook, Twitter, and his popular blog. Follow him on Twitter @RabbiJason.

First time at ISTE!!!

2013-06-26T13:01:00.000-04:00

First time at ISTE can be a unique experience. This year taking place in San Antonio Texas, beautiful city (loved the river walk)

When I first arrived to the convention center I was amazed by the large space. I used a map to navigate through the big campus. There are so many educators here from all over the world, so many presenters, vendors, and it is all about technology and education what can be better than this?!

My fist day here went by so fast. I went from one session to another. Since I learned many things in just one day, I was glad I took notes.

I have learned that is very important to choose the right speaker. At times, the session was just what I wanted and at times, it was not so relevant. At time, it was very hands on and at times, it was more about seeing the big picture.

As my school, Epstein school, is always looking to expend the media and technology resources available to student, the exhibit hall was very good source! I found opportunities to communicate and network with a variety of vendors for my school.

This is a GREAT opportunity to learn and collaborate!

Avi Chai group was a great support and the discussion at the end of each day were highly effective . At these discussions I had the opportunity to collaborate with other Jewish educators and discuss applying what we learned to teaching Judaic and Hebrew.

Right now it is the last day of the conference. I just heard am amazing presentation of my favorite presenter Leslie Fisher. I am so glad to have such productive conference and supportive group members.

I have learned many new things like: new apps, new web tools, collaborative tools, project based learning strategies, mobile use in class and much more.

Thank you so much, Avi Chai, for making this a great experience.

Next step is to process all the information I learned here....

Tali Ben-Senior
Instructional Technology Specialist
The Epstein School
Atlanta, GA

Learning On-Line

2012-11-19T20:04:00.001-05:00

Move fast – don’t be afraid of failure

Empower your dreamers – say “yes”

Develop a vision and tie it to your mission

Focus on areas of most importance

Think about connecting with others

Brad Rathberger

Director, Online School for Girls

cc licensed image shared by flickr user Derek Purdy

As happens time and time again, at a professional learning experience related to technology, I learned not as much about technology as about learning.

I’ve enrolled in Charting a Direction for Online Learning, a year long course designed for educators at independent schools. The course is sponsored by Online School for Girls, a learning organization serving a consortium of independent girls schools by assisting member schools to collaboratively develop blended learning experiences for their students. Most of the learning in this professional course occurs on-line, yet this past week I attended the first of two face to face sessions.

“Blended and online learning is as evolving of a field is there is in education. It is flipped on its head every six months or so,” shared Brad Rathberger, Director of Online School for Girls. We are beginning to recognize the potential to dramatically shift control of learning from teachers to students not as much through the technology as through the previously unimaginable potential for flexibility in the use of space and time made possible with technology.

Among the greatest moments of learning was the opportunity to hear from a number of students at School of the Holy Child. “We learn a lot about responsibility, academic integrity, learning to work with other people, and flexibility,” shared one of these very impressive high school seniors, reflecting on a course she was taking in multi-variable calculus. Participating in a college level math course, and interacting with some of the top female high school math students in the country, she interestingly didn’t reflect as much on math or technology, as on learning and growth, noting with maturity how she is less shy and more able to manage her time than she had been prior to her online learning experience.

While one cannot make generalizations about online and blended learning as there are so many approaches, evolving so rapidly, there are a number of broad models currently in use:

Rotation Model
Flex Model
Self-Blend Model
Enriched-Virtual Model

Rotation Model

Station Rotation Model

Students rotate through three broad types of activities in a continuous loop: individualized online instruction, teacher-led instruction, and collaborative activities and stations. This is the simplest blended learning model.
Alternatively, instead of one component of online learning there are two components, the individualized on-line instruction and the on-line assessments. Students rotate through four broad types of activities in a continuous loop: individualized online instruction, individualized online assessment, teacher-led instruction, and collaborative activities and stations.

Lab Rotation model

There is direct instruction for 3/4 of the day in math/science and literacy/social studies with teachers. There is a learning lab with on-line activities for the rest of the day, supervised by paraprofessionals.

Individual Rotation Model

There is a central computer lab along with numerous other learning settings, chosen depending on what a student might need; intervention, seminars, direct instruction, and group projects.

Flex Model

Students learn in a massive computer lab staffed by paraprofessionals for about half their day; and work with teachers in small groups for the other half. They come together for lunch and social activities.

Self-Blend Model

There is a physical place for students to come to learn in a collaborative environment when they choose to do so. Students can also work at home with their online teacher. They are not required to be in school.

Enriched Virtual Model

Students participate in supplemental on-line courses.

Independent mission-driven schools, not yet as fast moving or skilled at collaboration with other schools as we will need to become, must overcome a number of challenges, and capitalize on numerous strengths and opportunities, in order to design our own solutions for utilizing on-line and blended learning. If we are not proactive, as Brad Rathberger warns, we may find ourselves forced into solutions that do not reflect our missions.

As we move forward, what shall we consider in the move to blended learning options? How might we imagine anew possibilities for use of space, time, and financial resources? How might we assess the quality of on-line options? How might we support teachers to adapt and prepare for teaching and learning in a blended environment? How might we prepare our students? What cautions might we consider? What might inspire and enable us to dream?

Cross Posted on Sharing Our Blessings: www.sharingourblessings.wordpress.com by Shira Leibowitz

Lots of Small Sections and Efficiency Too? The Economic Case for Building Competency in Blended Classroom + Online Learning

2012-11-06T09:39:00.001-05:00

Guest post by Dr. Harry Bloom (hbloom1@yu.edu)

Few topics have engaged the Jewish media and Shabbos table more intensely than the day school “tuition crisis” which is jeopardizing the sustainability of our day schools by placing tremendous stress on family budgets on the one hand and on schools’ abilities to fund first rate programs on the other hand.

The pressure to reduce expenses and tuition levels is intense. Based on benchmarking analysis conducted by the YU School Partnership (YUSP) in approximately forty schools in five East Coast and Midwestern communities*, a prime source of potential efficiencies lies in making more productive use of faculty resources in our schools. After all, faculty members are the most valuable, highest cost element within our schools. A key challenge to productivity is thinly populated class sections. By “section” we meet a course offering such as 9^thgrade honors Talmud or Advanced Hebrew language.

An examination of course offering and enrollment patterns at five high schools drawn from our benchmarking school sample illustrates the point. All of the schools are college preparatory in nature, all are co-ed. Enrollment ranges from about 100 to 300.

When the schools’ sections are arrayed from high to low in terms of enrollment, we see the following pattern.

Section Enrollment	School A	B	C	D	E	School Avg
Lower 1/3	6.5	7.2	4.1	7.0	6.5	6.2
Mid 1/3	13.1	10.8	9.2	14.2	13.1	12.1
high 1/3	19.5	16.4	17.9	21.6	18.9	18.9

In terms of the extent to which the schools’ are filling their enrollment capacity with capacity defined individually by each school, a picture of underutilized capacity in two thirds of the sections emerges.

The cost implications are significant since the cost of offering a section is basically fixed: teacher compensation and facilities costs.

Options to improve capacity utilization must obviously include offering fewer sections where this is possible. Schools often take the position that they need to offer a large range of sections to meet the needs of diverse learners and to be competitive in their marketplaces.

Another obvious solution is to fill seats in low capacity sections through enhanced recruitment and retention activities. This should obviously always be a priority. But in some markets the potential student populations are already saturated and retention is high.

Fortunately, another emerging powerful solution is for schools to build their competency in blended classroom instruction and online instruction to enable fewer, larger sections coincident with more individualized instruction and high quality student learning. In a blended classroom, teachers can utilize online resources in a variety of ways to complement their own teaching: to convey new concepts and/ or reinforce concepts taught in the classroom through structured exercises tailored to each individual student. Teachers can also utilize new learning management systems to monitor the precise degree of mastery of concepts by each student and group students with common learning needs in small groups so they learn together independently.

The range of online course offerings and curricular materials is proliferating. Open source learning management systems like Moodle enable faculty members to put their own blended curricula together . We are on the cusp of a golden opportunity to blend efficiency and higher quality learning experiences. Now is the time for active experimentation with blended learning by all schools.

The YUSP’s educational technology expert, Dr. Eliezer Jones (ejones1@yu.edu), is actively exploring all of the available options including commercial platforms and curricula, open source (free and ability to customize) learning platforms and curricula, as well as the creation of consortia that pool proven open source courseware and collaboratively develop affordable and high quality online curricula in general and Judaic studies. This fall, Dr. Jones will be facilitating an online certificate program for Jewish Day School educators in online/blended instruction and design in an effort to build schools’ capacity to implement these models effectively and efficiently. He is an available resource as part of the YUSP education team focused on 21st century learning in Jewish Day Schools. Interested parties can sign up at www.YUeLearning.org to follow YUSP's work in this area.

For additional information or to share your own experiences and thoughts about this topic feel free to contact Dr. Harry Bloom at hbloom1@yu.edu

High schools should also actively consider the creation of consortia of schools with similar educational aspirations and market and customer challenges. Having school 1 take the lead in subject A and school 2 in subject B is a way for schools to capitalize on scarce talent and resources while learning through active experimentation.

It is only through this kind of purposeful and collaborative experimentation that we will learn how to achieve the benefits of truly tailored instruction and learning and efficiency, both critical elements for sustainable, high quality day schools of the future. “If not now, when?”

*This work is generously supported by The AVI CHAI Foundation and federations and foundations and schools around the country

It was WOOFINGLY good!

2012-08-08T16:34:00.001-04:00

So – what was so great about ISTE?

As the Bearded Dog settles back into his usual kennel, having rinsed the final traces of San Diego sea-sand and sea-air from his hair (what is left of it) and his lungs, the question remains – what was so great about ISTE. What lessons will the dog apply this year, what skills gained and what knowledge acquired.

Arrff!

Without doubt, the best part of ISTE for the dog was the opportunity to meet then strangers who are now friends. As the dog always says – a stranger is simply a friend to be. And what are friends if not people of whom to take advantage? In a good way of course!

The dog considers himself to be very fortunate to have met and befriended so many wonderful people not only from the Avichai Contingency, but from the real world too. And – one of the best parts of ISTE, the “BoF” (Birds of a Feather) sessions allowed the dog to meet real people who are dealing with real Ed Tech challenges in real schools. (In the way that the dog imagines himself to be doing too!)

The dog considers himself to be “ok” with Moodle. But – as a result of ISTE, the dog has at least three real people – all of whom live in an imaginary world, with whom he can discuss Moodle questions, challenges and stumbling blocks. If ISTE provided nothing other than this – the dog would have left San Diego happily.

But what – like the Shamwow – there’s more!

The dog met many of the people who actually write – or wrote the books. Real live human beings who, up until then, existed only in the Dog’s cyber-imagination. Sir Ken Robinson (much better in the Dog’s imagination – BTW), Steve Hargadon, Karen Kator, Professor Michael Fullan, Dr Avraham Kadar (founder of Brainpop) and so many more…

ISTE offered the dog a chance to meet and interact with giants in their field.

Then, a highlight for the dog was the opportunity to participate in a real live panel on the last day of the conference.

The dog responded to a request from the Twitterverse and before you could say, “Fetch that juicy bone…” the dog had been invited to join a panel discussion around the idea of Social Media in Schools.

Arrrff! – The irony is that this very topic was reason that the Dog wanted to come to ISTE in the first place.

Led by Steve Hargadon of stevehargadon.com; Classroom 2.0; Twitter, Google+; Facebook etc fame, the panel offered its opinions on the use of Social Media in schools – and then faced questions from the audience.

The dog had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

And learned that any one of us could be on the panel, could be on Twitter, Facebook, etc. The dog learned that, in fact – so many of the “experts” were and are ‘chalk-face’ teachers. Actually, perhaps the correct term is SmartBoard Face Teachers. But – whatever the term, teachers who stretched themselves just a little bit and began to create a cyber presence for themselves.

Inspiring stuff!

And so the challenge remains – the dog hopes to share his experiences with his colleagues, students, faculty and community and build shared learning networks of individuals who, like those at ISTE, stretched themselves a little – and gained so much more in return!

Arrrfff!

Perhaps Small Is The New Huge

2012-07-24T11:32:00.001-04:00

cc licensed image shared by flikr user pulihora

Forty two million new web pages were created last year and educational technology expert Adam Bellow recommended in a session at ISTE (Interational Symposium on Tech Education) trying just one. Perhaps small is the new huge.

Thinking small, or rather thinking focused, is an initially counterintuitive insight to have taken from a conference of the massive scope of ISTE. I went to San Diego, guided by numerous blog posts on how to avoid being overwhelmed by the immensity of the event: plan "must dos" in advance, leave time for serendipitous conversations, and wear comfortable shoes so as to be able to cover as much ground as possible at least literally if not figuratively.

Taking the advice seriously, I planned my ISTE strategy, making the deliberate decision to veer away from the "big names" of ed tech (although I couldn't resist learning at sessions with several ed tech leaders whose writings have guided me). Instead, I sought to connect mostly with by no means "small names" but with important voices not necessarily acclaimed; in the trenches teachers striving to make a positive difference in their schools by integrating technology to improve the quality of learning for their students. I was profoundly inspired by the array of talent among presenting teachers who are engaging students in blogging, electronic portfolios, collaborative writing, multimedia presentations, and global collaborations. I was similarly impressed by the tremendous ability and accomplishment of participants at the conference learning together. I found guidance and wisdom in areas of great interest to me.

I returned home and reflected, intending to make some initial decisions on how I might bring my learning at ISTE back to my school, wondering whether I as a principal might potentially teach courses in which students create and collaborate through blogging and electronic portfolios. Instead of rushing forward with plans, I gave myself permission to slow down and with the more relaxed pace of summer, allow learnings at ISTE to unfold and take shape in my mind without deadline. As the days and weeks passed, and the blog posts I intended to write about my experiences at ISTE swam in my head without making their way quickly into writing, I kept hearing the conversation beneath the conversation at ISTE - the passion of teachers, the gratitude toward principals who nurture and support teachers' passions, and the frustration with principals who do not as effectively nurture and support teachers' passions as effectively as they might.

I had come to ISTE with the essential question "how can I as a principal more effectively support teachers in my school to improve learning?" I wondered whether in answer to that essential question, the greatest insights might come not from the content of sessions, but rather from the emotions and longings teachers expressed quietly between the lines and beneath the content of sessions. I imagined what teachers at my school might present at a conference like ISTE and recognized a plethora of possibilities: using interactive white boards interactively in kindergarten and first grade, ipads as assistive technology for special education students, social media with training wheels: edmodo as a tool to introduce elementary school students to on-line creative collaboration, engaging families and students in learning through engaging teacher web pages, from voice threads to voki: giving voice to student voice, and flipping the classroom for the tech tentative teacher. The potential for creating a platform for teachers to share and to shine was sounding more and more compelling.

Paradoxically, perhaps the greatest gift I received at the ISTE mega conference was a new set of lenses through which to look at professional learning; focusing on small as the new huge. Forty two million new web pages were created last year. Even the most tech tentative among us can try just one. Perhaps that humble beginning will make a potent difference. Perhaps, just perhaps, small is the new huge.

Cross Posted on sharingourblessings.wordpress.com

ISTE2012 IS OVER - NOW WHAT?

2012-07-08T16:05:00.001-04:00

So, it has been over a week since I've returned from the best experience to kick start my summer: the ISTE12 conference. Thanks to the generosity of the Avichai Foundation, I got to spend 4 glorious days in sunny San Diego, learning all about education in the 21st century. In my previous blog post, I reflected on the "wow" effect this conference had on me. In this blog post, after being back for over a week, I choose to focus on the take aways and lessons learned from this conference. First and foremost, I think that the success of this conference is in the opportunity it gives educators to network and learn from each other. In planning for the conference, I was so focused on choosing and re-choosing the sessions. As great as those were, I think I learned the most from the people I had the privilege to interact with and have discussions with, and most importantly, will continue to remain in touch with. I got a chance to meet and learn from some gurus in the field, and I'm so grateful for that. But, meeting educators from all over North America, connecting and learning from them, being able to continue these connections beyond the conference, is invaluable. Second, I was re-introduced to twitter. I had an account that I signed up for a long time ago. I was not really using that account much. When at ISTE, you kind of have to tweet, just like the saying goes "when in Rome...". Everyone was blogging and tweeting. So did I. Every session mentioned twitter (at some point), and I kind of got into it. The truth is that I really got back into it, and I haven't stopped ever since. I'm so impressed with the wealth of information that can be found on twitter,that I'm embarrassed that I haven't kept on top of my tweeting in the past while. As a matter of fact, I've been following so many new hash tags and been so involved in new discussions, that it feels as if ISTE never ended. And then there is what comes next, which is sharing. I've taken so many notes and learned about so many apps, initiatives, ideas and projects, that I am bursting at the seams. I am trying different things, setting up initiatives for the fall, trying to bring forward different suggestions and idea to my team, wanting to implement some of the wonderful things I've learned about. That is what proves that ISTE was indeed worthwhile, if the takeaways from it can or would be implemented, if it was inspiring enough to be taken further. I'm excited about the possibilities and am determined to take it further. Yes, it is kind of overwhelming... So many notes have been taken at the conference, so many ideas and apps have been introduced. Trying to implement it all is simply impossible. But, I'm lucky to work with an amazing team of educators, who are used to me getting excited over new initiatives that have to with technology. They are "on board" with me, willing to try it out and implement it with my support. What will be implemented at Associated Hebrew Schools this fall? Well, we intend to experiment with QR codes. This was a big take away for me. I saw some great examples of using those in educational settings, and the away that the codes make teaching come to life and that is certainly one thing that we will implement in the fall. Also, our school has purchased several iPads this summer that will be deployed in September. Many of the sessions I took gave me tips, tricks and ideas of how to deploy and use those iPads successfully, not to mention a huge list of apps I would like to explore. A very exciting thing to look forward to. A third initiative that has been brewing in me since coming back from ISTE has to do with student blogging. I've attended several sessions outlining the success of allowing students to blog, the way different educators have implemented student blogging in their classroom. I've even learned about the flat classroom project where blogging connected children from across the globe. I intend to pursue this with my colleagues and take it further into the implementation stage. Lastly, I would like to further my colleagues and my learning through our PLCs (I believe that it is PLCs in Canada and PLN in the US). Sharing knowledge and ideas, learning and reflection can all be done through these wonderful networks and communities. Whether in school, on line, or otherwise, I look forward to sharing and continuing my learning and experimentation with technology in the classroom to promote student engagement and success. Once again, thanks Avichai for all that you've done to get me to ISTE. Todda Rabba! Wishing everyone a great summer, Avital Aharon Associated Hebrew Schools Toronto, Canada

ISTE 2012: Large-Picture Take Aways

2012-07-06T16:12:00.001-04:00

The learning that took place at the ISTE Conference (at least for me), took place everywhere: in the exhibition hall, the various sessions, the lobbies, outdoor patios, meeting rooms and shuttle bus, not to mention our Avi Chai sessions each evening. There are a lot of great teachers and administrators out there and I found myself trying to absorb as much as possible throughout.

That being said, the experience was also overwhelming, especially when I stopped to think about the work ahead and the feeling that no matter how pro-active we are, the risk of treading water or falling behind the eight ball looms heavily in my thoughts. How can our school, or any school, implement all of the tools, applications or educational approaches that were presented at ISTE? How can I possibly follow and learn something from all of my new twitter connections? How many of the various tools presented in the exhibition hall can any one school adopt, even if budget were not an issue (which it is)?

Then came my AHA moment…provided by a wide variety of my ISTE “teachers.”

§ Take away one or two terrific ideas, tools or implementation ideas from any given session or discussion.

§ Don’t worry about the tweets you miss. Rather, be excited to learn new ideas from the tweets you were able to read and process. Whatever you DO read and learn is more than you would have discovered only a few days ago.

§ Share, share, share. Do you have a great idea that worked in your school? Don’t be proprietary…why shouldn’t students everywhere be able to benefit from your spark? I met a young Spanish teacher who decided that she could not teach 11 year old kids using a 13 year old textbook. So she created her own online textbook using weebly, which anyone can view and/or use. Take a look at this: http://spanishtechbook.weebly.com/

§ Don’t be afraid of failure…your own and those of your teachers. That’s how you learn.

§ Put the education process in the hands of your students…let them own it.

So what am I going to do this summer to prepare for the 2012-13 school year as a result of participating in the ISTE Conference?

First and foremost, I am going to develop a number of action plans for the upcoming school year, focusing on:

1) Establishing a resource wiki or site for our teachers suggesting various web tools and providing links to some of the wonderful projects and tools I learned about at ISTE. I look forward to having teachers add their resources to the reference site as well as feedback from others who have tried new approaches or tools.

2) Outlining a course of professional development for our faculty for the 2012-13 academic year. The plan will include a combination of peer mentoring, online professional development, as well as discussions, demonstrations and presentations on curriculum development and technology integration.

3) Widening my own personal learning network – this was one of the main messages I took away from the ISTE Conference. In order to grow professionally and impact the learning culture at our school, I must expand my PLN and learn from the experience of others. I am awed by the quantity and quality of dedicated education professionals who are willing to share their ideas, knowledge and skills with anyone. I intend to take advantage of their openness and smarts (and in turn share my newly acquired knowledge with colleagues at our school). I will encourage our faculty members to establish and/or widen their own PLNs for the same purpose.

4) I will investigate the concept and implementation options of blended learning to see if and how our students can benefit from this educational model, both in their secular and Judaic studies.

This is a great beginning and I am excited and grateful for the opportunity provided by the Avi Chai Foundation. I hope that other members of our faculty and administration will be able to attend ISTE in future years.

Controlling the Technology Curriculum

2012-07-04T20:10:00.000-04:00

Controlling the Technology Curriculum

“The war between the digital natives and the digital immigrants is over, and the natives won.” (Marc Prensky in opening ISTE keynote). The statement points to technologies promise for student empowerment. Yet, just as in earlier eras when learning centers, project-based learning and differentiated instruction held such possibility, there is always a pull in the opposite direction.

Prensky got it right in the imagery of a “battle”. Those of us who believe in constructivist learning, need to leverage technology for this purpose. Alan November's workshops were all about this - empowering our students to construct their own knowledge. The other guys (top down educators) who were quite apparent in many of the packaged education technology solutions presented in the exhibition hall will use technology for their ends - skill based learning sells. To be sure, there is a role for skill based learning - but a limited one - one that is in the service of higher order thinking. But the natives will move on taking their learning outside of the classroom as they do now if school use of technologically reduces to skill-based learning only.

The ISTE conference was transformative for me in that it gave me the time, space and connections to reflect about these "big" technology issues. In the past, I would have sent only my technology teacher to a conference like this. Thank you Avi Chai for having the wisdom of sending a Head of School. I now can engage (and already have) my whole staff to think carefully about our technology goals for our students. I can envision a future and build capacity in the school to set us up for best practices in this area. This week, I sent an email to my parent body and my staff explaining Alan November's lesson about searching for credible sources on the internet. Although it is summer, I received more responses to that note than I have to most blogs and emails that I sent throughout the year to our community.

A few more thank yous are in order: Thank you for bringing the day schools together - it was always comforting to see and to chat with colleagues in what could have been a very overwhelming, impersonal experience. Thank you for orchestrating complicated food needs. Finally, thank you for making me into a tweeter, albeit a timid tweeter, but a tweeter nonetheless.

Twitter Comes to Life at ISTE

2012-07-03T16:32:00.001-04:00

I have written in the past about the importance that I attach to the social network Twitter, but the true importance of it was driven home to me on several occasions during last weeks conference of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). I knew going in that there would be many people there that I knew about via Twitter, perhaps because I follow them or perhaps because they are "Twitter rock stars". However, my own personal "Twitter moments" at the conference made the event something that it would not otherwise have been.

To wit:

1) No sooner had I boarded my plane Sunday morning and settled into my seat than the woman across from me asked me if I was going to ISTE. Turns out it was Dr. Shira Leibowitz (@shiraleibowitz), Principal of Solomon Schechter in Westchester, NY, an avid and respected tweep, both in Jewish and general education circles. Finally putting faces to the avatars, we had some fruitful discussions, occasionally joined by Dov Emerson (@dovemerson), founder of #jedchat and Assistant Principal at DRS-HALB on Long Island.

2) While waiting to enter the opening keynote, I finally met in person Debby Jacoby (@debbyj18) of the BJE in San Francisco, someone with whom I have been corresponding all year - to the point that we have already collaborated on several projects. I should note that that last statement is not strange in the twitterverse - several presentations at ISTE were co-run by people who considered themselves colleagues and friends yet had never met before coming to San Diego.

3) I walked into the conference on Monday morning and noticed a semi-familiar looking individual sitting on the floor (which is common at ISTE) perusing his daily schedule for the day. Taking a chance, I said, "Mr. Amidon?" - and Tyler Amidon (@mramidon), who I had only corresponded with via #edchat, looked up, recognized my Twitter name written on my badge, and wound up following me to the first session of the day. We would attend several other sessions together during the course of the conference, and have continued our dialogue in the week since. As he tweeted to me following the conference: "Chatting now will be that much richer now that I've shaken your hand!!"

4) I attended a panel session about flipped learning moderated by Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergman. During the session, I was tweeting notes and questions that I had about what was being discussed. Common practice is to do this mainly for those who cannot be in the session but want to follow it anyway (multitasking is very vibrant at ISTE). After I tweeted one question about something one of the panelists said, I glanced down and saw that he had tweeted me back an answer. This back-and-forth continued for a moment or two, and in the meantime others noticed the discussion and jumped in.

Now for the cool part. No sooner did the panel end when the person sitting in front of me turned around and asked if I was Rabbi Ross (my Twitter handle). When I replied yes, he introduced himself as the person who had just tweeted me a question, and we began speaking about creating online materials for Judaic Studies classes. As we made our way towards the door, someone else stopped me, and it turned out that she had also been following the tweets and suddenly we had a very rich conversation among five or six people about some new ideas in the Jewish classroom.

5) Of course, part of the way that I choose the sessions that I attended - out of several hundred choices - was by seeing which twitter heroes I wanted to hear from for more than 140 characters. As such, I had the pleasure of hearing Chris Lehmann (@chrislehmann) discuss his successes at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) speak about wikis and the flat classroom, and George Couros (@gcouros) and Patrick Larkin (@patrickmlarkin) discuss visionary leadership and digital citizenship.

What is common in all of these anecdotes, and probably thousands of others that people could tell from ISTE, is that they highlighted the fact that Twitter is just a tool, but a very effective one. While I have learned much from so many people in snippet-length tweets, the most important thing to come out of all of that is the basis for real human interactions and relationships. Having interacted with people via Twitter, I knew to seek them out to learn more from them. I agree that networking with people in a blind fashion is missing something, but there is no question that it can certainly be a step to greater things.

(Cross-posted on jewishedd.blogspot.com)

Twitter Comes to Life at ISTE

2012-07-03T16:32:00.000-04:00

To wit:

(Cross-posted on jewishedd.blogspot.com)