Félicitations, Mazal Tov, Congratulations!
More good news! The Neveh Channah (Israel) – LCC (Canada) project cited in our April 18, 2007 post was awarded the second place ISTE Online Learning Award (Telelearning Special Interest Group).The international project, From Jerusalem to Montreal, is a collaboration of high school English students and their teachers. We asked the faculty involved to share their reflections on the project so far.
Karen Guth, an English teacher at Neveh Channah, considered how the project exceeded their original expectations:
“I would say that this became a project that engaged the minds, skills and hearts of our students. It turned the English Bagrut [high school matriculation certificate] project into an international research, writing, thinking, and teaching opportunity.”
Her colleague, Reuven Werber, Educational Technology Coordinator at Neveh Channah, noted how new technologies helped to create a sustained learning community that was engaged in authentic work and cultural exchange:
“I think that the use of web 2.0 technology to span the globe helped the Neveh Channah students and those of LCC to learn about each other’s culture and way of life as well as to cooperate in creating some authentic learning. They learned that people on other sides of the world could make that world smaller by using technology to communicate and work together. By knowing that their work was to be viewed and reviewed by their peers they were motivated to produce good work. The Neveh Channah students were very happy to have the chance to share their love of Israel and Jerusalem with their partners in Canada and other visitors to their wiki project. Working together with Sharon Peters, a good ‘virtual’ friend and partner, was, as usual, a rewarding experience for the Israeli staff.”
Sharon Peters, the English instructor at LCC, was also proud of the collaborative work both schools accomplished:
“This project challenged my students to demonstrate higher order critical thinking skills as they reflected upon not only their own culture and literature, but the culture and literature of a very different country. They exercised excellent peer review and evaluation skills as they provided feedback to the students at Neveh Channah High School about their research projects. Not only did they provide excellent reviews, but they did so with great poise and sensitivity. What an excellent educational opportunity that just could not have taken place within the walls of just our own classroom! I owe a great deal of thanks to Karen Guth and Reuven Werber for their patience as we worked with very different holiday schedules and a number of unanticipated hurdles. They were fantastic collaborative teacher partners.”
The project will be highlighted at a poster session at this year’s NECC conference in Atlanta – be sure to check it out. And visit the wiki sites:
Lower Canada College: http://montreal.wikispaces.com
Neveh Channah: http://jerusalem.wikispaces.com
Neveh Channah students recently posted their reactions to “Pastel Nazis,” a Canadian short story chosen by LCC students at http://jerusalem.wikispaces.com/Pastel+Nazis in commemoration of this year’s Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
For further information, contact:
Sharon Peters at sharonpeters@gmail.com and Reuven Werber at reuw@nevnet.etzion.k12.il