jlearn2.0

Things I am learning here at CAJE:

Vermont is very green. Literally and figuratively. One of the tracks this year at CAJE focuses on Eco-Judaism. There is also a concerted effort to reduce paper waste and once again, CAJE will be making presentation hand outs available online.

Nature is fickle. Many CAJEniks were stranded in NY area airports because of cancellations due to weather. Rumor has it that amid understandable frustration, people have managed to find each other, commiserate, and connect. Did I mention frustration? Several of our workshop presenters have been unable to get here as originally planned and are sorely missed. A few arrived late this evening. Hopefully they will be able jump into the conference fray (now if only their luggage shows up…)!

The educational technology workshops have been well attended. It is exciting to hear what people are doing and how they are using these resources with their learners and for their own professional growth. And how people are hungry for more! Novices and more experienced users are sitting side by side, sharing their ideas, concerns, successes and challenges. And it is fascinating to hear how people use similar tools in different ways. Lots of cross-pollenization of ideas and thinking about how to adapt these models to one’s own learning environment.

Will you be at CAJE? Are you blogging about CAJE? We are:

Deb Harris on MuseForJews
Esther Kustanowitz on My Urban Kvetch
Caren Levine on jlearn2.0 (that’s us!)
Reuven Werber on TorahTech
Darim Online staff on JewPoint0

And of course, the incredible CAJE leadership team over at CAJE33 including Jeff Lasday, Iris Petroff, Joel Hoffman, Mel Bray, and guest bloggers!

Want some company while you blog? Need help getting started?

Join us at the CAJE Bloggers Café, a central space for bloggers and aspiring bloggers to congregate, write, and cross-pollinate ideas. We’ll be meeting on Monday and Wednesday at 4:15pm - 05:30pm in Votey 206 (computer lab). Can’t make it? That’s ok – we can find each other online; just tag your posts: caje, caje33

The annual CAJE Conference is nigh upon us. CAJE 33 runs Sunday, August 10, 2008 4:00 pm - Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:00 pm. We are looking forward to the educational technology track, co-chaired by Debbie Harris, of MuseForJews fame (among other things!) and yours truly.

The track includes presenters from the US, Canada, and Israel: Kim Beame, Stephanie Bernstein, Gila Freedman Cohen, Lisa Colton, Adrian A. Durlester, Joshua Hammerman, Debbie Harris, Irwin (Tiny) Katz, Terry Kaye, Esther Kustanowitz, Caren Levine, Joyce Levine, Wendy Lewis, Michael Craig Luetjen, Sharon Peters, Jeremy Poisson, Ruth Rohn, JT Waldman, Reuven Werber, Nina Woldin, and Jonathan Woocher.

Topics include: social media, social action, wikis, blogs, virtual worlds, Hebrew language, Jewish text, ethics, congregational schools, professional development, tools for teaching and learning, understanding learners and education in the digital age and more!

In addition to the regular sessions, there will be a Bloggers Café and an open computer lab. Come join us – learn, experiment, share!

For more information, see the CAJE website and tune in regularly to the CAJE 33 blog. And check out the program here.

The program broadcast on ustream.tv:

Video clips hosted by Ustream

The Jewish Communal Service Association of North America is holding its annual conference on Thursday, June 5 at 4pm EDT in New York. And online.

The conference, “LINKED: Maximizing technology for the future of the Jewish community,” features keynote Allison Fine, author of Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age, winner of the 2007 Terry McAdam Book Award for nonprofit management. Information about Allison and her work can be found here. The panel, moderated by Lisa Colton, includes Graham Hoffman, Michael Hoffman, and Gail Magaliff.

In accordance with the conference theme, the event will also be streamed using ustream.tv. Participants are also being encouraged to use twitter to interact with each other. This is a huge experiment for the conference and very exciting!

Questions and ideas that will be addressed regarding new media faced by Jewish communal organizations will include:

• What is currently happening, and what is next, in the world of technology and social networking?
• What are some of the innovative uses of technology already being implemented?
• What opportunities should the Jewish community be maximizing?

Join in on the festivities:
Access the JCSA Annual Program’s Live Broadcast channel on ustream.tv. When prompted for a password, type: jcsana. You can maximize the broadcasting screen by clicking on the screen icon on the bottom right corner of the viewing window.

You can also follow along on twitter. The twitter feed is: JCSA

Here’s to experimentation!

Attention early birds! No doubt you have already registered for this year’s CAJE Conference in Burlington, Vermont, August 10 – 14, 2008. But, just in case you got caught up in Pesach, and work and, oh, life …you still have a chance to register for what is proving to be a fabulous conference, at the early bird rate. But do it now - the rate is good until Friday, May 2.

This year’s CAJE Conference and Early Childhood Conference @ CAJE includes intensive tracks on congregational education, eco-Judaism, and educational technology. The educational technology track promises to be a terrific opportunity for learning and professional networking - you won’t want to miss it! Other conference topics include text study, the arts, Hebrew language, curriculum development, Israel @ 60…. and so much more!

The conference is all about the people, so come and be a part of it! Remember, early bird pricing ends Friday, May 2. For more information, see the CAJE website and tune in regularly to the CAJE 33 blog.

It’s official! Once again, the Jewish Educators Network will meet as part of the “Birds of a Feather” program at ISTE’s annual NECC Conference, held this year in San Antonio, Texas, June 29 - July 2, 2008. Please join us on Monday, June 30, 4:45pm-5:45pm. Check the NECC program (and jlearn2.0) for the exact location.

Last year, 24 educators in Jewish settings from the United States and Canada met up at NECC to network, share project ideas, challenges, and successes. This coming conference will be the eighth consecutive meeting of this group! Let us know if you will be there this year - NECC is an incredible conference - learn more about it from the ISTE website:

For almost three decades, NECC has been the premier forum in which to learn, exchange, and survey the field of educational technology. This annual conference—presented by ISTE and keyed to the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)—features hands-on workshops, lecture-format and interactive concurrent sessions, discussions with key industry leaders, and the largest educational technology exhibit in the nation.

Early bird registration for NECC ends Monday, March 31st.

This year’s theme is: Convene. Connect. Transform.

Give a shout if you will be there - we also welcome suggestions about how to maximize our time together as Jewish educators.