jlearn2.0

Skype is a software application that provides voice over internet protocol (VoIP) functionality. In other words, it’s a program that allows users to make free or low-cost telephone calls over the Internet. Skype is being used by the educational community in a number of ways, including intercultural projects, distance learning, and professional development. Users can also integrate additional tools, such as whiteboards, to create a more robust means of multimedia communication.

Intercultural Projects and Second Language Development

Educators are experimenting with Skype to enhance learning, particularly for intercultural programs. The CultureQuest Project, for example, encourages the study of different cultures. The project guide offers suggestions about how to interact with students in other countries using tools like Skype to organize international videoconferences with other classes and with experts in the field. CultureQuest is a project of the Center for School Development, School of Education, City College of the City University of New York.

Schools and independent learners are also using Skype to practice their language skills. In addition to more conventional “twinning projects,” there are sites that match up native language speakers with those who want practice their language skills; consider the use of Hebrew and English exchanges, for example.

Professional Development

Skype provides the ability to hold conference calls, or Skypecasts, that can be employed for professional development, resource sharing, and conference planning. These calls can also be saved as audio files and posted online for listeners to download. As a point of ethics and etiquette, participants should be made aware if the calls will be accessible to the public. The 2006 K-12 Online Conference sponsored a 24 hour Skypecast, a podcast of which can be found at Wesley Fryer’s blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity (to see how this event was organized, see the moderator page of the K-12 Online wiki).

EdTechtalk sponsors a number of live webcasts for communities of educators, many of which are broadcast on a regular weekly basis and are open to participants all over the world.

Distance Learning / Accessible Learning

iLearnTorah is an online bat/ bar mitzvah tutoring service that makes use of video-enabled Skype to conduct sessions. Students work with experienced teachers to learn Torah and Haftorah and to create personal learning projects. The program is run under the advisement of Josh Lauffer, a Jewish educator and musician, and Dr. Yossi Chajes, faculty in the Department of Jewish History at the University of Haifa.

The video below, “Inclusion,” demonstrates a powerful use of Skype videoconferencing that makes learning more accessible to students. Produced by a fourth grade class, it tells the story of how the Agnes Risley School was able to embrace a student who had a serious illness and could not attend classes onsite:

The Neveh Channah (Israel) – LCC (Canada) project is an exciting example of what talented high school educators and students can create together with support from Web 2.0 tools. The program is sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Education under the auspices of its Israeli Pedagogic Collaborative Learning Network.

The project topic for this year is Jerusalem, City of Hope. The group is studying poetry, song, and speeches. They are researching a variety of topics related to Jerusalem, including history, biographies, politics, literature, and art. The project illustrates how wikis can be used as platforms for meaningful communications and collaboration in learning.

Reuven Werber, the coordinator for Neveh Channah, writes:

We have been studying each other’s literature, learning about each other’s culture, participating in each other’s tours (via Google Video embedding) and most recently, LCC students have been peer reviewing our students’ English Language matriculation projects (bagrut) for formative assessment purposes.

The project wikis are found at:

Neveh Channah: http://jerusalem.wikispaces.com
Lower Canada College: http://montreal.wikispaces.com

See especially the LCC Responses Video which describes the project in more detail.

The project was featured in a recent presentation by Sharon Peters of Lower Canada College which can be found on the 3Cs wiki. Be sure to read through the entire presentation which offers insights into Web 2.0 and pedagogy and take note of the section, “What are some classroom practices,” which highlights the LCC and Neveh Channah School project. There is also a blurb in Hebrew about the project on the MOFET Institute’s Teachers College Education site.

Karen Guth, an English teacher at Neveh Channah, was a partner in the project as well. The initiative serves as a model for how a curricular content teacher and pedagogical technology coordinator can work together to create meaningful educational projects employing cutting edge technology.

For further information, contact:

Reuven Werber, Educational Technology Coordinator, Neveh Channah High School, Israel; National Instructor, IPNCL Project at reuw@nevnet.etzion.k12.il

Sharon Peters, English Instructor, Lower Canada College at sharonpeters@gmail.com

It’s been a good season for sharing ideas about educational technology and Jewish learning in print. Two Jewish educational publications recently highlighted the use of technology in Jewish learning. RAVSAK devoted their Pesach 2007 edition of HaYidion to “Technology and Jewish Education.” The entire issue will be available online at www.ravsak.org under “Publications.” For further information, contact info@ravsak.org.

CAJE’s Spring 2007 Jewish Education News focuses on “Educational Resources for Schools.” A substantial amount of the magazine’s content centered on aspects of digital learning. Select articles, including those published only online can be found at: www.caje.org/learn/Winter07/jen-winter07.asp. Copies of the print edition are available from CAJE for $7.00.

And speaking of CAJE, the organization has put out a call for articles for the next two editions of JEN which will focus on the 21st century landscape of Jewish learning, and 21st century learners and educators respectively. Digital culture is certainly a key influence – consider submitting an article; consider attending the conference:

The 32nd annual CAJE conference will be held August 5-9, 2007 at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. In conjunction with this year’s conference theme, “Engaging 21st Century Jewish Learners,” CAJE is devoting the next two issues of its publication, Jewish Education News, to exploring the 21st century landscape of Jewish learning (Summer) and 21st century Jewish learners and educators (Fall). The request for articles, excerpted below, includes works that address the following areas:

• Who is the 21st century learner?
• What does it mean to be a learner in this new landscape?
• What resources do educators need to work in this new landscape and what do they need access to?
• How do we meet today’s learners “where they are?”
• What roles can technologies play in creating new environments for Jewish education?
• How can social networking platforms support increased Jewish identification and professional networking?
• How are new technologies shaping Jewish education and learning?

Contact Judi Resnick, CAJE Communications Coordinator, at jresnick@caje.org for the complete Call for Articles and submissions guidelines. The deadline for the Summer publication is May 15, 2007; June 4, 2007 for the Fall publication. Submissions should not exceed eight double-spaced typed pages and no more than 2,500 words. See the CAJE website for details about the annual conference: www.caje.org.

This session is designed for K–12 teachers, technology coordinators, higher education educators, and pre-service teachers. Based on her book, Digital Age Literacy for Teachers: Applying Technology Standards to Everyday Practice, Susan Brooks-Young will provide attendees with an overview of some of these new tools and the possibilities for classroom use.

Registration fee: $50 for ISTE members / $125 non-members and it includes a copy of the book. Time: 1 PM Pacific /2 PM Mountain /3 PM Central /4 PM Eastern. See the ISTE site for further details and registration.

Annenberg Media’s Online Learning site offers free video on demand professional development programs geared toward k-12 teachers. Topics include a wide variety of subject matter, including math education, sciences, art and music education, social studies, history, teaching foreign languages, and reading and writing workshops.

ISTE is sponsoring a Technology in Practice Webinar, Teaching with Digital Images: Acquire, Analyze, Create, Communicate. Based on the ISTE book by the same name, authors Glen Bull and Tom Hammond will discuss how to acquire images, analyze them, and use them to create and communicate in classroom settings. They will also discuss the latest research on ways to use images to enhance student achievement and learning outcomes, and will provide practical tips on seamlessly integrating this technology into the standard curriculum.

Registration fee: $50 for ISTE members / $125 non-members; includes a copy of the book. Time: 12 PM Pacific /1 PM Mountain /2 PM Central /3 PM Eastern. See the ISTE site for further details and registration.

The webinar is the first in a series of seven online seminars planned for 2007 that will feature authors and/or ISTE book topics of wide appeal to ISTE members and non-member educators. Each session will be 60 minutes, with approximately 35 minutes of presenter content.

ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) provides leadership and service to improve teaching, learning, and school leadership by advancing the effective use of technology in PK–12 and teacher education.

The Lookstein Center is sponsoring an online seven-week web-conferencing course for Jewish history teachers, “How to Teach Integrated Jewish/World History,” with Avi Berkowitz. The courses will be held on Thursdays 12:30-1:30 pm ET running from February 15 until March 29. The cost of the course is $250 per school ($200 for members).

Registration is limited to 10 schools.

Click for the course outline and instructor bio, to see the syllabus, and to register, or write to conference@lookstein.org