jlearn2.0

The program broadcast on ustream.tv:

Video clips hosted by Ustream

New media is about a lot of things. It’s about communicating, identity, building, sharing, appropriating, transforming. It’s a window on the world. And a way to bring the world in, to shed light, and to connect on a visceral, human level.

Reuven Werber’s posting “On Terror and Twitter” is a keen reminder of the power of community and our impulse to connect.

Our friend, Reuven Werber recently started an after school club with his students. The club is focusing on developing web 2.0 skills for collaborative expression. Read more about it in English here and check out their wiki in Hebrew here. Looking forward to following this project!

Ok, taking a page from Langwitches and others, what were some of your favorite resources, tools, educational concepts from the past (secular) year? What was it about these resources that you found compelling? Feel free to include resources you might have developed. Shameless plugs encouraged in a menschy kind of way.

Rabbi Eric Levy, Menahel of the Bnei Akiva Schools of Toronto is developing an action research plan as part of a Bar Ilan’s Lookstein Center workshop. Eric is researching the use of technology in Jewish day schools and Judaic studies. It’s a quick survey and asks basic questions about the use of grading software, smartboards, the Internet, and laptops. The survey can be found at http://www.ericlevy.com/TechSurvey.aspx. If you can help, he’d appreciate your response!

And speaking of colleagues and communities of practice, Reuven Werber shared with me in a Skype conversation his experience participating in an online collaboration with other educators. Educator, Vicki Davis (aka Coolcat Teacher), used twitter to reach her colleagues and invited them to experiment with Google presentations – at least 40 educators from around the world responded. They were able to both present and chat online for free, using Google Presentations. The presentation they designed, btw, was on how to create Google Presentations. Read Vicki’s first hand account.

More and more of these types of stories are emerging in the education and not-for-profit blogosphere. Do you have a story to share?

The 32nd annual CAJE Conference is a week away. This year’s theme is “Engaging 21st Century Learners.” In addition to the technology sessions mentioned in a previous post, there are tracks on adult learners, early childhood, family education, Israel and Klal Yisrael, Jewish history, music education, special needs, text, theology and philosophy, and more.

In keeping with the theme, CAJE is experimenting with the use of web 2.0 technologies to enhance and extend the conference experience. In addition, it is hoped that Virtual CAJE 32 will serve as a means to model the use of these technologies and to inspire educators to experiment with them in their own work (full disclosure: I am the CAJE Chair of Online Initiatives and I worked on this project). There are plans to build on these experiences – this is only the beginning, a first step toward a larger, more integrated CAJE initiative.

Virtual CAJE 32 can be accessed through the CAJE website. There are links to the CAJE 32 blog, wiki, flickr, slideshare, YouTube, and social networking, which will be used to share conference information and conference-related activities. Please bear in mind it is a work in progress, and the key word here is “experiment.”

Take a look at Esther Kustanowitz’s thoughts about CAJE and the Virtual CAJE 32 Conference, posted on her blog, My Urban Kvetch.

This is all very new to CAJE, and there are certain to be bumps in the road, but it will be interesting and exciting to see what comes of it and what can be learned!