jlearn2.0

The Lippman Kanfer Institute, in cooperation with CAJE, is sponsoring a new project investigating the impact and potential of new media on Jewish education. Jewish Education 3.0, aka JEd3.0, will result in a working paper that focuses on technology and Jewish education. JEd3.0 invites collaboration from the field – contributions are welcome to the project wiki.

The project is examining the impact media and technology has on Jewish education today, and how educators, learners, and other Jewish education stakeholders can utilize these tools to improve and empower their own learning and teaching. Current wiki topics include the changing role of educators, Jewish values and ethics, issues of identity, and more.

If you are at CAJE, join us at the JEd3.0 reception on Tuesday, August 12 at 4:45pm - 6:15pm in the Mildred Livak Room (419), Davis Center. In either case, let your voice be heard on the wiki!

The Lippman Kanfer Institute (LKI) is an action-oriented think tank for innovation in Jewish learning and engagement. The Institute identifies and disseminates new ideas, new thinking, new practices and new organizational designs to keep Jewish education relevant and effective in a changing world. More information can be found at JESNA.

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 Jewish Educators Network met at NECC 2008 in San Antonio This is the eighth year that this group has been meeting and we are grateful to our friends at NECC for including the network as part of its Birds of a Feather sessions. This year the group was facilitated by Phil Liff-Grieff, Associate Executive Director, Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles.

Sixteen participants convened together including representatives from: American Hebrew Academy, Greensboro, NC; Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto; Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Chicago; B’nai Menahem, Austin; Bureau of Jewish Education, Los Angeles; Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Rockville, MD; Donna Klein Jewish Academy, Boca Raton; Eleanor Kolitz Academy, San Antonio; JPPS-Bialik, Montreal; Magen David Yeshivah, Brooklyn; Ner Consulting Group; Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County, NJ; The Heschel School, NY; and, Touro College, NY.

The discussion centered around professional challenges, sharing resources, and strategies for working together.

Challenges included the following:

• dual curriculum- teachers complain that there is too much to teach during the day; one can’t put time into technology projects
• integration of tech into the curriculum
• vailability of Judaic software for Mac schools
• time and the cultural divide/adoption issues (older, Israeli faculty not eager to accept technology)
• it is hard to find Hebrew language resources
• money!! (and teachers adopting technology)
• training
• paucity of good Judaic software
• need to share curricular resources (smart board lessons, etc.)
• teacher attitudes (Judaic teachers)- tech is just not important
• we are still having the same discussion that we had 20 years ago
• the rigid nature of some of the Hebrew curricula - they don’t allow for the addition of creative tech-based enhancements

Participants shared some of their most useful resources:

• TES software (www.jewishsoftware.com) including Rashi and Mishkan programs, Bar Ilan Responsa
• Before You Know It language acquisition software (www.byki.com), Hebrew version
• Chinuch.org
• Mechon-Mamre (for text)
• Jewish Tech discussion list
  

Strategies for working together include:

• Share what we are using, what we like and why
• Google groups
• Resource wiki- focused page
  • Judaic resources (software, web apps, etc. divided by subject)
  • where/how to access funds
  • interschool collaboration (and actual pairing)
    • tools for collaboration
    • pairing of schools across N. America
    • resources/best practices for tech use in Israel Partnerships
  • best practices- lesson plan sharing (like CAJE used to do- you submit one lesson in order to get access to the lesson bank)
    • teacher-developed materials and lessons
    • Judaic adaptations of existing open source resources
      best practices- tools for enhanced teacher adoption of ed tech
  • links to distance learning opportunities

Next Steps:

1. Distribute session notes and post them (done)
2. Put the google group, jewish educators network and wiki, chaitech, in place (done)
3. Participate (ongoing contributions and facilitation)

A few additional points were raised:

• It’s important to include religious (congregational/complementary) schools
• Touro is interested in working with educators in the area of ed tech
• Who trains the trainers?
• How do we find funds? Involve parents in funding discrete tech projects or program components

Many thanks to Phil and to all of you who attended for your continuing contributions.

Next year in DC!

Are you lucky enough to be at NECC in San Antonio? Come on over and join the Jewish Educators Network on Monday, June 30, 2008, 4:45pm–5:45pm at the Grand Hyatt Lone Star Ballroom C. Phil Liff-Grieff, Associate Director of the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles will facilitate our annual gathering. Maybe I can get skyped in…

In response to previous gatherings of this network, a discussion group was recently created for educators in Jewish settings who integrate educational technology into their work. The group meets face to face at the annual NECC conferences. The discussion group was set up to facilitate communications and to share information about our annual gathering at NECC, follow up, and general sharing of ideas, resources, etc. about our work.

You are welcome to join us! And I look forward to seeing everyone next year at NECC 2009, Washington DC!

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Can’t make it to this year’s NECC in person? There are many different opportunities to participate:

NECC 2008 Community Network
Podcasts
Webcasts, video on demand
Second Life events

And of course, read your favorite educational blogs, tweets, podcasts, etc. to catch up on personal takes of a very exciting conference.

It’s fascinating to see how face to face conferences extend beyond their physical space.

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!