Using eLearning to Cut Costs in a Small Jewish Day School -- a Model

Both day schools and afternoon schools have come to the conclusion that including distance learning in their curriculum can enhance lessons, result in increased learning, offer differential learning opportunities to different types of learners and free the classroom teacher to allow her to engage and assist individual students as needed.

Throughout the country public and private schools are including elearning  paradigms in their learning strategies. In-school online learning generally involves blended learning in which the material is presented online in a variety of interactive forms and the classroom teacher supports the learning by providing individualized instruction and feedback. Entire school districts are purchasing tablets for their entire student bodies and training the teachers to work with the students as the students manage their own learning and progress at their own levels.

For small Jewish day schools and complementary congregational schools, elearning has an additional benefit. Through creative uses of distance learning options schools can combine classes, reduce supplemental staffing and cut their costs.

One example involves a recent JETS class that was conducted at the Kadima high school in St. Louis Missouri. Kadima is a new school and the classes are still small. The school includes both boys and girls but the classes are separate.

This fall JETS facilitated an online history class for Kadima's 10^th grade students. The boys' class and the girls' class each studied in their own classrooms but were connected simultaneously to the teacher, Ms. Smadar Goldstein, who met with the students via a video-conferencing system that enabled her to see both classrooms as she taught.

Ms. Goldstein used the Haiku Learning Management System to present the material, give assignments, provide feedback and conduct evaluations. The school benefitted financially by being able to run two history classes for the price of one.

As elearning becomes more integrated into Jewish day schools and afternoon enrichment programs, JETS sees that these types of projects will become more and more prevalent.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, recognized for his work in promoting tzeddek and Jewish ethics, recently shared his thoughts on the Times of Israel blog about the failure of the Hebrew School framework to prepare Jewish youth to grow and develop as committed, active members of the American Jewish community.

The article was criticized by some readers for "rehashing old news" but since the majority of American Jewish youth who receive any formal Jewish education do so through the congregational enrichment model, the subject seems as timely as ever.

In his article Yanklowitz reviewed many of the problems that are inherent in today's Hebrew school framework. These include the problems that  the material is irrelevant to most of the kids, many teachers are ill-equipped to teach on a proper level and the families themselves see Hebrew school as last on the totem pole of priorities -- a message that the children pick up quickly and well.

Yanklowitz even goes as far as to say”there is no correlation between attendance in Hebrew school and a sustained commitment to Jewish life. I’d like to say it is better than nothing but I’m not sure anymore. Sometimes the damage of forcing our kids to participate in a boring, out of touch Jewish experience can alienate them forever."

Yet tens of thousands of Jewish families are committed to providing their kids with a Jewish education and since JewishDay School is not a solution for everyone, the Hebrew school model seems to be here to stay. A recent article by Jordana Horn even goes as far as to indicate that Hebrew schools can be, in some instances, a better option than Jewish Day Schools (her view is questioned by many observers).

Which brings up the question that Jewish educators have been struggling with for decades -- how does the Jewish community create an engaging congregational school framework that will address these issues?

Yanklowitz makes several suggestions. These involve moving the classes to Saturday mornings so that parents will be included in the process, creating more experiential Jewish learning as a basis for further study, strengthening peer-learning activities and reducing the emphasis on Bar/Bat Mitzvah study (as well as the obligations to "join" the Hebrew school for a specific amount of time in order to celebrate a Bar/Bat Mitzvah at the synagogue).

Introducing online learning into an existing Hebrew school framework can also strengthen the afternoon school experience. Distance learning offers new and vibrant opportunities that include asynchronous activities, games, interactive assignments and other enjoyable components that create an energetic and engaging learning environment to present a high quality atmosphere which heightens the students' interest and motivation.

JETS' online learning programs have been a staple of Jewish day schools for several years but they are now being adopted by increasing numbers of afternoon schools. Topics are chosen by the students and their teachers -- Contemporary Jewish Issues, Virtual Tours of Israeli Historical and Archaeological Sites, Jewish Leadership, Hip Hop Hebraics, Tikkun Olam, Ancient Israel, Interactive Textual Study, Jewish environmentalism, Israel's Ethiopian Community, and more. The classes then meet with a teacher who provides material for consideration along with follow-up games and activities that the students can enjoy on their laptops or tablet devices.

Online learning means that the students are not obligated to listen to lectures, take tests, wait their "turn" to participate or sit through boring lectures. The classes create a vibrant environment that combines collaborative learning with independent exploration for a truly new look at what Hebrew school can offer.

JETS Blogpost Eye on Israel -- JconnecT Open House

Participants study Eye on Israel at JconnecT Open House

As JETS and JconnecT gear up for the 2013/2014 school year, a series of virtual Open Houses are being offered throughout the summer to provide students, parents , educators and other community members with a chance to participate in a sample JconnecT class.

The JconnecT program offers online Jewish learning to students who don't have access to a Jewish school for afternoon and Sunday school studies or who have not integrated into a local framework.

Through JconnecT students enter a virtual classroom Live every Sunday morning to meet with other students from around the country and explore Jewish concepts and information as they "meet" who participate in the class with them online.

The 2013/2014 school year will feature two Sunday Morning Live classes -- Hip Hop Hebraics (Sundays at 10:00a.m. CST) and Contemporary Jewish Issues (Sundays at 11:00CST). Participating students are invited, as part of their registration, to join two dynamic, free Shabbatons which are held in conjunction with the Memphis Hebrew Academy. 

Memphis Shabbaton at the Memphis Hebrew Academy

On May 19^th,over a dozen students from throughout the United States met, online, to experience an online JconnecT class, including Omaha, NE, Portland, ME, Birmingham, AL and Memphis, TN. JconnecT Instructor and Director Smadar Goldstein led the class from her Jerusalem office  and JconnecT Founder Rabbi Gil Perl joined in from the Margolin Hebrew Academy in Memphis, TN. 

Smadar began the class with an icebreaker designed to get the students to know one other in an educational and entertaining format. Then she the class moved into content, a look at the Eyes onIsrael,based on the Biblical text that "the eyes of God are always on Israel." [Dvarim11:12]

Using a variety of online tools, the students examined what this verse meant in ancient times and what it means to the modern State of Israel, Americans and Israelis. Students also discussed if 'eyes on Israel' refers to a G-d given right, or if Jewish people have to act a certain way in order to receive the privilege of having G-d's 'Eyes on Israel.'  he lesson then proceeded to ask the participants to explore how they see the verse relating to them,  in their own lives.

The lively, dynamic class presented opportunities for all participating students to ask questions, express their ideas and exchange views.

More Open Houses are scheduled throughout the summer. To sign up for a free Open House students, families and other individuals are invited to contact smadar@jetsisrael.com.