#eLearningForTheTeachers

As the word spreads about the JETS eCom -- the eLearning Community of Jewish Educators new teachers are joining to learn and share. eCom began as a group of 20 educators who gathered together, online, one evening in September to discuss their needs and interests of attaining their goal of using elearning to enhance their classrooms, engage their students and create an ever more effective Jewish learning environment.

 

The educators focused on two main concerns.

1.      How can the group serve as a clearinghouse for learning about available online tools and opportunities especially in light of the fact that technology is always changing?

2.      How can each educator share his/her experiences and knowledge with his/her peers in an effective manner?

 

From this group the eCom community was born. eCom is a self-directed community in which teachers brainstorm, exchange ideas, trade experiences and share their knowledge as it relates to digital learning and online instruction. The group shares a Haiku Learning Management System in which teachers share and discuss ideas, present projects and explore new avenues in the field of online learning.

 

Some of the recent information that's been shared has included reviews of new online educational games such as quizlet , bitstrip, goanimate, equiz shows, puzzlemaker, Scratch story creation, word searches and more.  Participants explore these programs on their own and report back to the Haiku to share their experiences and their students' reactions to the new and varied elearning options.

 

The eCom community is an ongoing community -- new participants join weekly and can access all of the previous information via the Haiku LMS while they explore the process of elearning and the ever-changing role that elearning plays in our classrooms.

 

No Teacher Left Behind -- Sample Lessons

JETS' No Teacher Left Behind reconvened last night after a month-long hiatus for the holidays.

The course is geared towards Jewish educators who want to become involved in bringing online education into their classrooms, schools and communities.

During the first four weeks of the class the course facilitator, JETS director Smadar Goldstein, introduced the group to the Elluminate online blackboard which allows classes to be conducted in which participants from around the world can see, simultaneously, the same documents, presentations and videos while communicating with each other. The format is especially useful for distance learning situations in which students are scattered in different locations because the students can collaborate while seeing and hearing the instructor and each other.

Smadar also presented a variety of other online tools to the students and allowed them to explore and experiment during the first four classes. Some of these tools include mind-mapping, voxopops, scribbler, linoboards, creating videos, voki, woodles, google docs and more.

This month started out with participants' lesson plans. Over the course of October's four classes each participant will present a sample lesson plan in which they incorporate  some of the tools to which they have have been introduced.

Leah started the first sample lesson with an ice-breaker. She posted a google doc with some questions that allow each participant to tell a little about him/herself. 

Leah then moved into her lesson, describing how she introduced the concept of "slicha" -- sorry -- to a class of American schoolboys. Leah prepared a linoboard that was aimed to bring the boys' attention to the word "slicha" for the Ten Days of Repentence that fall between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

She explained how she involved the boys by asking them "why is it so hard to ask "sorry" and "what does it mean when we say "I'm sorry."

She further personalized the lesson by asking them "What's harder -- to ask forgiveness from a friend or to ask forgiveness of yourself ?" A picture collage that showed people behaving badly was presented and the question was asked "did you do any of these things and if so, how did you ask for forgiveness?

Leah ended her unit with a printout of the Adon HaSlichot -- a prayer from the Yom Kippur service. After the boys read the prayer she asked them "how do the piyutium of adon haslichot relate to actions that we need to ask forgiveness for?  Were there things that spoke specifically to you? (the student)

In feedback the participants of No Teacher Left Behind agreed that the unit was a highly engaging and interactive one. One participant asked Leah to explain her heavy use of Google docs and she explained that her class is conducted on Skype, limiting her ability to use many of the tools that are available to other online teachers.

Michal's class involved a presentation of Hip Hop Hebraics that she's presently doing with her JconnecT class. Before the class starts Michal introduces the Hebrew version of the 5 Ws, which for Hebrew Speakers is the Mems -- Mi, Mah, Matai, Maduah and Afoh (Who, What, When, Why and Where) .

Michal introduced Hebrew by discussing the origins of the Hebrew language. She showed her class a picture of aleph and a ox head and participants discussed the connection? In its raw form the ox's head was similar to an aleph and it's possible to see how it could have evolved into the present day aleph, but it takes some thought and is probably a fun exercise for a group of pre-teens. Michal went on to say that an ox is a wild animal. To train an animal is to לאלף -- to train -- is the connection is.

The lesson continued with other graphic examples of changing letters and connections. Michal explained that in the early days, a letter was supposed to remind you of the word for which it stood. She showed examples of how some Hebrew letters may have evolved.

The class then listed to Ehud Banai's Hebrew Man video and answered related questions on a google doc, reinforcing the lesson with the four Mems for language acquisition skills.

Questions included?

·         What is the message of the song

·         Who sings the song

·         Why do they sing the song in English

Students were then asked to look at the other students' comments, choose one other person's comment and comment on their comment

Michal ended her lesson by showing the contrasting people who speak Hebrew including the dignified Golda Meir and the rap artist Subliminal. Students were to consider the discrepancy in Hebrew as a holy, important language and as a language used in everyday communication by ...everybody.

The review of Michal's class was complementary. Participants felt that, as is important for an online class, the students were active and involved in the learning process. 

Learning Management Systems

JETS Israel has been experimenting with different learning management systems, both for distance learning courses and PD classes.

Smadar Goldstein, director of JETS Israel, has reviewed some of her impressions of the Haiku system, one of her preferred systems, in a recent PLP Network blogpost.

http://plpnetwork.com/2013/07/18/learning-management-systems-favorites/#comment-72604

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.