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.

Online Learning and Evaluation Options

The traditional strategy for evaluating student learning is "the test." Students regurgitate the information that they learned by answering questions, either multiple choice questions or in text form. This provides an easy way for teachers to determine whether the students have acquired the necessary information, for administrators to evaluate classroom performance and for communities and governments to monitor the standing of their schools.

Proponents of traditional testing note that these tests are a fair and objective measure of student achievement but increasingly educators are expressing the worry that the pressure of performing well on tests causes teachers to structure their curriculum according to the test, rather than creating a curriculum that helps students gain real-world knowledge that will help them succeed in life.

Conducting a traditional test online is probably one of the easiest aspects of distance learning. Digital tools quickly record students' answers and "score" the test within minutes. But what about the elearning educator who wants to create a rubric that is actually a part of the learning process?

If the goal of education is to help students learn material, develop the skills to analyze the material and learn how to further use it in a constructive manner, traditional testing seems to defeat that purpose. How many times have we heard our students say "I didn't remember anything after I took the test."? Where's the education here?

The old-fashioned book report, which was probably one of the most engaging types of traditional learner-evaluation rubrics, has been expanded in online learning programs to include interactive opportunities for students to summarize units while adding to their understanding of the subject matter and reinforcing the content of the lesson.

Book reports involve describing a book in the form of a summary, usually as a written report. The student provides enough of an overview of the book so that the teacher can see that the student actually read the book.

Distance learning allows students to use a wide range of online tools to create that same summery, but with the added opportunity to expand on the subject and actually use the evaluation to create an additional learning experience. Using dynamic etools the student can use his own language and understanding of the subject material to demonstrate how a unit progressed and the conclusions that the student took from the information that he acquired.

In a recent JETS history lesson the 10^th grade students of the Kadima school of St. Louis created intriguing summaries of the intensive material that they studied that related to the dilemmas that faced the Jewish community of Jerusalem of the 1^st century C.E.

Saving Money for Jewish Day Schools

Twelve months ago, if you would have told me that digital learning was a cost-effective educational model, I wouldn't have believed it.

After having entered the world of online education I've come to see and appreciate the advantages that distance learning offers, including financial savings.

The debate over whether to include elearning in the Jewish classroom seems to have passed. It's not a subject of discussion anymore -- in all but the most Ultra-Orthodox schools, computer online learning has found its niche.

Digital learning opportunities allow students to explore information highways that they may not have been able to access otherwise. Students who are at different levels can work on the same material, each at his or her own level. Families can take vacations during the school year as the children keep current with the material via Internet access.

Interestingly enough, the technology also allows Jewish day schools to help control their costs while not only maintaining their status quo but actually improving the education.

Technology allows schools to enhance their programs while keeping their eye on the bottom financial line.  The savings in teaching staff, support staff, administrative staff and hard copy books and other materials may be modest but they add up, preventing tuition in many elearning schools from rising.

In addition, many educators note that the schools' technology doesn't only prepare the students for the future, it meets them "where they're at," since even elementary school children today are extremely technologically adept and expect that their classroom experience will engage them in a challenging and interactive manner that meets their needs and expectations.

In his report Steering your Jewish Day School Toward FinancialSustainability in an Unstable Economy Sacha Litman of Measuring Success, in partnership with PEJE, gives another reason that Jewish day schools should increase the elearning component of the curriculum. "Have a clear understanding about how your school's value is perceived by current and prospective parents" Litman writes. Today's parents expect that their child's education will consist of all possible tools that will ensure the child's ultimate scholastic success. If a parent feels that the school is "behind the times" or isn't keeping up with the educational advances of the 21^st century, that parent might very well not enroll the child or remove the child from the school, taking that tuition with him.  

In today's world of Jewish day school education, making a school cost-effective involves thinking "outside of the box." Digital learning is one such alternative. 

Flip It -- Flipping in Jewish Schools

There is, as of yet, no empirical research that indicates, one way or another, the success of the flipped classroom. However, anecdotal evidence of teacher, administration and student satisfaction with the unique new learning model is causing traditional educators to sit up and take notice.

Flipped classrooms, to quote a recent New York Times article, use technology to humanize the classroom. Teachers film a short video that presents a lesson, much as a teacher would present a frontal lesson in the classroom. Students are expected to watch the lesson at home to prepare for the class -- the format enables students to watch the video as many times as they want to fully understand the new material.

The students then work on the follow-up "homework" when they come into class which enables the teacher to circle the room and help the students as they grapple with the material hands-on.

It's hard to imagine why a flipped classroom wouldn't work. All of the elements of a traditional classroom are still there -- they're just....flipped. The teacher has the student's attention as he presents the material in a frontal presentation. The student doesn't have to worry about raising her hand or asking a "dumb" question if she doesn't comprehend -- she can just watch the presentation over and over again until she understands what is being taught, or at least understands enough to know what questions she needs to ask.

The teacher-student interaction is still there, but instead of one teacher trying to re=explain subject material to individual students while the rest of the students become bored or agitated, she can allow the faster students to work at their own pace as she helps the students who need extra assistance.

How does this work for Jewish subjects in a Jewish classroom? Video presentations of the text of Chumash, Gemorah or other textual studies allow the student to mull over the material before the class begins to analyze the material together. If the teacher spends a little time creating an engaging visual presentation of the material it may further spark the students' interest and curiosity, especially if the instructor applies the ancient texts to modern applications using technological tools.

The class then meets to tackle the follow-up activities, as monitored by the instructor, offering additional opportunities to strengthen the students' comprehension and involvement in the subject material.  

"Veteran" flipped classroom teachers (the model has only been in use for the last few years) caution that the frontal educational videos should not be more than five or six minutes to allow the students to absorb the material and, if they wish, to replay the video over and over as they "meet" the new information.

While the flipped  Jewish classroom might be automatically associated with a day school environment, afternoon schools are also experimenting with the concept. The Adat Ari El Jewish Learning Center for grades K-6 began to incorporate the flipped classroom model in their center's activities last year as a way to encourage the students to explore and create. Adat Ari El sees the flipped classroom as a way to allow the school to share important content with the students and their families outside of class.

The flipped classroom has a ways to go before it's perfected but for now it's an exciting educational opportunity that will add significantly to Jewish day and afternoon school frameworks.

  

    

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. 

Crowdsourcing and eLearning

Crowdsourcing has always been a component of classroom activity but it wasn't always called "crowdsourcing" and it wasn't always very active. It used to be called "asking the class" and students could express their opinion by raising their hand.   Many teachers shied away from such exercises because they were afraid of losing control of the class or giving up some of their authority. When they did ask the kids for their opinions, students were given "yes" or "no" options and, in the end, the teacher decided what she wanted to do anyway.

Today's technology has brought crowdsourcing to a new level. Teachers can using a variety of crowdsourcing tools to get feedback on lessons, garner ideas, solicit information that may increase the students' interest and participation and create an open atmosphere that raises the students' interest and involvement in the course.

Each Learning Management System (LMS) has its own crowdsourcing tools and elearning teachers would be well advised to acquaint themselves with the available opportunities. Crowdsourcing can be used to promote inquiry-based learning, to help students clear the way for critical thinking, to create a growth mindset for students and to perk the students' interest in a new topic.  

Some concrete ideas for crowdsourcing in the classroom include:

• Have your students create their own unit overviews. Assign the students to work in pairs to create lists of subtopics for a specific unit. Then, let the pairs choose a subtopic that is of particular interest to them and allow them to investigate their chosen topic. The evaluation of the unit may include a presentation by each pair of their particular subtopic. This approach covers the high points of the topic through crowdsourcing as it engages students and fosters collaboration, research and presentation skills.
• Allow students to develop the tools that will be used to assess their work through crowdsourcing. Students should decide what they want to accomplish by creating their own rubric. Involving students in creating the tools for their assessment allows them to buy-into the project and assess themselves, often more rigorously than would occur otherwise.  
• Ask the students to help plan the class, what they want to learn, what project ideas they have, what components of the course they have most/least enjoyed, etc. This helps each student feel responsible for his own learning and develop metacognitive skills that will help him become a lifelong learner.
  

JETS class at the Kadima school in St. Louis makes ample use of crowdsourcing tools via the Haiku LMS. In addition to polls and LMS interactive surveys, the students took the time to consider the learning process in which they are involved. Some of their responses include:

"I'm really enjoying this class and the pace it is moving at- I don't feel behind or rushed but we are definetly covering alot of material in class. (Please don't move faster! :) My favorite part 0f this class is the writing and ability to express my opinion and have a response to everything. I also really like the connection of Tanach to modern issues- this is FANTASTIC!
thank you!" 

"I like polls because it shows me how everyone else feels about ideas and it's fun to see how many people I agree or disagree with. I like the discussion forums as well because I feel I can clearly express my ideas (views) and see what other peoples might be. I also like them because sometimes I'll read someone else's response and it will make me think of a new idea or make me rethink what I've said. I love images because they help me remember the topic. If I see a picture in connection to what we're learning, I can remember the picture, which leads me to remember the topic. One thing that wasn't on the poll was videos which I also enjoy for a similar reason. Lastly, I like it when we have links to other places like google docs - which I see someone put in other - because that seems to be where we do small bits of reading which is different from the short blurbs/ideas on haiku. Overall I like what we've done so far this year."

Hip Hop Hebraics at Yeshivat Noam

A lively class of boys set the stage for an engaging online lesson of Hip Hop Hebraics this week.

Four students from the Yeshivat Noam school, Josh, Yisrael, Boaz and Naftali meet with their Israeli teacher, Leah, to learn Hebrew words, concepts and the history of the language.

The boys' class this week dealt with the origins of Hebrew. How old is Hebrew? Are there other languages that are just as old? Which ones still exist today?

The class progressed as the boys dived into the subject, using a linoboard and sticky notes to explore the subject and submit their answers.

Leah played Ehud Banai's well-known Israeli song, "Hebrewman" which proved to be popular with the class which sang along with the video and continued to hum the refrain long after the song had ended. The class reviewed the song's lyrics and discussed the song's theme, including the question of how the song relates to the earlier issue of the 4000-year endurance of the Hebrew language.  

The lesson became more challenging when Leah presented the group with the lyrics to the song -- all in Hebrew. "Pick out two words from the song that are new to you" Leah instructed the boys. Despite the challenging text the boys were up to the task and quickly identified new words that they could translate.  

   

Hip Hop Hebraics involves high level subject material but the Noam students are a unique group that is able to tackle the challenge. At the present pace it seems that the class will be moving quickly through challenging material that takes most classes much longer.

Yasher Koach to Yeshivat Noam!