Category: j ed tech 2.0 (Fall 2010)

Sholom Eisenstat is a Computer Resource teacher for secondary schools north of Toronto. He shared a Prime Minister’s Award for the technology integration model in the CyberARTS program in the Toronto District School Board, and holds an MA in Parshanut Hamikra from McGill University. In this article, he presents readily accessible, easy to use, hardware and software and shows how they can enhance learning.

Despite the technological leaps, many in the teaching profession have avoided integrating technology for fear that the effort is not worth the value added. Others were frightened away by their early experiences (remember DOS?), hardware that could not be trusted or the lack of proper technical support. Some teachers were waiting, or are still waiting, for the “perfect” resources or tools. While the tools available today may not be perfect, the hardware and software is robust and powerful, the resources accessible are immense, and research shows the tremendous advantages technology provides for student learning. Today’s students find it easier and more inviting to engage with what we call “content” when they use the power of the creative and research tools now available. In technology-enabled classrooms students learn in a self-directed fashion. Pedagogically, the technology infused curriculum also “silently” exercises students’ literacy skills, analytical skills, communication skills, facility with technological research process, and promotes collaborative engagement in problem solving. For teachers, computers can be the key to differentiating curriculum.

To those who are ready to start on the integration journey, this is a great time to embark on the journey to infuse your teaching practice with technology. Much of the standard library of Jewish texts, as well additional support material, is available online. There are tools and resources out there to enhance the delivery of curriculum, to engage students in their work, and to provide students with avenues for their creative output. Software which is classroom-ready is available in the marketplace and in the “cloud” of free software. Below I will outline how some of the currently available hardware and software – much of which is free or inexpensive – can be used pedagogically.

Hardware

Interactive whiteboards, or Smartboards, are the rage. They are very valuable when properly integrated into teacher practice, but the learning curve with this technology is significant. Teachers must be given this hardware to work with for months at a time with regular support, in order for teachers and schools to develop experience with these tools. Classroom practice evolves slowly, and it takes time for such a powerful tool to be integrated. They really are much more than projection screens! It’s the use of software that is “smart”, not the “board!”

Many teachers have found that the interactive whiteboard’s ability to record what is displayed on it for later playback is very useful for students. A lesson’s notes, text “markup,” presentations, annotated images – anything projected onto the board is easily recorded to be posted on a school’s website, network, Moodle (http://moodle.org/) or class community site, for students to use and study at their leisure. Many students will do better if they can review the lesson a number of times.

Handheld devices are being brought to school by many students and teachers. Schools everywhere are going wireless to accommodate this powerful technology. Handhelds enable students to have computing power to review school work, take notes, videos, record audio files, use camera/video capabilities, calendaring, messaging, audio note-taking, student response systems (clickers), access the web, make relevant telephone calls, conference calls, calculations, view images, share images, etc. All this can be done anytime and anywhere and as many times as necessary. While engaged in reviewing schoolwork, fellow students can be consulted online, questions can be posted or responses provided, blogs can be updated, or comments left in a forum. Many students who have jobs, or are involved in sports or community work and other responsibilities which keep them from a “workspace,” will be far more apt to do some review when it is so convenient.

Students in many schools are already carrying these devices which, though their characteristics vary greatly, comprise a tremendous amount of computing power in flexible, portable devices. Part of the collaborative atmosphere of a technologically enhanced classroom is the collaborative spirit which drives the use of limited resources. Students will gravitate to doing what they can with what they’ve got, working with other students when their technology is more appropriate and providing the group with the value of their device. This means that rather than avoiding the use of a multiplicity of devices, engaging students in doing what is possible with the available devices will lead to powerful integrations.

Netbooks are emerging as inexpensive alternatives to sophisticated laptops to access email, conduct presentations and conduct web research. I love the idea of a few dozen small notebooks for students to borrow from the library for use in the school building. Similarly, the iPad looks like it could be another game-changing device (and one can expect to find similar devices coming from competitors) – the cost savings in paper and textbooks that these devices enable could easily cover the cost of the hardware.

The “cloud”

Perhaps the most important advances have been in the realm of software, which already enables us to access most of our tools from the Internet using software that is stored and managed and runs in the proverbial “cloud” of the internet’s servers and networks. Google’s large suite of tools has always been available in the “cloud” and Microsoft recently put its Office applications there as well. It is this shared space that makes all the latest ‘Web 2.0’ software possible, as this software is designed to work from the “cloud”, enabling sharing, contribution and participation of those in the class, work group or community that is created for a project. Teachers and students now have access to hundreds of tools that enable the collaboration, communication, creation and presentation of their work. What’s more, many of these applications can be used on the handheld genre of smart, portable devices.

Google’s suite of tools (www.google.com/educators/tools.html) is truly amazing. Accessed through any web browser, it easily allows for creating and managing a sophisticated file sharing and communication system for a class. Documents can be shared among, and modified by, a group of users – many people can actually be working on the document at the same time. The system can accommodate text, media files and calendars, incorporates interactive forms, discussion forums or chat, and a myriad of tools both for productivity, creativity and collaboration. A system such as Google Docs, Moodle or Edu2.0 (www.edu20.org), which promotes the sharing of resources and participation, is a must.

Using Google tools in a Jewish Studies class might go something like this. Students access the assignment instructions, resources (text, audio, video, links to museums, etc.) as a Google doc. They create a digital story of a sukkah building experience with links to Mishnaic/Talmudic references to what is seen in the video. Students use Google SketchUp to “build” 3D models of the sukkah, Temple or mishkan. Using Google Earth students can map out travels through the desert or locations of events in Sefer Shoftim or Melakhim. Formative assessment of the unit can be done using Google forms.

Software for education

Teachers often wonder, “Is there software that I can use in my area of the curriculum?” Now, the answer to this question is usually “yes.” When you search for software to support the subject you teach, you will gather a library of tools and resources which in turn will help you design new assignments and projects. Great places for software, project ideas, data, etc. include Shambles.net (www.shambles.net) and Teacher’sFirst.com (www.teachersfirst.com). While you should not expect to find software to teach Mishnah or tefillah here, you will find hundreds of projects, examples of software used creatively in various subject areas, and tools that open creative vistas which can enhance the teaching of Mishnah etc. Enabling students to apply and develop their learning with these tools is where the power lies.

With audio capabilities, students can interview each other as “experts” or they can interview real experts. Language and music teachers can get much value from students recording their practice reading, speaking or playing. Recording the back and forth of a sugya, or a speech by King David, can engage students in fulfilling many curriculum expectations in Tanakh, Rabbinics, tefillah, and more. Powerful and free software is available for both Mac (Garage Band comes bundled on all Macs) and PC platforms (http://aviary.com, http://audacity.sourceforge.net), enabling recording, editing, and processing audio files.

Video recording and editing is very popular, albeit hardware, software and time intensive. Making good video is very engaging but requires stable, powerful hardware and much data storage space. The FLIP video camera (www.theflip.com) and similar products are a great way to introduce the use of video in the curriculum. These small, inexpensive, easy to use cameras have few "bells and whistles" but are capable of very easily shooting hours of high quality – even HD – video. Macs come with the iMovie editing software and Windows users can download the free Microsoft MovieMaker (tiny.cc/f7bw5). There are also some cloud-based, Web 2.0 online movie editing solutions. Such online video editing services would be usable for very short productions. The speed of video editing on the net can be compromised by slow hardware at the user end, especially on networks lacking high capacity.

Collaboration

Many teachers are using graphic organizers, flow-charts, mind-maps and concept-maps. Any activity like this can benefit from the use of digital tools designed to support such activities. Mindmeister (www.mindmeister.com) is an online tool for collaborative mapping. They provide a free educational account which allows for a student to collaborate with others on three mindmaps. This enables all students to get the benefit of using this tool while collaborating in real-time with peers. Recently, MindMeister has released an app for use on smart-phones. SmartIdeas (smarttech.com) is a powerful multiple-use ‘idea processor’ from the SmartTech (www.smarttech.com) people, while Inspiration (www.inspiration.com) is very powerful and elegant. There are many alternatives on the web for free mapping, diagramming, organization tools.

Digital Storytelling is a very popular and successful method of technology integration. It is the extension of the art of research and writing with a visual layer and audio track, to tell a story. Just like all “storytelling” it can be used in all areas of the curriculum to compose stories, reports, diaries, presentations, art installations, etc. Easy-to-use, dedicated software for this includes Microsoft’s Photostory (tiny.cc/s7mgz) or Apple’s iPhoto. Somewhat more radically, ComicLife (http://plasq.com) is a very powerful, friendly tool used to create stories, etc., using your photographs, in a comic book format. Bitstrips (www.bitstripsforschools.com) is an online tool that enables the storytelling by building comic-like ‘strips’. Many, many other applications which combine images, audio track or music, transitions etc for presentation are available online. Many other tools are web-based.

In this day and age of collaboration, a social bookmarking tool can be very powerful. These utilities can enable all students’ fruitful research to be recorded and shared with the class or group. With Diigo (www.diigo.com), Del.icio.us (http://delicious.com/) or Evernote (www.evernote.com), members of a group can share web links with each other in an organized fashion. Students collect and share their resources, comment on them, and evaluate them, in collaboration, assembling a library of valuable resources on a research topic. Across the curriculum, assembling digital museum tours, collecting resource archives, or creating a map library can be engaging uses of technology.

While some of the popular digital book readers are not yet useful in educational settings, and many textbook publishers are exploring digital textbooks, there are currently tools and resources for all teachers that can be assembled into digital resource archives much the same as a physical library. Assembling these resources and curating them is much less expensive than purchasing new texts and constitutes great student projects and teacher professional development. Access to their educational resources from digital textbooks, anywhere, anytime provides significant advantage to today’s student.

Assessment

Assessment and evaluation is fundamental to our work. In order to evaluate student work, which has been enhanced by technology, teachers need only to remember all that they already know about good evaluation. It’s the content of work done with technology that matters, nothing else. Teachers do not need to be masters of each and every tool or application which students might use in their work. Many students will have better, newer software available to them outside of the school’s system, and while teachers can never be expected to keep up with all the latest technologies and tools, they can be expected to be able to evaluate the content that is ‘presented’ through whatever vehicle has been agreed upon. The teacher should establish from the start that the content of the work submitted is what will be evaluated, and it is the student’s responsibility to make sure that it “works”. It is not the “techno-glitz” which is being evaluated, but the way the ideas and content are developed. A technology-assisted presentation should be no less sophisticated, analytical, deep or engaging than any other student work.

Teachers must always remind their students that the time taken to manage the technology and create product is not considered in assessment. It’s the content that matters, always, period. In this vein, we should remember that technology should be one of various ways that student learning is evaluated. Students gain much from having to choose from and apply one of a range of methods of execution for a project proposed by the teacher. The expectations of demonstration of learning don’t change.

Epilogue

Computers have been in classrooms for 20+ years now and it’s clear that the digital technologies we currently have are, by far, the most powerful tools for education that students and teachers have ever had. Of course, we need to apply their power and sophistication in conjunction with the truly most powerful computers in our classrooms, our students’ brains.