First I would like to commend Dr. Richard Solomon for his efforts to highlight the ways in which JIEE can and has benefited both formal and informal Jewish education. As someone who was featured in his article I am impressed by the lengths to which Dr. Solomon went to survey the field and bring this topic to the forefront.
While I personally am a big proponent of integrating technology and Jewish education, I would like to point out that at the end of the day technology integration into both secular and Jewish education is currently one big experiment. On the surface we certainly have reason to be excited about the potential for technology to create a more engaging and personal learning experience, yet we still just don’t really know if technology can create a “better” learning experience or if can produce higher measurable results in terms of student achievement. Perhaps yes, but perhaps no, perhaps it depends on the student and circumstances.
That is also why I think it is so important to explore the opportunities that technology provides in terms of enhancing Jewish education, not because we know it will create a better learning experience, but because we will never really know until we try.
Thank you Dr. Solomon for highlighting the need to explore this opportunity for enhancing Jewish education further and I hope others will heed his call.
Tzvi Daum
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