In reference to the question about laptops in class, Olivia Friedman does an excellent job explaining the SAMR model and applying it to Jewish educational technology integration. Sholom Eisenstat also lists some important elements of successfully disruptive technology integrations. I have little to add to either of their presentations, as they are both based on sound research and best practices. Still, I’d like to offer my own perspective on my raison d'etre for advocating edtech in the Jewish educational classroom.
What sets Judaic subjects apart is the emphasis on Jewish experience. In Judaic studies, we are not only teaching a set of skills and the content itself, but seeking to instill a way of life - what Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zâ€l called the Torat Imecha - and the love, feeling and experience of Judaism. A student’s rebbeim and morot not only teach material but also represent Jewish identity and values. Obviously, there are many ways to instill positive Jewish experiences for our students, and I believe that technology is a positive and powerful tool for our students to explore numerous avenues of creativity and self-expression. Technology also affords them a much wider audience for their achievements.
Allow me to provide three examples:
The 9th Grade Gemara Page:
I have very fond memories of my first successful major Jewish edtech integration, a “How to Learn Gemara†website which I created with a freshman class at The Frisch School 15 years ago. This was in 2001, at the dawn of the world wide web. Our hosting site was Geocities, which Yahoo has since sunsetted, although you can still find our project here: [
geocities.ws].
As a culmination of our year-long skills based Gemara curriculum, students were assigned to create a website to help other freshmen like themselves learn Gemara. What set this project apart was the differentiation technology provided. Students were divided into groups, with each group tasked with explaining a Gemara sugya, or topic, from the year. They had to divide and classify each part of the discussion, color code it, include translations and keywords, and they could even illustrate the text if they chose to. In addition to our content creators, some students were editors of the site, others were coders. We had photographers, artists, and even students who created crossword puzzles of different topics to post on the site.
To this day, I still have a very close relationship with many students from this shiur who vividly recall the Gemaras they analyzed for the site. They knew they were doing something special. It was the shared experience which technology helped to facilitate that created strong bonds between rebbe and student and between the student and the Jewish text and practice.
Today, with tools like Sefaria, Youtube, and the ability to build Jewish apps, opportunities for Jewish content creation and engagement abound. I see these opportunities as a powerful way for students to not only achieve mastery of Jewish content but demonstrate that mastery in a way that builds their positive Jewish experience, thus fostering a deeper sense of Jewish identity.
2) Crowdsourcing the Final:
This year, I am teaching the Book of Yirmiyahu in Nach. I decided that it would be educationally worthwhile for me to give my students a typical pen and paper final - sort of. I assigned my students to write their own finals, in a meta-cognition activity, and they are doing this using a shared Google Doc and a method called Crowdsourcing.
In the Google Doc, I put the different units that would be on the final. I then assigned students to work with a partner and add an essay question for each unit of study. No two groups were allowed to post the same essay questions. As an added incentive, I told my students that they would receive a point of extra credit for any question that makes it to the actual final.
Once students finished this, they expected a more traditional review sheet for the people, places, events, and important phrases which I include in the earlier sections of my final. Instead, I created a second Google doc where students were required to include these as well. Students were also assigned to create an online quiz using Kahoot, [
getkahoot.com], a fun real-time learning app.
This week, I plan to continue review as we go over the essay questions in class discussion, whittling them down to the most important essays which they will need to study for the final. (We also plan to spend a lot of time playing Kahoot!) You can view many more ideas for crowdsourcing in the classroom and add your own to the following crowdsourced Google Slideshow: [
tinyurl.com]
Rather than creating the review sheet and the final on my own, as most traditional educators would do, I am outsourcing these tasks for my students to do it for me. Instead of spoon-feeding them the information for them to then spit back on a test and, likely, quickly forget, we are collaboratively creating the assessment. I am confident this experience of creating their own final and review sheet will help them remember the material more thoroughly and feel empowered by a sense of deep accomplishment.
3) Tikun Olam Makers:
At Frisch, we have a very successful engineering program thanks to our dedicated chair, Mrs. Rifkie Silverman, and the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education. Our engineering program started as a sophomore elective with 20 students five years ago and has grown into a freshman and sophomore curriculum with over 120 students. This year, we added a senior elective as a capstone project for graduates of our two-year engineering program. Seniors in this elective research a halachic topic assisted by Rabbi Pinchas Weinberger, a member of our Talmud faculty, using various text-based and online resources, and in consultation via Skype with Rabbi Binyamin Zimmerman of the Zomet Institute of Halacha and Technology in Jerusalem. Students then use their knowledge of Jewish law and engineering to create an innovative product that helps Sabbath-observant Jews in our modern world.
Last week, our students presented their capstone projects to a panel of students, faculty members and Rabbi Zimmerman. Two of our students used 3D design, circuity, and engineering principles to design a working prototype of a sliding door which could be used in hospitals and other extenuating circumstances on Shabbat. Their presentation displayed a deep understanding of the halachic content as well as the application of the halacha to a real-world circumstance. This type of project, in terms of its research, collaboration across the globe, and use of coding, 3D design, and electronics, would not be possible without deep technology integration. The other group designed a keyboard which can be utilized on Shabbat under extenuating circumstance using similar halachic principles.
Although many of our freshmen and sophomores have not yet integrated their technology designs with halachic research, they have already designed working prototypes that illustrate engineering principles, coding, and 3d design, and also seek to help improve the world. For example, one group created a low-cost prosthetic arm that can be powered by a small device mounted to one’s eyeglasses, while another group modeled their project after something they learned about from Beit Issie Shapiro, an organization that helps people with disabilities. They designed a portable “Snoezelen,†a multi-sensory device to help individuals reduce agitation and anxiety.
You can read more about the Zomet project here: [
jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com] and here [
jewishlinknj.com] and view pictures of various other engineering projects here: [
www.facebook.com].
These three examples illustrate different types of technology enriched activities and projects which bring the Jewish text and values to life. It is these Jewish experiences that I believe help foster in our students a strong sense of Jewish identity and values and a deep measure of pride in their rich heritage.
-Tzvi Pittinsky
Director of Educational Technology
The Frisch School, Paramus, NJ
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2016 09:38AM by mlb.
