Technology & Jewish Education - Leben Mit Der Tzeit
The Alter Rebbe's famous quote that "one must live with the times" ("men darf leben mit der tzeit"), while referring to a Jews study of the weekly Torah portion, could just as easily be applied to the need to integrate technology with Jewish Education. When I arrived in my classroom this year, and began to look for teaching material, the shelves were filled with old, weathered copies of Judaic textbooks, many from the 1970's and 1980's. Across the classroom, on the General Studies bookshelf, were recent Ministry-approved textbooks, visually aesthetic posters and diagrams, and a wonderful laptop and projector that had rarely been used by my predecessor.
The message that this stark contrast conveys is that Judaism is old and backwards and second class relative to coursework in general studies. Our students live on their computers. If we want Judaism to live with them, then it needs to exist on the same tech platform.
The message that this stark contrast conveys is that Judaism is old and backwards and second class relative to coursework in general studies. Our students live on their computers. If we want Judaism to live with them, then it needs to exist on the same tech platform.
1. Wikispaces
The first thing I did before school began was to create an online presence and platform for the dissemination of course material, and an online place for sharing information and discussion. I did this in the form of a class wiki at www.wikispaces.com. All major projects and recurring tasks are found on the wiki.
The next area where I looked to use technology in the classroom was in the process and product of my assignments. Tanach and Parshat Hashavua class makes heavy use of Mechon Mamre and Chabad.org.
Group presentations are generated using Google Docs and then produced on PowerPoint.
2. Toondoo
I admit it: I am guilty of trying to do what so many of my Judaics teachers growing up failed to do - be creative and use artistic means to instruct and inspire. I have relatively small classes, with very high numbers of students who have some form of learning disability. I know from their IEPs that if I try and teach them Tanach in a conventional way, I will lose their interest and good will. I discovered very early in the year that many of my students are as attracted to drawing as a moth is to flame. I soon afterward instituted weekly Parshat Hashavua assignments in which after learning key psukim from the parsha, or even a summary of the parsha, students go online to www.toondoo.com and draw a 2D cartoon strip about what they have learned. My students learned so much about the weekly parsha this way - especially the ones who needed a different modality to learn and express themselves.
3. Xtranormal Movie making
www.xtranormal.com is a text-to-movie website. What this means is that students type in the script and speaking parts for avatar characters, select a background and avatar motions and timing, and then with a click generate actual 3D movies. I have used this website to assess if my students can a) articulate both perspectives of a Jewish issue, b) summarize a particular teaching, c) explain a sight unseen text, and so on.
I have only been using xtranormal for a few months now, and I believe I have only begun to explore its educational potential. I look forward to planning out my coming year this summer so I can insert xtranormal assignments at key junctures .
I have been using toondoo and xtranormal for four months now, on a weeky basis. Students head to Wikispaces to get their instructions about what to learn about the weekly parsha, and then they produce either a short film of cartoon on their learning. One Friday every month, we preview the best of the short films at the class Shabbos Tish. Samples of some cartoons and snapshots of the xtranotmal platform are in the slideshow below.
I have only been using xtranormal for a few months now, and I believe I have only begun to explore its educational potential. I look forward to planning out my coming year this summer so I can insert xtranormal assignments at key junctures .
I have been using toondoo and xtranormal for four months now, on a weeky basis. Students head to Wikispaces to get their instructions about what to learn about the weekly parsha, and then they produce either a short film of cartoon on their learning. One Friday every month, we preview the best of the short films at the class Shabbos Tish. Samples of some cartoons and snapshots of the xtranotmal platform are in the slideshow below.