Technology In Jewish Classrooms - Resources

Technology in the Jewish Classroom Limmud Colorado, May 22-25 Presenter: Josh Fixler

Resources Descriptions are mostly from Jewish Education Service of North America: http://www.jesna.org/sosland/resources

Teacher Resources Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) Jewish Valuesfinder www.ajljewishvalues.org The New Jewish Valuesfinder, published by the Association of Jewish Libraries, is a free, online, and easy-to-use guide to Jewish values in children's books. Its an everexpanding database currently lists over 550 books recommended for preschool through high school. Each book is analyzed for the Jewish values it contains, as well as for its content areas. The database can be searched by author, title, illustrator, publisher, Jewish values, subjects, grade level, and year of publication. A book bag feature allows lists of selected titles to be printed and used as bibliographies. Another very useful feature is the descriptive and critical note that accompanies each title. AJL's New Jewish Valuesfinder is for teachers, librarians, clergy, parents, and everyone who cares about what Jewish children read. BabagaNewz www.babaganewz.com Companion website to BabagaNewz Magazine, a partnership between Jewish Family & Life! and The AVI CHAI Foundation; targeted to middle school students in Jewish day and supplementary schools, the monthly magazine will help readers see that Judaism is relevant to every aspect of their lives by focusing each issue on a core Jewish value whose meaning will be interpreted in creative and thought-provoking ways. CAJE-Tech Wiki caje-tech.wikispaces.com A wiki published by Debbie Harris. Contains presentations and discussions from CAJE 32 and 33 focused on education and technology. JE3 Wiki - The Work Space for the Jewish Education 3.0 Project je3.wikispaces.com The Jewish Education 3.0 (JEd3.0) project brings together professionals working in Jewish education, media, and technology to discuss the deeper implications of what it means to “do” Jewish education in a 21st century digital world. JEd3.0 is a project of JESNA's Lippman Kanfer Institute. The Lippman Kanfer Institute believes that for Jewish education to be successful in the 21st century it needs to embrace new modes of engaging learners, create rich and diverse experiences of study and action, and forge stronger connections among its many actors and settings. The

Institute's projects seek to guide the field as it generates and adopts innovative ideas and develops new ways of thinking about and doing Jewish education. Jewish Education 2.0 Jedweb.ning.com A Ning social network focused on technology, web 2.0, and Jewish education. Includes blog posts, videos, pictures, a forum, and other resources aimed at highlighting innovative ideas to engage students in the study of Torah. Jlearn2.0 Wiki Jlearn20.wikispaces.com A wiki administered by Caren Levine. Like its affiliated blog, jlearn2.0's wiki space is a work in progress. It is an opportunity to use a particular technology to share ideas and resources for Jewish learning. Its emphasis is on integrating digital technologies into learning and teaching to enhance lifelong Jewish learning. This includes school settings as well as other educational venues, and learning for all ages. It is our hope that stakeholders in Jewish education will partner in the development of this site. We turn to you to share experiences, ideas, resources, and questions to help build a community around common interests and to further the field. If you have other ideas or materials for possible submission, please be in touch with us at jlearn2.0. My Jewish Learning www.myjewishlearning.com MyJewishLearning.com is a trans-denominational website of Jewish information and education geared toward learners of all ages and educational backgrounds. As the central Internet site for learning about Judaism, it is designed to be: • Content rich and pedagogically sound--to invite and facilitate site visitors' engagement in ever-deeper levels of learning. • Relevant to adult audiences of diverse backgrounds and learning objectives-from novice learners, who know little about Judaism, to experienced learners, who know a great deal but want to learn much more. • Accurate, well written, and visually engaging. • Representative of the wide range of trans-denominational perspectives within Judaism. • Compatible with a broad range of user experiences--from self-guided browsing and learning, to site-assisted browsing and learning. TorahSkills.org www.torahskills.org At TorahSkills.org it is our vision to help every K-12 student succeed in the classroom by creating a virtual learning environment which integrates sound educational principles along with the proper use of educational technology. By simultaneously creating our own interactive content and providing educators with a platform upon which they can create and place their own material, we believe students will be rewarded with a superior educational experience that will foster a love of learning and a strong connection to Torah. Torah Tech www.Torahtech.ning.com

A Ning social network created by Debbie Harris. Members post blog entries, videos, and pictures, form groups, and chat in forums about exploring ways to incorporate technology into Jewish education. Open to viewing by the public, but prospective members have to request membership, complete a profile and have a Ning ID.

Secular Resources 21st Century Connections 21centuryconnections.com A website providing access to resources, tools, and leaders in digital learning to teachers, students, and administrators. The website includes articles, online learning, and professional development. 21st Century Connections is sponsored by Lenovo, Adobe, Intel and Futurekids. Center for Children and Technology (CCT) Cct.edc.org CCT investigates ways that technology can make a difference in children's classrooms, schools, and communities through a number of basic, applied, formative, and summative research projects. Our goal is to construct a more complete understanding of how to foster greater equity, student achievement, and teacher preparedness in our nation's schools. Our research often is situated within classrooms and schools because context is of vital importance to any educational intervention. In conducting our research, we employ a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies grounded in current education research theories and practices. Classroom 2.0 Social Network www.classroom20.com A social network for educators interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technology. Provides forums for dialog, information about workshops, a wiki with resources, and a collaborative blog. iEARN www.iearn.org iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) is the world's largest nonprofit global network that enables young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world.

Blogs AVI CHAI Educational Technology blog edtechexp.blogspot.com AVI CHAI's blog exploring technology in Jewish education. AVI CHAI is looking for new and innovative ways to apply technology to enhancing the teaching of Judaic studies in day schools. To that end, the foundation is providing seed funding for a diverse range of projects with the ultimate goal of learning about and identifying promising educational technology initiatives for Jewish education.

JewPoint0 jewpoint0.org Launched in August, 2008, JewPoint0 is the blog of Darim Online, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Jewish organizations make the most of available internet technologies. We believe these tools are essential for doing the important work in our community and beyond, including community building, education, fundraising, social action and more, and JewPoint0 is an opportunity for us to share useful nuggets that surface from both our work and personal lives. It is intended to be a resource for the community to learn, be inspired, find useful models, share their work, and connect with others. Darim believes strongly in knowledge sharing as we can all help educate and inspire each other in our work. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel, and lots of reasons to encourage experimentation, (calculated) risk taking, and sharing both what works well and not so well so we can all learn and flourish together. JLearn2.0 www.etheoreal.com/jlearn2.0/ Jewish Learning in a Digital World, a blog published by Caren Levine. jlearn2.0 was developed to provide a space for educators and other key stakeholders to explore resources and issues related to the integration of digital technologies for lifelong Jewish learning. jlearn2.0 is a project of etheoreal, a consultancy specializing in professional development and educational technology, with a focus on integrating theory and practice. The site is published by Caren Levine, principal consultant at etheoreal. MuseForJews Museforjews.com A blog published by Debbie Harris. Debbie Harris is the technology coordinator at the Sager Solomon Schechter Middle School in Northbrook, IL and teaches religious school at Lakeside Congregation for Reform Judaism. Involved in Jewish education for over thirty years, she received an education degree from Northwestern University with a concentration in instructional media. She is skilled in using and teaching desktop publishing, video editing, presentation and animation software; and consults and presents regularly on integrating technology into Judaic studies. Her students podcast, blog, edit video and create claymations. New Jewish Education www.newjewisheducation.blogspot.com A blog published by Saul Kaiserman. Reflections and ideas about Jewish education. A collaborative resource for thoughtful (and possibly frustrated) folks interested in trying to do things just a little better. SchmoozED www.schmoozed.lookstein.org Schmoozing about education: A Jewish education blog brought to you by the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education in the Diaspora. Contributors: Shalom Berger, Chana German, Moshe Abelesz, Zvi Grumet, and Esther. TorahTeacherTech

www.TorahTeacherTech.wordpress.com A technology blog for teachers, explaining how to set up and manage a blog, and providing information about freeware and open source software packages available, wordprocessing in Hebrew, and more. The blog provides how-tos and several video tutorials.

Reports Judaism 2.0: Identity, Philanthropy and the New Media http://www.jesna.org/document-manager/doc_download/193-judaism-20-identityphilanthrophy-and-the-new-media This report documents a few of the many ways that Jewish communications professionals are using the new technology to engage in Jewish life. We’ve highlighted a small sample of noteworthy online offerings with an eye toward providing new models for communicating, and made some broad suggestions for being responsive to the new modalities. We believe that the latest thinking on new media can serve as a guide to Jewish philanthropic investment, and our aim is to inspire, as well as to inform about the potential of an exciting new field of thinking. Redesigning Jewish Education for the 21st Century www.jesna.org/document-manager/doc_download/197-redesigning-jewisheducation-for-the-21st-century The Lippman Kanfer Institute’s inaugural project lays out a set of “design principles” that call for contemporary Jewish education to be more “learner-focused, relationship-infused, and life-centered.” The Working Paper also proposes a strategy grounded in change principles, and concrete steps necessary to implement these principles.