As the school year draws to a close,
teachers and administrators are considering ways to enrich
student learning in the coming year.
Towards that end, the Maayanot School in
New Jersey invited their teachers to join a Professional Development session
with Smadar Goldstein of JETS - Jerusalem EdTech Solutions about using web
tools in the classroom.
As part of the session, Smadar introduced the
Learning Management System as a technique to facilitate blended and
asynchronous learning in a dynamic environment of independent study.
Using an LMS offers a wide range of clear benefits,
including the ability to promote active learning, foster collaboration,
differentiate instruction, and implement alternative assessment models. Smadar was aware that teachers are often resistant to new technologies and
methodologies. In order to break through resistance she came up with a novel
idea – to have her students participate in the PD session.
The PD session focused on:
·
creating lesson plans that take into account differentiated learning
patterns
·
break the monotony of a classroom session by increasing communication
and collaborative learning
·
monitoring students' participation
·
facilitating the exchange of ideas, concepts and data among students and
between the students and the teacher
·
leveraging technology by creating content that allows for the inclusion
of web tools and social media
·
providing students with flexible access to learning resources which
include resource material, videos, audio casts, text files and more. All of
these resources can then be stored for future referrals and further use.
·
accessing materials at any time.
Students who miss class are not left hanging….they can open the LMS and access
their classwork.
·
engaging in self-paced learning to all each student to learn according
to his or her personal needs
While Smadar was leading the PD session
from Jerusalem, three of her students from Yeshivat Kadima in St. Louis joined
the gathering via the web-conferencing platform. They presented their own
thoughts and impressions about their encounter with their LMS-based course onContemporary Jewish Issues.
Throughout this year the Kadima students
have been exploring today's issues which face the 21st century
Jewish world in light of Jewish history. Their assignments and projects are all
presented and shared via their class's LMS which is facilitated by Ms.
Goldstein on Haiku platform.
The Maayanot teachers took advantage of
the students' presence to ask them numerous questions about how the online
class works, whether they like it, how it differs from a
"traditional" class, and their overall reflections. The teachers were
impressed by the student responses, such as the following:
"I used to think it would make
learning more complicated and that it would make everything take longer (less
productive), but it makes it pretty simple. Everything is a click away and I
don’t have to shlepp home a text book, which means I never have to worry about
accidentally leaving books at home, because everything I need is on my computer
in a cloud." Hadassah
" I love the
way I can do my work whenever, and there are always fun projects both online
and “on paper/physically” that make it fun to learn - almost feels like you’re
not learning. If I want to add more, it’s easy to do with the online platform." Elianna
" I know that this class allows
me creativity and self expression. I learn so much about the history of the
Jews, but more importantly I understand how it relates to me." Bella
The students turned out to be great
teachers, and the teachers were receptive students. After hearing from the
Kadimah students, the Maayanot teachers expressed increased enthusiasm about the use of
online tools in their classrooms.
Read More of the
Kadima students reflections
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