Links You’ll Love
Dr. Danah Boyd talks about her work studying teenagers and their online activity at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/fashion/danah-boyd-cracking-teenagers-online-codes.html. Dr. Boyd is a senior researcher at Microsoft, an assistant professor at New York University and a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. It’s fascinating stuff.
I know you’ve spent hours thinking about these questions:
- How will the evolving nature of belonging, membership, and affiliation influence Jewish communities of the future?
- How will Jewish life and learning be impacted as we move into an increasingly networked world?
Why don’t you make a four-minute video with your thoughts and submit it to the Jewish Futures Competition? Check out http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e5h3m2v44611a3f1&llr=hvaohecab for more information.
Anybody using Twitter? No? Well, you need to get yourself over there and check out the cool stuff our math classes are tweeting! One group is tweeting as math concepts and the other as famous mathematicians. What a great project! Using the hashtag #sssmsmath, they’re posting such nuggets (all in 140 characters or less) as:
(Charles Babbage) “created a calculator without human error, what have you done?”
(Planes2D) “Someone told me my wardrobe was limited. Little do they know, everything of mine goes on forever.”
(RtTriangle1) “Someone just said I’m kind of square, but I am cool! Right?”
Want to check out the math tweets? Go to https://twitter.com/#!/search-home and put in #sssmsmath.
Links You’ll Love – January 20, 2012
Boxing in Berlin, young Leonard Bernstein and Hank Greenberg… The 2012 Sidney Taylor Book Awards have been announced – check them out here.
You all know what a Google doodle is, right? It’s when Google turns their logo into a graphic in commemoration of something. I know you know some kids who would love to have their doodle on Google! Here’s where they can find out how their idea could end up a Google Doodle. The theme is “If I could travel in time, I’d visit…” and the winner gets a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for their school.
You may have visited Wikipedia on Wednesday and, well, not been able to get any info. Or noticed that Google had those strange blackout boxes on it. This was all in protest of SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. While those venerable sites are all for stopping online piracy, many Internet companies feel the act is too restrictive and would ultimately be an affront to our freedom. Here are several resources about the issue:
http://www.good.is/post/what-would-a-post-sopa-internet-look-like/
There has been for some time a cyber war between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian hacking groups, the latest of which occurred Wednesday as “Israeli hackers unveiled details of approximately 4,800 credit cards from various accounts held in Saudi Arabia.” Read the rest of the story here.
Links You’ll Love for 12-16-11
Want to know what everyone wanted to know last year? Google Zeitgeist sorted billions of Google searches for the answer :
The technology of storytelling, a map of the brain and more. Here’s a terrific list of the 10 best TED talks to share with your students.
Writing and need positive reinforcement? Do your typing at Written? Kitten!, and every 100 words (or whatever quantity you determine) you’ll be treated to picture of a cute fuzzy kitten. Prefer negative reinforcement? Go to Write or Die. (Hey – I don’t create these, I just find ‘em!)
Links You’ll Love for December 10, 2011
Here’s another Chanukah (or is it Hanukkah, or Hanuko?) video for you. The Los Angeles Jewish Home has a video out that is both a Chanukah greeting and a request for financial support. Whatever it is, it’s really lovely.
Sir Ken Robinson, in his talk on passion, states “… finding purpose in our work is essential to knowing who we really are.” Give yourself a 50-minute present and watch his sermon for The School of Life:
Many of us have casually mentioned that we’re happy we don’t have to take the standardized tests given students. A school board member in Florida decided to do just that. The blog post about his experience can be found here.
More and more libraries are putting content online, and the National Library of Israel is no exception. Their website is easy to navigate and feature-rich. The English website can be accessed here, and the Hebrew site is here.
National Geographic is developing a really stunning education website. It’s still in beta, which means there can be some glitches here and there, but you should check it out. There’s a phenomenal multimedia map about the attack on Pearl Harbor (which, incidentally, was 70 years ago this week). It really is worth a visit. Even if you’re not a history buff, this is an impressive example of what can be done with multimedia resources.
And, finally…gum or no gum? There have been some, shall we say… spirited…. conversations about whether or not students should be allowed to chomp their way through school. Wired magazine posts an intriguing science article worth chewing on (sorry….). Hmmmmm…could the benefits be worth the hassle?
Links You’ll Love for 12-02-11
The folks who bring us the TED Talks – those awesome, usually pretty short inspirational and educational talks I love so much – are counting down to 2012 in an unusual way. Teaming with the Huffington Post, TED is bringing us the 18 ideas (I wonder why it’s 18…) that they think will shape 2012. Ideas! Essays! World changing big thinking! The first entry is “How Algorithms Shape Our World.” Can it get much better? These videos and accompanying essays will be posted here.
Easybib, that venerable website that makes learning how to create bibliographies virtually obsolete, also has a student portal that includes writing and research guides, as well as extensive resources on citations. There is also a teachers’ portal with info on avoiding plagiarism and a signup for their educator newsletter.
Whatcha doin’ February 19th? Consider spending the day learning Jewish stuff at Limmud Chicago. And if you’re interested in a teensy taste of Limmud, come to the Chicago Board of Jewish Education next Sunday (December 11th) from 7:00 until 9:00 pm. I’m excited to be presenting that evening. Visit their website for more information and to register for Chicago Limmud.
Wanna rock out? Check out Jewish Rock Radio. This non-for-profit website endeavors to instill Jewish identity in Jewish youth and young adults through the power of music.
And…more Hanukkah preparation: groove to the little boy strumming the ukulele at the beginning of The Yeshiva Boys Choir doing “Those Were the Nights (of Chanukah):
and boogie down to Candlelight by the Maccabeats:
And lest we forget the venerable source of all things latke, don’t miss The Potato Song:
I apologize in advance for getting the tune stuck in your head.
Links You’ll Love for 11-23-11
Did you ever think you’d see “digital” and “Dead Sea” in the same post? How about the same website? The Israel Museum is digitizing the Dead Sea Scrolls and you can view the collection online. Here’s an interesting article in the New York Times about Google’s efforts to digitize artifacts from around the world.
And while we’re talking about ancient artifacts, check out this article in Haaretz about the Western Wall and what recent excavations have revealed.
Hanukkah resources:
Craig Taubman has generously made his Hanukkah sampler available FOR FREE. Download it here.
Hanukkah folk songs.
Designing a Digital Quest…
Update on learning how to design a digital quest:
I introduced my religious school students to arisgames.org last week. I broke out the laptops and had the kids go to my Interesting Questing wiki page. They watched some movies about using ARIS and SCVNGR and about Global Kids’ NY Haunts game. They are EXCITED!
After getting them excited about the project we played Grow a Game (thank you Natalie from the iCenter for introducing us to this!). I wanted to get their creative juices flowing.
Then we talked about what kind of quests we could send Jewish teenagers on. My students offered ideas like “teach about Judaism to someone who doesn’t know about it,” and “wear a kippah for a day and journal about what happens.” They had some great questions too, like “can we link this to Facebook?” (great idea!)
Then I started spending some time playing with ARIS. The editor is still under construction, and the creators warn you that the interface is shaky, but I haven’t had any problems in my limited testing. The biggest issue for me is that support materials are rather scarce: I like to work through tutorials and read manuals and those just don’t exist. But that’s part of the fun of using emerging technology, right?
I’m totally psyched about using ARIS for this project. I love that you can drop items anywhere using the map interface, so we can create the game from the comfort of our classroom and then just go into the field to test it. Once I understood the basic interface I found creating quests and characters fairly intuitive. I still need to master the terminology and how to logically create quests, and of course, how the game flows will be a big challenge. But I definitely see this having tremendous potential!
Next steps:
1. Design a few quests that kids can experience in the synagogue so they get the idea
2. Create a plan for designing a game flow
3. Design classroom dynamics. There are close to twenty kids who come regularly. How do we split these kids up so everyone’s engaged and productive?
Big questions: what are the educational goals for the activity? How do you blend “experiential education” with mobile devices?
To be continued!
Links You’ll Love for 9-23-11
Here’s a video from the Shofar flash mob outside Wrigley Field last Sunday
Gann Academy (The New Jewish High School of Greater Boston) has a somewhat annotated spreadsheet of Jewish web resources. You can filter by source, type and experience
Are you using YouTube? Here’s a great post with some unique ideas and tips for integrating YouTube videos.
Check out 10 ways to wake up your class. Even if you don’t use these tips, you’ll get a chuckle when you imagine how your students would respond!
Links You’ll Love
Explore the Jewish contribution to Europe’s cultural heritage: http://www.judaica-europeana.eu/
Have you been playing with Evernote? Check this out: http://edtech.nathansandberg.me/10-tips-for-teachers-using-evernote-education
You know how much I love word clouds! Take two minutes and watch this little video on how to use them in the classroom: http://blog.simplek12.com/2-min-edtech-talk/6-ways-to-use-wordle-in-the-classroom-video/
I’m sure I’ve featured Jacob Richman’s awesome website before. Here’s his newest Learn Hebrew Rosh Hashana video:
Interested in finding out how video games are changing education? Here’s a great infograpic: http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2011/08/25/how-video-games-are-changing-education/
Links You’ll Love
Listen to this amazing TED talk by Sarah Kaminsky, in which she discusses her forger father’s acts of bravery during WWII: http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kaminsky.html
Need to type a few words in Hebrew? Check out http://www.gate2home.com
http://davenspot.blogspot.com/ is an interesting blog by the Lookstein Foundation for educators who are “instigating dynamic energy to school prayer.”
http://tobendlight.com is a blog created by Evanston poet Alden Solovy. Alden is a prolific poet and shares his talents via blog and email.
And, to get your Rosh Hashanah season started: check out Dip Your Apple by The Ein Prat Fountainheads:
About
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. She co-chaired the technology track for CAJE 33 in Vermont, is a SMART Certified Trainer for SMART Notebook version 10 for both Macintosh and Windows, and a 2011 recipient of the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.
When not learning, teaching or writing about technology, Debbie likes to craft. While not particularly highly skilled at anything, she likes to knit, do calligraphy, sew, paint fabric and just generally play with fun toys like scrapbooking supplies, watercolors, and anything with texture. She is incredibly proud of her two daughters; Lori, who teaches English at a community college; and Allie, who is a student at Hebrew Union College in LA.
Look for her at:
Her educational technology wiki
Debbie Does Desktop
Flickr
Twitter
Diigo
YouTube
Ravelry
Email Debbie here
