Links You’ll Love – 3/9/12
Who’s Kony and why is everyone talking about him? Leader of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) in Uganda, Joseph Kony is known for terrorizing Ugandans, abducting children and turning women into prostitutes. He has been termed the “world’s worst war criminal.” What’s remarkable about Invisible Children, the movement to stop Kony, is its widespread use of social media to spread the word, primarily through the distribution of this video:
Here’s an interesting article about the viral video. Finally, NPR had a terrific interview recently with a Ugandan journalist which really points out how important – and hard – it is to really determine when stuff you hear, read and see on the Internet is true. NPR has a lot of links about Kony – this is a great one. Don’t underestimate the potential of the social web! And don’t assume everything you hear is completely factual!
Cheesy choice of music aside (really, ArtScroll? The theme from “2001, a Space Odyssey”?), the video showing the features of the soon-to-be-released ArtScroll Digital Schottenstein Talmud is quite amazing. Imagine carrying the Talmud in your pocket (or your iPad case), having instant access to features like classic layout and tappable text (tap the text and the commentary and translation instantly appear). What’s remarkable about this is that it’s really the first attempt in the Jewish community to digitize classic text and add new features to truly take advantage of tablet computing. It’s not out yet, and we don’t know how much it’ll cost, but it’s an exciting and interesting project. And certainly a step in the right direction.
How do students use technology? Mashable has a neat infographic about it here.
This week, when we played our digital scavenger hunt for Purim, we were pretty surprised at how many kids have iPods. Well, I guess we weren’t surprised…but it was interesting to see how many of our students are sporting personal music devices. Pop over here to read about how an elementary school principal utilized iPods and audiobooks to boost reading scores. With so many of our kids already plugged in, this might be worth thinking about!
1 Comment »
Leave a Reply
About
Debbie Harris is the director of educational technology at the Sager Solomon Schechter Day School in Northbrook, IL. Involved in Jewish education for over thirty years, she has an education degree from Northwestern University with a concentration in instructional media and a master’s degree in professional Jewish studies from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. 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, 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 sketchnote and craft. She likes to knit, do calligraphy, sew, watercolor, paint fabric and just generally play with fun toys like scrapbooking supplies and anything with texture. Debbie travels to California every summer to paint tallitot with high school aged campers. Finally, she is incredibly proud of her two daughters; Lori, who teaches English at a community college; and Allie, who is the director of the URJ’s Camp Newman in California.
Look for her at:
Debbie Does Desktop
Flickr
Twitter
Diigo
YouTube
Ravelry
Email Debbie here
MuseForJews 
And ArtScroll once again buys into the Jewish mythology: Jews=Rich=They Must Own iOS devices. My own theory: Jews=Intelligent=Android.