Of all the tech ideas we discussed in my "High-Tech Hebrew Learning" presentation at NewCAJE in Waltham, MA---interactive whiteboard ideas, Smartphone and iPad apps, MP3 downloads, online Hebrew practice---the segment that generated the greatest interest was using Skype for Hebrew learning.
In this model, a Hebrew tutor works one-on-one via Skype with a student. Or with small groups of students using other web conferencing services. Read about Skype and Hebrew learning in The Jewish Week.
So why was Skype so attractive to these NewCAJERS? Because it's an intriguing solution to the need to offer families flexibility, accommodate their schedules, increase learning time in the face of reduced class hours, shift time (like setting your DVR), reduce drive time to school (that LA traffic!), serve isolated communities, and personalize learning.
I'm especially fond of this term---though it's a mouthful: "technology-facilitated individualized attention." Skype allows you to offer that to your students and their families.
Special thanks to Dr. Karen Reiss Medwed, Dean of Faculty and Assistant Professor of Jewish Education at Hebrew College, and a guest at my workshop, who recommended this site for web collaboration. Karen countered a participant's objection to the loss of community by saying that students create their own community these days (often online) and we might do well to examine our own definition of what "community" means.
It's sticky: there's a lot to be gained from distance learning and there's something that's lost too. Where do you currently fall?
