Rabbi Mark H. Levine was Executive Editor at Behrman House for three years before becoming Education Director at Congregation Beth El, Bethesda, MD this past July. So, when Mark let us know that he has adopted the Online Learning Center in his school, we were intrigued: how does it feel to be an integral part of the creation of the OLC and an OLC user?
BH: How did your role in creating the Online Learning Center play into your decision to adopt it at Beth El?
MHL: I have three overarching academic goals here at Beth El:
1. Use more digital strategies to enrich the learning and meet students where they are with technology in their own lives.
2. Be inclusive in order to accommodate different types of learners.
3. Integrate project-based learning throughout the school.
Adopting the Online Learning Center fell squarely into my first goal. This is where education is going. Ironically, I think having a hand in the creation of the Online Learning Center made me more critical. I want it to be flawless. In addition, I have the advantage of knowing the ins and outs of how it works so it’s easy for me to help my faculty use it. Basically, I am a true believer in the value of the Online Learning Center. I would have moved toward it no matter what.
BH: Tell us about the process of presenting the Online Learning Center to your board.
MHL: I kept the president of the synagogue and two or three key education members apprised through every step of the process of adopting the OLC. I took the basic information from the Behrman House letters to parents about using the OLC.
The board meeting happened to be scheduled for exactly the time that we got all the student permission forms back. At the meeting, I projected our OLC school on the screen and showed them our classes including the Hebrew assignment the 4th grade teacher had posted. We clicked on the Play button and they saw how the licensed Hebrew software works. It took all of fifteen minutes; it was like a mini-workshop.
It’s essential to bring the board (and/or the school committee) along with you. You want their buy-in. The best way to do that is to keep them fully updated, before and after the initial meeting, and to demonstrate the OLC in action.
BH: How did the board react?
MHL: I got positive feedback after the meeting. The only concern I’ve heard is about why we are giving homework. I explained that kids should be practicing their Hebrew reading for a few minutes every day in order to progress and the OLC makes it more fun for them to do so.
BH: Who is currently using the Online Learning Center at Beth El?
MHL: We have two classes—3rd grade is using the Kol Yisrael 1 licensed software and 4th grade is using Kol Yisrael 2. I’ve also created a faculty class where I post resources for the teachers to use, for example, for our Middah of the Month initiative. Recently I bought the Kedushah Power Point from the Resource Libraries and posted it in the faculty class.
BH: What other benefits do you see in the OLC?
MHL: Right now, we’re using it just to improve Hebrew skills and to engage the students with online activities and games. Once our PBL projects are underway, I’ll create classes for that purpose—for collaboration, sharing, and documentation. It was a thrill for me to read the first post a child in the school made. Sarah, a 4th grader wrote in her OLC class, “this is SO fun.”
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