Rabbi Mark Levine believes firmly in the power of technology to enhance student learning.
An early adopter of the Behrman House Online Learning Center (OLC), this education director at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda, Maryland, reports that three years later, students and teachers in his large school are thriving in the digital learning space.
The Behrman House Online learning Center allows schools to have their own free virtual classroom space that they can use in a variety of ways, such as launching digital games and software designed especially to complement curriculumm, and showing student work as a virtual portfolio.
"It's valuable to students, and we make pretty good use of [the OLC]," Levine says, adding that the majority of the school's 530 students use the digital platform. Students in grades 1-5 all use the OLC for their Hebrew learning: Ready, Set... Go Alef Bet for 1st grade, Alef Bet Quest for 2nd grade, and the Hineni series and the digital version of Explorer's Bible for grades 3-5.
"The OLC has helped teachers to the extent that they can have students practice Hebrew for five minutes at home," Levine says. "It's a reinforcement."
Beth El isn't just using the Behrman House Online Learning Center for software that complements established curriculum. In the older grades, the school relies on the OLC for its other features, including the ability to:
* Host asynchronous classes. Sixth graders, for example, completed assignments twice a month based on videos and curricula downloaded into the OLC. They were also encouraged to respond to the teacher's prompting questions and comment back to carry on a conversation.
* Accommodate learners with special needs. Students who missed school for a few weeks were set up in a special OLC class with their assignments posted online. "It shows parents that we’re accommodating their crazy schedules," Levine says.
* Use it like a Dropbox. Each month, a high school student produced a five-minute video called “Israel Update,” which featured Israeli news, holiday celebrations, sports, weather, and other cultural activities. They also interviewed either a student or a professional staff member about different Israel related topics – such as favorite Israeli hero, visits to Israel, etc. The videos are posted to their class OLC page, where teachers can view them. "Putting the videos in the OLC for access helps cultivate the habit of using it," Levine says. "We love the OLC exactly because it is so flexible and we can tailor it to meet the needs of lots of different kids."
Three years after adopting the Behrman House Online Learning Center, Levine says most of Beth El's educators are now comfortable with it, and its active use is now expected. So much so, that Levine incorporates OLC usage as a metric for teacher assessments.
"I want all my teachers to use the OLC whenever possible, not merely for Hebrew or curriculum related software," Levine says. "It can be used so many different ways."
The Behrman House Online Learning Center is a free Jewish learning space for schools. OLC-compatible software for Hebrew is available for learning and practicing decoding, reading, and prayer. Learn how to use the Online Learning Center here: www.behrmanhouse.com/olc/tutorials
