If I had a cell phone, I'd use it in the classroom... (with apologies to Peter, Paul and Mary)

I am a bit torn on this one...

The headline reads:  

"Ontario to ban classroom cellphone use starting November"
(Tom Li - IT WORLD CANADA) 

As one who has been on both sides of the conversation, this is a hard one for me.

On one hand, I find it frustrating that students are sneaking looks at their cell phones and not paying attention in class.

On the other hand, what exactly are my goals in my classroom and is what I am doing so boring and un-engaging that students turn to their cell phones?

Somewhere there has to be a happy medium!

In order for us to find that equilibrium, it often involves reevaluating our own educational culture/paradigms, or sometimes, even the harder task of changing of our schools culture/paradigms!

So, my dear readers, I give you a golden resource to help.  A "pod-cast of pod-casts" to listen to.  It's called:

www.overthrowingeducation.com

This pod-cast is informative AND IT'S FUN!!  There is a "faux-mercial" at the start of every episode, a great interview with educational trail-blazers, a game show where you can win swag and segments that involve input from teachers, students and parents.

As a matter of fact, they just did a great episode on "Cell Phones Are Evil, Games are Frivolous and Other Myths"  On this broadcast, one group of guests were actual students from Ontario, Canada and they talk about cellphone use in the classroom!  Very timely!

Now, I am NOT being paid anything to let you know about this great pod-cast BUT, truth in advertising requires that I tell you that...

It's my wife's pod-cast!!

Not only that, but I am also the announcer.

Even with my biased opinion, this is a great pod-cast and I highly recommend that you give it a listen.  

Who knows?  You may learn something - I certainly have!!

As always, I solicit your comments on the blog page (and on the pod-cast).

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Director of Technology

Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135

www.hillelhebrew.org

    

It's been a while...

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since I posted anything (OK... Methuselah was young the last time I posted - I get it!!!)

Yes, I am still alive (Thank G-d!!) and doing well over at Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy here in sunny Beverly Hills, California.

So many of you have been asking me to start blogging again - so guess what!!  I will!!

My goal is to put out one blog a week.  There is so much to write about but my problem is time.  So, I will just make time!

So here is my first blog for November 2019...

As some of my readers may recall, for many years, I was a physics teacher.  

Yep, teaching the wonders of basic physics while dabbling in the work of quantum mechanics.

Since this Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath) we read the section in the Torah (5 books of Moses - the Jewish "bible") about Noah and the flood,  I though that this cartoon would be a fun share.  Enjoy!!

As always, I encourage your comments on the blog page.

Regards,

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology

Check out my blog @ technorebbe.com

Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135

www.hillelhebrew.org

    

It's only Common Sense!

It started about a week ago and it went kind of like this...

Hey Yossie - hear about the Momo video?

Oh, you mean the muumuu video - yeah, those dresses look comfortable.  I should get one for my wife to use as a house-robe!

No, no!  Momo!!  The video that is taking control of the cameras on iPads and telling the viewer to kill people and then to commit suicide!!

WHAAAATTT??!!!

Needless to say, I went into hyper-drive-research-mode to find out what was going on and how I could protect my students.

A quick search of the Internet brought forth the following supposedly first-hand accounts:

• Children were hurting/killing other children after watching the Momo video.
• Children were committing suicide after watching the video.
• The video takes over the camera on the mobile device and broadcasts the person watching the video live on YouTube.
• The video would take control of the computer and steal the contact list to mail itself out to other users.
• Young children were watching "kiddie videos" on YouTube and the Momo clip was being inserted in the middle of the video causing the young ones into being scared witless and having nightmares.

The more I found, the more it seemed to me to be a huge case of Internet-manufactured panic as, other than these "reports," there was no credible evidence.  Even so, the issues were way too serious to write it off!  So, what's a person supposed to do?

The answer should be obvious! Turn to an AUTHORITATIVE source!

For me, if it has to do with children and their safety, it is always Common Sense Media (www.commonsensemedia.org).  

So, what did I find?

Well, it would appear that most of the Momo issue came from poor reporting (gosh!!... you mean that the TV news doesn't always check facts?? sarcasm intended!!) and a lot of hype.  Now, don't get me wrong - the video does exist and it is scary to a small child.

You know what? Here, let me make this easy... You can just read the post from Common Sense Media for yourself and save me a lot of blog space! 

Hey! Do you want to know if Captain Marvel is appropriate for your 10-year-old to see?  Well, then just go to the site and search for it!  You will get a full review including my favorite part... "What Parents Need to Know"

What about that book that your child is reading in English class?  How does it rate?  Look it up!!

As an educator, I have been using Common Sense Media for years!  While you are there, why don't you make a donation to them so that they can keep on keeping us informed!! (Nope,  I am not paid anything by Common Sense Media - but if they want to send me a coffee cup, I will take it!!)

As always, I solicit your comments on the blog site.

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology

Check out my blog @ technorebbe.com

Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135

www.hillelhebrew.org

To the moon Alice!! To the moon!! (with apologies to "the Honeymooners")

I am soooo excited!!  

Why you may ask?  

Well...

SpaceIL, an Israeli company, is sending its moon-lander "Beresheet" ("In the beginning" in Hebrew) to the moon today!!

Yep, that's right - Israel may join the special club of countries that have successfully soft-landed a probe on the moon (unlike the crash landing depicted in the Georges Méliès classic movie: Le Voyage dans la Lune shown above.)  Can you name the other three? (See the bottom of the blog for the answer.)

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is all ready for launch at 5:45 PM PST...

 AND SO AM I!!

(Yossie outside the tech office door at the Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy in Los Angeles)

You can find the live feed information at this link. or tune in directly to the SpaceIL YouTube Channel here

Here is a great little "propaganda" video to explain about the mission...

Now, do you know the three other countries that have soft-landed on the moon?  

Here is a hint - one of them doesn't exist anymore!!

Got it yet?

Here they are:  USA, USSR, and China.

If successful, SpaceIL will become the first private company to soft-land on the moon!!

B'Hatzlacha (good luck in Hebrew) moon-lander Beresheet!! 

As always, I solicit your comments on the blog-page.

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology

Check out my blog @ technorebbe.com

Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135

www.hillelhebrew.org

Safer Internet Day

It seems like there is a day for everything.

Mother's Day

Father's Day

Pet Rock Day 

(yep - for real!!  The first Sunday in September!)

But here is one day that I can really get behind:

Now, it is very important that we are constantly aware of being safe on the Wild, Wacky West (www) of the Internet.  By setting aside one day though, we can create a special occasion that makes a really big deal about what being safer means.  The problem is, and the question that I get from most of my fellow educators is, what can we do to make the day significant?

Well, look no further as I got a great little package to share with you!!

Recently, I received an email from one of my colleagues in New York who put me onto a free program from Learning.com.  Learning.com is a subscription service that has a cornucopia of educational tools that help classroom teachers educate students about digital literacy skills.  Back when I was running the Consortium for Information and Academic Technology, I came across this company quite a few times and the educators using them had only the best to say of their experience!  (No I am not paid for any mention of the Learning.com service - remember, I don't do that commission thing!!  But I would take a coffee cup - hint, hint :-)

So if you are looking for something to do with your students this Safer Internet Day - now you have a solution!

Have you ever heard of Safer Internet Day and if so, what do you with your students on it?  I would love to have your comments on the blogsite.

Regards,

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology

Check out my blog @ technorebbe.com

Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135

www.hillelhebrew.org  

Can you hear me? (with apologies to Mike + the Mechanics)

I love a good hack as much as the next guy!

No, no! Not breaking into someone's computer.  That kind of "hack" is nasty!!

The kind of hack I mean is where you make an object (or computer program) do something other than it's intended purpose.  You know, like using spoons as a musical instrument!

Now... That's a hack!!

Well, I just heard about a potentially nasty hack using Apple AirPods.  

You know, those new-fangled Bluetooth earbuds from Apple.  (Thanks to InTELA member Jenn Zanoria for letting me know about this!  To learn more about InTELA, see my post here).

The hack involves using the Apple AirPod's "Live Listen" feature.  This feature was originally designed as an accessibility feature and allows the iPhone/iPad to used kind of like a hearing aid.  Turn "Live Listen" on and the microphone of the iPhone/iPad will pick up any sound and transmit it to the AirPods at an elevated volume.  Kind of cool - yes?

Now for the hack.  

Take your iPhone/iPad and leave it in a room and exit.  Now you can hear anything that is being said in that room.  This turns this feature from an accessibility function to a covert eavesdropping feature!

I can only begin to imagine how this can be used by creative students in the classroom.  In our school, the student charging station is in the principal's office. I shudder at the thought of what confidential information could be overheard!!

What do you think?  Am I being alarmist?  Paranoid? 

I would love to hear your comments on the blog page.

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology
Check out my blog @technorebbe.com

Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135

www.hillelhebrew.org

The Pen is mightier than the... Pencil? (with apologies to Edward Bulwer-Lytton)

There is a great story that I like to tell when I give presentations on the effective use of technology in a classroom.  You may have heard it!  It goes like this...

For the early American space program, there was a problem about how to use a pen in space!  With no gravity, it wouldn't write!!  Luckily, a private company had spent millions to create a pen that could be used to write in space. Millions!! 

How did the Soviets solve the problem of writing in space?  They just used a 50 cent pencil!!

I use this story to drive home the point (pun intended) that one should not necessarily look to the fanciest, most technically advanced way of achieving educational goals, but rather something as simple as a pencil can do the trick! Education should not be about the "tech toys."  It should be about the goals of the lesson!

Ah.. but, there is more to the story of the space pen that must be told...

It appears, that when the tip of the pencil would flake off, or when the pencil would be sharpened, the small bits of wood and graphite would float around the space capsule causing a huge fire hazard. To solve this problem, ultimately, the Soviets ended up purchasing "space pens" for their space program from the US! 

Not only did the space pen address the safety issues, but the innovation of the redesigned ink and pressurized ball-point cartridge became a mainstay of the pen industry today!! As a matter of fact, even I have one of these fancy pens - the Pilot Down Force - which can be purchased for $10 on Amazon! So you see, sometimes practical innovation has a price tag!

So what's my takeaway on this?

Well, I would suggest that we can sometimes trap ourselves in thinking that "better is the enemy of good enough." (Admiral Sergey Gorshkov, Soviet Navy from 1956 to 1985)  We become complacent with something that works "just fine" when there is a possibility that there is something "better" out there.

For example:  Why use an iPad to draw when a piece of paper is good enough? 

A piece of paper may be fine IF my only goal is to use the iPad as a substitute for the paper.  But, if my goal is to show my students how to take their drawing, share it with a collaborator in Israel who will add to the drawing, which will, in turn, be used to create a new product for the exploration of space, well then, that's a bit different.  My goal was not to substitute paper with the iPad but rather give a complete lesson on 21st-century skills that my students will need in order to survive in the world that they find themselves. (They don't necessarily have to use an iPad - it could be another tech tool... see my blog post on Rocket Man)

Speaking of the 21st-century skills, the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is going on in Los Vegas this week and I always love to look at all of the new tech that comes out of it.  It is a great indicator of where we may be heading - technology wise - in our society.  This, in turn, helps me divine the trends that could affect our kids in the future and how I will have to support these innovations.

I am very cautious with this new tech though, as new tech isn't always "better!"  We need to remember that Confucius said: "Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without!"

Please share your thoughts through the blog page.

Regards,

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology

Check out my blog @ technorebbe.com

Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135

www.hillelhebrew.org