I-Just-had-to-share-this-with-you

Two or three times a year, I share a video that just "tickles my fancy."  The criteria is simple.

• It MUST be educational - showing how to do something new or solving a problem. (I love STEM and PBL)
  
• It needs to show its solution in a way that is engaging
• and finally, it needs to have some humor. (For those of you who know me well, you know the more "corny" the better!!)

So here it is.... what do you think?  Does it fulfill my criteria?

Regards....

Yossie

Yossie FrankelDirector - Consortium for Information and Academic Technologies
Member Schools:
Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy - yfrankel@hillelhebrew.org
Oakland Hebrew Day School - y.frankel@ohds.org
Shalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.orgCheckout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter:  @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel

Apple TV communication error

Hi All....

Here is a "quick" tip that is plaguing the AppleTV's for the last month or so...

You start watching a video in Netflix (or any other content protected streaming service) and boom... it stops and you get a "funky" error.....

This content requires HDCP for playback

This message is caused by an anti-piracy system that Netfilx (and others) use on the Apple TV.  

What happens is that the TV and the Apple TV have stopped "talking" to each other. (We tried therapy and it didn't work!!!)  So as far as the Apple TV is concerned, you are about to pirate (arrrrr - matey...) the video that is copy protected.  Now, what is so sad is that this only affect people who would not pirate the video.  The video pirates all know how to get around this error and don't have this problem.  sigh....

Fortunately, the fix is very easy.... (must be done in order or the fix won't work)

1) Unplug Apple TV.

2) Unplug TV.

3) Plug TV in and turn on - wait 20 seconds.

4) Plug Apple TV in and turn on.

(now dance "the chicken" across the front of the classroom while reading Shakespeare backwards...... hee, hee, just kidding.....)

You should be good to go!

I am preparing an article on teacher evaluations that should be out shortly, so stay tuned!

Regards all.....

Yossie

Yossie FrankelDirector - Consortium for Information and Academic Technologies
Member Schools:
Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy - yfrankel@hillelhebrew.org
Oakland Hebrew Day School - y.frankel@ohds.org
Shalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.orgCheckout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter:  @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel

A small (big) burp in the Google Drive System

Hi all!!

This is "hot off the presses....."

It appears that Google Drive has a "small" (hopefully temporary) bug.

For those of you using Google Drive on iOS (iPad/Phone/Pod), it seems that we are UNABLE to upload an MP4 movie files to the drive.  All other formats seem to work just fine, just MP4's. (The MP4 upload works fine on all other platforms.)

So, those of you (like Michael at Hillel and myself) who have been watching their blood pressure increase trying to make this work- do not despair, you are not alone!!  It is a BUG!!

As soon as Google has a fix, I will try to let you know.

Happy Computing! (and a Kosher and Freilichen Pesach!!)

Yossie

Yossie Frankel
Director - Consortium for Information and Academic Technologies
Member Schools:
Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy - yfrankel@hillelhebrew.org
Oakland Hebrew Day School - y.frankel@ohds.orgShalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.orgCheckout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter:  @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel

Alternate/Non-Traditional Assesments

An example of a "Non-Traditional" Summative Assessment.....

My Son's 3rd grade class was learning about the "stages" of the Passover Seder (the Passover meal).  The class rebbe (Hebrew for: Judaic Studies Teacher) then assigned each student a part of the Seder and tasked the student to find a way to show that they had learned about what happens during that stage.  Tuvia elected to create a movie on his iPad. When Tuvia came home, I sat down with him to help him design what he had to do. 

The first thing that I had Tuvia do was to create a list of facts that he had learned about his topic. He put the facts on 3x5 cards. (This tied in to the technique that he was taught during a Project Based Learning assignment in his social studies class.)

The next thing that Tuvia did was to write out a "storyboard" (on each 3x5 card) for his movie so that he could visualize how he was going to show that he knew the facts.  

Lastly, he created a "self-check rubric" so he could score himself at the end to see if he met his goals.

We then shot the video and Tuvia edited it using the iPad iMovie app.

Now, as a teacher, I would have prefered that Tuvia had learned how to set up his movie, the rubric, etc. in class.  It should be a skill taught to ALL of the students but thanks to the thorough modeling of Project Based Learning that he received from his "Limudai Chol" (Hebrew: General Studies) teacher, it was a snap to just extend that technique into movie making! Total time: 1 hour. Here is his video - you decide how well he did!

http://youtu.be/7oFN8iUGCGI

Some notes:  Tuvia decided that he would do a lot with visuals - using imagery to get his message across.  To introduce his topic, he didn't say it, he used a title.  To show that he understood that the Afikoman was the bigger piece of matzah, he made sure to show the bigger piece rather than say anything. and so on....

Taking these new skills that he has learned, Tuvia is now working on a longer movie about good and evil (What we call the Yatzer Hora and Yatzer Tov - the "evil inclination" and the "good inclination").  He is almost done.  This is "teaser-trailer" he made to get permission from his teacher to make the movie. (He wanted to try to shoot it himself, but he now realizes that he needs a "camera person" to help!) http://youtu.be/vAiMECNEL5Y

When the movie is done... do you want to see it?  Let me know!!

(As always, please share this email and your feedback is encouraged)

Regards...

Yossie

Yossie FrankelDirector - Consortium for Information and Academic Technologies
Member Schools:
Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy - yfrankel@hillelhebrew.org
Oakland Hebrew Day School - y.frankel@ohds.org
Shalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.orgCheckout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter:  @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel

Writing Labs - On-line and Effective

So.... I came across this one through an acquaintance of mine in Montreal Canada (Hence the French in some of my emails....)  He sent me an email lamenting that there are not any good Online Writing Labs (OWL's) in French. That lead me to about an hour of research and I am afraid that must agree with his observation.   There are a few French OWL's, but they don't seem to work so well.

A positive outcome from doing this research was that it DID lead me to the below article on an EXCELLENT OWL in ENGLISH.  I should think that this particular Lab would not only be good for Middle School but would be fantastic for High School!!  (AND IT IS FREE!!!)

So, please share this email with the English Language Teachers in your schools.  It could be very useful for them.

OWL... http://owl.excelsior.edu/

Article... http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/excelsior-writing-lab-523/

As always, please share this email.  Encourage people to sign up through the blog to join the email list.  Your comments are always welcome.

Regards....

Yossie

Yossie FrankelDirector - Consortium for Information and Academic Technologies
Member Schools:
Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy - yfrankel@hillelhebrew.org
Oakland Hebrew Day School - y.frankel@ohds.org
Shalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.orgCheckout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter:  @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel

21st Century Competencies - Self Directed/Disciplined Students

I was having a conversation with a parent about what "Self Directed Students" were.  At first, I couldn't understand why this parent was so concerned about students being able to direct their own learning but after a few minutes, it became clear that this parent pictured students sitting in front of computers, not interacting with teachers, peers or others.  The image this parent had was students sitting around just doing their "own thing."

I could see that there was confusion about what 21st Century Competencies really meant as well as exemplifying that we need to work on educating our parents about this topic!

This conversation made me think about how it is essential that we properly model the behavior that we want our students to follow. Below is an excellent series of articles about designing on-line learning classes that do just that.  The principles discussed are just as valid for "brick and mortar" environments as well.

In her five part series, Susan Farber discusses self-regulation strategies. She goes into detail on how, as educators, we must have a well designed course of studies that will guide the learner into becoming self-disciplined.  Unlike the image the above parent had, this is not a "hefker" (Hebrew: "willy-nilly-all-over-the-place") approach but a disciplined, thoughtful process.  In Susan's final installment, I found the four points below as "pearls of wisdom!"

1. Structure learning environment;
2. Organize and transform instructional materials;
3. Monitor learner progress; and
4. Evaluate performance against a standard (measurement of learning aligns with instruction)

Understanding the value of these self-regulation strategies, becoming skilled at modeling them and offering learners several opportunities to develop and employ these strategies will help guide them to success. Instructors may need to become proactive and mindful in their planning and implementation of course activities.  As mentioned above, instructors could demonstrate an openness to collect learner feedback to guide revisions to course materials and activities. Instructors, extending their grasp of learning strategies and complex thinking skills, can offer richer exploration of content and skill, experiment with varied resources and review richer samples of student learning.

I encourage you to read all five installments.  They are well worth your time.

As always, feel free to share this email (and the new blog site http://technorebbe.blogspot.com ).  Your comments are always solicited.

Regards....

Yossie

• Nurturing Online Learning Environments: Introduction 
• Nurturing Online Learning Environments: Frequency, Type and Quality of Communication
  
• Nurturing Online Learning Environments: Atmosphere Created Within Online Courses
• Nurturing Online Learning Environments: Course Design and Structure
• Nurturing Online Learning Environments: Integrating Self-Regulation Strategies

Yossie Frankel
Director - Consortium for Information and Academic Technologies
Member Schools:
Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy - yfrankel@hillelhebrew.org
Oakland Hebrew Day School - y.frankel@ohds.orgShalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.org
Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter:  @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel

New Blog is now up!

Hello!

לקרוא בעברית, ראה להלן

Pour le Français, voir ci-dessous.

Hi everyone!

The new blog is up now - http://technorebbe.blogspot.com

You will still get emails AND it will be posted to the blog for later viewing.

לקרוא את המיילים האלה בעברית 

http://technorebbe.blogspot.com  :ללכת ל

Pour voir ces e-mails en Français, allez à:http://technorebbe.blogspot.com

Yossie

Yossie Frankel
Director - Consortium for Information and Academic Technologies
Member Schools:
Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy - yfrankel@hillelhebrew.org
Oakland Hebrew Day School - y.frankel@ohds.orgShalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.org

Setting up

Hello!

Hi everyone.

I have been sending emails to members of "The Consortium for Information and Academic Technologies" for some time now.  Recently, one of the Tech Coordinators said that I should start my own blog as "all the cool kids are doing it!"

So, here it is.... my blog.  It will take a couple of days to set up and populate with old emails that I sent out, but I will get it all done so that everyone can have an indexed list of emails.

Regards...

Yossie