Shanna Tova - Happy Jewish New Year to all

To all the members of the Consortium, and to all of the readers of my blog,

As we enter the Jewish New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a "Ketivah Vachatimah Tova" and a "Shanna Tova Umetukah" - that you should be written and sealed for a sweet, healthy and productive new year!!

It is said the we, all the peoples of this world, breath life into the universe.  This is one of the ideas of blowing the Shofar - the Ram's Horn - on Rosh HaShanna, the Jewish new year.  

We take a small breath, push it through the Shofar and out comes such a loud noise.  That sound can be harmonious or cacophonous.  By choosing HOW we "breath" our lives, we will decide the sound of our life. (and.... as educators, we tend to make a BIG noise!!!!)

I extend a blessing to us all - even if we are not teaching in a classroom, we are all very much still teachers - that we should breath our lives in such a way as to positively influence the lives of our students.  For after all, a single life is an entire universe.

A happy, healthy new year to all.

(Oh yes, and don't forget to breath!!!!!  :-)

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.org
Shalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org

Midreshet Emunah V'Omanut - Jerusalem - yfrankel@emunahvomanut.org
Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Anonymous Social Networking and Cyber Bullying

I came across an interesting article (Linked Here) that discusses how anonymous social networking can often lead to cyber bullying.

Think about it..... One can say anything that comes to mind, regardless of how hurtful it may be to another. 

So, my question to you all is, how do we prevent that from happening?

1. Do we have a legal obligation to monitor this on our campuses?
2. Do we block the sites (very easy to do with Layer 7 filtering) or, perhaps, we can spend more time and effort on making our students better digital citizens?
3. Do we spend enough time in making our kids cyber-mentches (Yiddish for "responsible, well rounded, caring people")?

Please read the linked article and lets hear your opinions on the blog page.

Yossie

EduWire: Yik Yak is an Anagram for Hot Mess

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.org
Shalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org

Midreshet Emunah V'Omanut - Jerusalem - yfrankel@emunahvomanut.org
Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Virtual Reality overlay - the world is changing!!!

Welcome back to everyone!!

For some of you, school has been running for a few weeks and for others, this is the first week back.

Well, as you can well imagine, for us at the Consortium, the last month and a half has been busy beyond belief.  This is the first week that I have had any time to sit and actually create a blog post.  So, here goes.....

Question:  What IS the world that our students are graduating into?  For our elementary school partners, that question is much different than it is for our high schools.  As our students graduate, what will the world be like?  ICT (Information and Computer Technology) is not just a tablet or laptop any more.  With Apple just releasing its AppleWatch with the iPhone 6 "phablet" and Google Glass, we actually live in a more cybernetic world than ever before.  "Full Experience Virtual Reality" is now making a BIG PUSH and is changing the paradigm on how - as workers - we engage our jobs.

Please watch the below video from DAQRI. This is a device that is going to market - very soon.  Prototypes are already out!!  How will this change the way we have to teach our children?

Please share your thoughts and ideas on the blog site.

Warmest Regards on the return to school.

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.org
Shalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org

Midreshet Emunah V'Omanut - Jerusalem - yfrankel@emunahvomanut.org
Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel