A whole fortnight of fun... (With apologies to Louisa May Alcott)

What is exactly is a "fortnight?"

I asked that question to a group of students at my school and the answer I received the most was that fortnight was a video game.  There was also a couple of students who said that it was a two-week period of time.

So, which one is it?  A game or a measure of time?

Well...

FORTNIGHT, from Old English - fēowertȳne night - means fourteen nights.  

FORTNITE - note the spelling - that's a Massive Multi-player Online (MMO) game that currently has about 125 million players worldwide and chances are, if you are a teacher or parent, that you have an in-depth experience on how this MMO is causing "ripples" in your child's daily routine!

Now, I will be honest.  I like the game Fortnite - It's fun!! - and there are so many different modes that I can play it in.  I can play as a single player against a large group, I can play as a group member against other groups and I can even engage in the "playground" where I get to create fun games with my online buddies.  

One big downside is that it can suck me into what I call "The Cave."  You know, that time-defying parallel universe where one can lose track of time and forget to take out the garbage! (apologies to my wife!!)

So, is this game a "good thing" or a "bad thing?"

Like all else in the world of education (and parenting), I would suggest that it depends on how and what we do with it.  Researchers at Stanford Graduate School of Education say that Fortnite requires "students to practice "teamwork, collaboration, strategic thinking, spatial understanding, and imagination."  They promote bringing in the positive aspects of the game to spice up engagement in the classrooms.  (Example: A quick scan of YouTube brought me to this student's AP Physics project where he used the laws of physics and the scientific method to try to find the value of gravity in the game.)

On the other hand, as many studies have demonstrated, just having a phone or iPad sitting on a desk can be disruptive to the classroom.

So what do you think?  Distraction or teaching opportunity?  I would love to know your opinion - but please don't take a fortnight to get back to me!! 

Regards,

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology

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

www.hillelhebrew.org

    

Shall We Play a Game?

The other day, I was watching a nostalgia clip on YouTube from a movie called "War Games."  It came out in 1983 (I was working at a Canadian university at the time) and I recall how realistic the computer graphics were.  In '83, I was even using a computer much like the one shown in the movie!

This got me thinking about what I posted in my last blog where I gave a shout-out about a day-long conference on the gamification of the classroom (Games Students Play).  One takeaway I got from the conference was that the THEORY of game-play really hasn't changed much but the delivery of the games has.  

Yes, we still have board games, card games and so on, but computer games - well, have you ever played a VR (Virtual Reality) game? It is literally a different world!!

Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Recently, my son and a friend of his created a computer game that they call "Backyard Brawl."  The premise is that you, and a group of friends, are playing a neighborhood-wide game of laser tag.  It uses quality 3D graphics and real-world physics. It is quite exceptional when you think that he and his friend are only 13 year old!!

In order to pull this project off, they had to go through all of the planning stages of game creation.  You know, stuff like: select the genre, create a story-line, how to engage players, layout the game, ...and so on.

Then they had to code it!  My son did most of the coding over a 3 month period.  What really got me as a parent was that he did it in his spare time, keeping up with his homework and other obligations!

The finished project?  Well, that's the great part... it's not finished yet!!

They just released the first "early release" version to get feedback from other game players.  There is a lot that needs polish and upgrade, but when you stop and think that this was created by two middle-school students, it is pretty awe-inspiring.

Here is an early release video of the game in demo mode:

(Click this link to view video)

The game uses real-world physics (at least for the most part!!) and has some great animation.

If you would like to download the program and give it a try (remember that this is a multi-player game, so you have to have a few computers on the same LAN to play) here is a link to the STEAM Store to download it.

What do you think?  Does this kind of computer game play improve on the old days of - "Want to play Global Thermonuclear War?" - or perhaps you would just like to play a nice game of Chess?

(the classic clip from War Games - a fun 2-minute watch!!)

As always, I solicit your comments on the blog site.  (If you received this post through email, please click on the title at the top to get to the blog page to post your comments. - THANKS!!)

Yossie

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology


Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135
www.hillelhebrew.org
    

Games Student's Play... (with apologies to The Spinners)

I admit it - I like playing games!  

Well, maybe not board games, but certainly computer games!  

Yes, I even like Fortnite!!

More on that for another blog though...

The thing is, back when I was full time in the classroom (when dinosaurs - I mean original iPads and iPods - roamed the earth...), I could just never figure out how to incorporate games into my curriculum.  Sure, I would have the class "play a game" to help break up a lesson so that I could engage my students in different ways, but to "gamify" a whole lesson or curriculum?? - I just couldn't figure it out.

You see, I didn't have the "tools" or the knowledge on how to do this.  

I tried reading books and papers on the concept, but I needed practical examples to fully understand things.  I just couldn't find the right help that would allow me to succeed.

Well, I am soooo glad that times have changed!!

My wife Batsheva (as my regular blog readers might recall, she wrote the acclaimed book: "The Jewish Educators Companion" - available on Amazon) - is the co-director of the Arete Institute here in Los Angeles.  One of the Institute's missions is to help educators acquire skills that will help them change the way we educate our kids.  One of their projects, in conjunction with Jon Cassie of "Game Level Learn," is a day-long conference on HOW to gamify curriculum and USE games to promote critical thinking skills in the classroom.  The really cool thing about this event is that it is HANDS-ON!!  With REAL LIFE EXAMPLES.  And what is even better is that it IS BEING HELD ON A SUNDAY - so there is no problem taking time off to attend!!!!

The event involves presenters from all over the US who have successfully integrated gaming into their classrooms and schools.  This is one of those "golden opportunities" where an educator can speak directly with other educators who are on the leading edge of this fascinating modality of learning - so don't miss it!!!

When: November 4, 2018, 8 am – 6 pm

Where: The Areté Institute, 

             11500 Olympic Blvd.    Suite 318

              Los Angeles, CA 90064

The registration fee is only $50 and you can register by clicking here.  Hurry up though, space is limited!

(For readers of my blog, enter the secret code LEVELUP to get 10% off)

I would love to hear about you and your attempts and successes at gamifying your classroom.  Please drop me a line about it on the blog page so that I can post your comments.

Regards,

Yossie

(DISCLAIMER... Nope, I am not getting paid by Arete Institute for posting about this event on my blog.  I just want want you, my readers, to be aware of a really great professional development opportunity. Though, there is a remote possibility that my wife might bake my favorite lasgna when it's her turn to cook dinner... just suggesting dear!!  :-)

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology


Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy  
9120 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310.276.6135
www.hillelhebrew.org
    

Hello Folks... I'm Baaaaak

Hello Folks... I'm Baaaaak!!

And it feels good to be blogging again!!!

So, what is it that I am going to write about as the first entry of my triumphant return?  

...A lamenting of the ingenuity of students in the Jewish Day School System today.

Ok, ok, I hear some of you saying; "Well Yossie, that it is because we have driven the creativity out of our kids."  - and I would agree with you - but that begs the question: what are we going to do about it??

Now, what was the "straw that broke the camel's back" and prompted me to write about this?

It's actually quite simple.  You see, my glasses broke...

Yep, they snapped right in half while I was cleaning them.

So, I asked a group of students, what I should do to fix them?  They responded with; "use tape!"  (My own son said this, but at least he added that I should use the super strong "Flex Tape" of Internet fame.)  

The only problem with this solution is that the tape won't hold on the metal and the glasses would flex way too much.  At this point most of the students just threw up their hands in defeat.

So I gave them the following challenge:

Using a bit of copper wire (14 gauge and some jewelry wire) with a bit of soldier, could they fix my glasses.

Not a single one could figure out a way to do it.  

So sad...

This made me think that perhaps we educators have spent too much time giving our students "an education" without really giving them an education.  We have taught them WHAT to think without showing them HOW to think!

So what can we do about it?

Well, let me suggest the following...

We must become familiar with the different ways that can "teach" our kids to live in the world that they are inheriting.  We can expose them to different forms and methods of approaching a situation/learning opportunity/problem to be solved.  We can help them develop (note: not GIVE them) the tools that they will need to survive in the 21st Century and beyond.  And it all starts with a simple problem - a pair of broken glasses.

Over the next few months, I will making suggestions on how we, as parents and educators, can begin to, perhaps, achieve this lofty goal.  I invite you to join me on this journey.

As for my glasses...  

I fixed them myself and showed my students.  Now they want to learn how to solder and "tinker."  So, you can see that there IS HOPE!!! 

(Yossie's fixed glasses!  As an anecdote, when I went to the eyeglass store to get

new ones, the optometrist thought that they were just a new style.  They had no idea

that they were broken and repaired!!)

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

Regards to all - Yossie.

YossieFrankel

Director of Technology

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

www.hillelhebrew.org

    

MUST READ - A "krack" in our (wifi) armor

You may be seeing your friends in the IT world looking a bit stressed this week.  Yes, I know that isn't an unusual thing, but when I see my buddies who specialize in WiFi security crying into their morning coffee saying "what are we going to do?" and rocking back and forth... well then I know something is very wrong.

And, what would that "very wrong" be?  Well read on...

On Sunday, there was an announcement made about a very serious vulnerability that effects millions of WiFi access points and routers throughout the world!  It is called "Krack" - Key Re-installation Attack - and it effects any WiFi access point or router that uses the WPA2-PSK encryption.  Most likely, this means you ARE effected by this since most businesses and schools (and coffee shops, airports, public WiFi, etc.!!!) use this WiFi encryption.

Basically, the flaw allows a hacker to see all of the traffic going between your device and the WiFi access point/router - AND THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE TO BE ON THE NETWORK TO DO IT!!

What makes it even worse is that if you have unsecured data shares on your supposedly secure network those same hackers could easily steal your data!!! (and yes, that could include USB keys attached to a computer!)

Now I am sure that you are wondering about what you can do to protect yourself.  Well, Microsoft has already created a patch for Windows and Apple and Google are not very far behind.  

But now for the catch... you have to be regularly updating your computer and installing the patches!!  (Yes, my Apple friends... I mean you - iOS and OSX are not immune to this!!)

Schools, you need to be running firmware patches and updates on all of your AP's/routers and for heaven's sake put a password on that network file share!!

In all reality, hackers are not going to be driving up and down your street to hack into your home network.  Especially when there are much juicer prospects with big business, schools and the coffee shops that are nearby.  But this does not mean that you should not be protected everywhere you go.  Here are some tips to keep you safe.

• UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!
  Run all the patches and updates as they come out.  I hear all sorts of excuses why NOT to run updates.  Don't fall prey to this!  RUN UPDATES!!
  
• MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE ON HTTPS SITES!
  Make sure that every website you visit that has you enter any information or passwords is protected by that little lock icon in the address bar!
  
• USE VPN's!
  Most schools do not allow your device to run a VPN as then they can't filter the device as required by the Federal E-Rate requirements.  That is because a VPN will hide all of your traffic so no one can see it!  Bad for at school... Good when you are out "in the world!"  So, get a VPN and use it when you go for coffee.

Help is already on the way.  Most systems will have patches out soon but that will only work if you force your fleet of iPads, Chromebooks, PC's or Smart Phones to run the updates.  Oh yes, don't forget to run firmware updates on your AP's and routers.

Well, that's all for today!!  As always, I solicit your comments on the blogsite.

Regards,

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

It's a New Dawn, It's a new Day, It's a new - Metaverse? (with apologies to Nina Simone)

Starting at sunset tonight, Jews all over the world will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah - literally the "head" of the year.  It commemorates, amongst many other things, the birth of "Adam" - the birth of Mankind.

I have always found it interesting that Rosh Hashana doesn't commemorate the creation of the universe or even the creation of the world!  It is all about having the "Adam" becoming conscious and being able to experience existence.  You see, it is all about EXPERIENCING creation!! 

Now, I can't help but think like a physicist (I was a physics teacher for many years after all) and paraphrase quantum theory (regardless of how Einstein felt about it in his "later years") that says, in part, that unless something is observed, it doesn't necessarily exist in our world!

Think about it... Rosh Hashanah is actually commemorating consciousness, existence, observation, reality!

This is an interesting way to look at the festival of the new year.  How we perceive our new year will actually help create that new year for us!!  Kinda cool - yes?

So what better time to introduce you all to a program that can augment reality...

The Metaverse (https://gometa.io)

I am sure that you all have heard about Pokemon Go by now.  (If not, here is my blog post about it.)  Well Metaverse lets you create your own "Pokemon-Go-like" experience.  Imagine creating a scavenger hunt around your school where freshmen must locate digital items and do special tasks.  Hey... how about doing a tour of your home town?  Put the statue of "old Chuck" in the viewfinder and then the whole story about who this guy was comes to life!  All sorts of ideas!

Here is a short video on how one family uses this augmented reality program to bring everyone together for "family time" and exercise.

(click here to watch video)

So what do you think?  Can programs like this alter our experience of reality?  Will it change the way we perceive the world?  I would be interested in hearing what you have to say on the blogsite.

For those of you celebrating Rosh Hashanah - Ketivah v'chatima tovah  (כתיבה וחתימה טובה).

Should you be written and sealed for a fantastic year of health, happiness and "good perceptions!"

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Take me money and run-a Venezuela (with apologies to Harry Belafonte)

Back in the 70's, my father of blessed memory was friends with the performer Harry Belafonte.

 

One of Harry's signature Calypso songs was lamenting about a woman named "Matilda" who took a man for all that he was worth... all his money - everything!  In the song he says:

"the money was just inside me bed, 

Stuck up in a pillow beneath me head" 

and then zap - it was gone!

Well now-a-days things aren't so blatantly obvious.

If you haven't heard about what happened at Equifax by now, you need to immediately take action...

Equifax Data - you know, the folks that do the credit reporting - had a huge data breach that could affect over 143 MILLION people!  It seems that over the period of a few months, Equifax had personal information including Social Security numbers, Driver Licence numbers as well as disputed claims information stolen.  This affects so many people that Equifax is offering free credit monitoring (a service that they usually charge for) to people who were affected by the data breach.  What you need to do is - RIGHT NOW - go to the listed website and see if you could possibly be affected by this.  I know that I was!!  I am on the watch list so I enrolled in the service.

Here is the site to go to to enroll and find out more information:

https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/

Don't be like the poor soul in Harry Belafonte's Calypso song...

"Five hundred dollars, friends, I lost

Woman even sell me cat and horse

Heya! Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela"

If you are interested in hearing this fun song... here is a YouTube clip...

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

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

Tech Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog: www.technorebbe.com

Twitter @yossiefrankel

YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel