5b+Collaborative+Jewish+Learning+in+the+technological+age


 * Collaborative Jewish learning in the Technological Age**

There is something magical about a //[|chavruta].// Two souls coming to uncover the Torah's concealed truth. Chassidic Philosophy says that a when two people are involved in a mitzvah, like learning Torah, only their godly souls are shining. The physical aspects of people are inherently selfish and don't partner with others to [|sin]. The Talmud, Taanit 7A says that scholars studying together sharpen each other like "Iron sharpens Iron".

Can that magic be replicated outside of person to person contact? [|Partners in Torah] says that they are engaging 13,000 Jews in weekly phone chavrutot and Chabad has a [|Jnet], a similar endeavor. Would this study be augmented by using some type of visual web interface? Has the phone study been effective? How long do these virtual relationships last? There are simple questions to be answered. My personal experience is that individual one on one learning is difficult under the best circumstances.

There is something powerful about being part of a group, seeing other students each week and interacting. One feels a sense of obligation to not just the instructor, but, one's fellow students as well. Without the physical presence would students still be involved?

Technology is great. But, not everything is Facebook. We have Prodigy, AOL, and Myspace as well. Remember Earthlink? Judaism has been around for thousands of years. We don't want to wed it to a means of delivery that will be short lived.

That being said, most of the instruction in supplementary school is not collaborative at all. It is "sage on the stage" and as we have seen, that sage is not so [|wise]. Any introduction of collaborative learning would be welcomed at the supplementary level. One does not need to worry about destroying the magic of the chavruta, the magic is not present.

I am interested to see how this wiki works. Can collaboration really work on the computer? One benefit of web collaboration that I have seen is the ability to observe and critique each other's work. I gain a lot from reading each student's post. In an actual classroom setting one does not have this level of interaction with one's fellow students.

Yet, this interaction is all utilizing the written word. In an actual Chavruta, it is verbal. Verbal interaction is more fluid. Ideas can change quickly. One is trying to uncover the truth. As soon as an idea is written, it stakes out a position. Now the idea exists. Its ability to modify and shift has been removed.

An example of this is the MyJewishLearning [|article] Here Rachel Gelfman Shultz brings an opinion from Shaul Stampfer that the Chavruta is a relatively recent phenomenon in Jewish history. She cites his research that says the chavruta developed only in the 20th century. What is the point of this article? Is that the most important fact relating to the Chavruta? The article goes on to cite the Talmud, Sforno, and the Abarbenel who all laud studying in Chavruta. How can these sources be speaking about the Chavruta when according to Stampfer it was only popularized after the 19th century.

Collaboration, whether it be virtual or physical takes a familiarity with the texts and content material. I hope we are up to the task.

Wiki - by Eliezer Sneiderman