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Post your entries to Part Three below:
I ran a program with a group of 7th graders, a speciality 4 week class. At the school they got a 'menu' of specialties to choose from and this option was called "G-d on my iPod." The first class, I gave the students copies of the Mishkan Tefillah version of the siddur, which has themes of the prayers written out in plain english. The students then chose a prayer to study, explained there choice to the class and then went online to find songs that embodied the meaning of the prayer, then they found youtube videos of the song, lyrics and shared their choice with the class and how/when the song could be used in congregational life. The final project was creating a collaborative playlist, then the link was shared with the congregation. Here is the list of songs that the class thought reflected elements or themes of Jewish Liturgy: [] -EA @EA Did the students work on finding the songs as pairs or triads? What made this a collaborative learning project other than the final playlist? DN

A classroom holiday project of writing a song about say Chanukah. The class takes an email poll about which song melody to choose from (pick several that have frequently repeating choruses). Each child in the class is paired with another student. Each pair then draws from a hat the topic for a song verse. Each pair has to research on the net about that part of the Chanukah story and then writes the verse. Then uses a music program to add their lyrics to the music and makes a you tube video of them performing it together and then sends it to the Morah(eh) who then selects a logical order of arrangement. Class presentation of video at annual congregational Chanukah party. :-) Video goes viral and class has bragging rights! LV LV, I did that with a group of kiddos last year for Yom Ha'Atzmaut- They voted to choose a song, then different grades wrote and choreographed the songs. All the kids sang the whole song, then I edited it together- check it out here: [] -EA

In my TEL program (Teens: Experience & Learning), groups of students learned about a Jewish value (tikkun olam, hiddur mitzvah) and had to design a project to support or embody that value. They could choose anything. They worked on their projects over the course of 8 months. Since there were ten congregations of teens all over the northeast, they had to design a way to share what they had learned and done with the other 9 groups of teens. With the support and encouragement of their group leaders, students sent information back and forth, skyped, and ultimately created a video of their experience and final project to share with the other students. If I was still running the program, I would encourage them to use Fakebook today. EH

I would ask my students to make a 30-second video that reflects their favorite Jewish holiday. I would group the students into groups of four students; each group would have to script their video and create scenery together. They would then film the video, edit it, post the videos into an online class forum (like Wiki), and comment with tagging on three or more of the videos. The goal of the lesson would be to have a conversation about the Jewish Holidays. -EL

I teach a 9th grade, semester long, Survey of Tanakh class. As you can imagine, this leaves us little time to really explore. The first thing that happens is a review of Torah. The class is divided into five groups and each group is given a book of the Torah. The assignment is to create a review of the assigned book in whatever way they choose. This process encourages the students to work together to figure out how they are going present their book, what things to include, etc. Before the 9th graders had iPads, presentations included, Powerpoints, posters, songs, etc. This past year with the iPad, presentations included iMovies, Movie trailers, Keynote presentations, and Prezis. The students had fun with it and they were in control of the project.

Another project I did this past year with the iPads was for the students to create their own charitable organization (unit on Tikkun Olam). They also needed to create a 'pitch' for the project as if they were going out and getting their project funded. They created iMovies, Movie trailers, Keynotes, and Prezis to do this. The results were amazing.YW

With my youth group, we do different programs once or twice a month. One program that is really successful is the murder mystery dinner. Different characters in the bible are considered suspects in a specific murder mystery. Each person plays a different person in the bible and educates others on the specific person they are playing. They are all teaching each other about specific personalities in the bible. I would try to use a Smart Board or some other like device to help create they mystery sheet about who committed the murder. Linking ideas in a web that shows why a person did or did not commit the crime. IY

When I was in High School, I used a website called "Fakebook" to create a fake Facebook account for a historical figure. This lesson is based on the same concept, except in the Religious School setting students would each be assigned a different Biblical Figure such as Moses, Joshua, or Samson. Each student would be responsible for having several other figures interact with their figure in "real time," as if Facebook existed 2000 years ago. Afterword, the students would have to work together cooperatively to put their figures into historical order. In doing so, they are all learning about each others biblical figures. The following is a "Fakebook Account" for Oskar Schindler: http://www.classtools.net/fb/82/LkWNcKB JG

At various points throughout high school during NFTY events and at camp (Kutz) we were asked to bring our cell phones to services. A projector screen was set up at the beginning of the room, and throughout the service, questions would appear with a number to text our answer to. Some were open ended and some were multiple choice. We would text our answers to the number, and pretty much immediately our answers appeared on the screen (they didn't say our names). It was a program like Poll Everywhere. http://www.polleverywhere.com/ I don't remember if we could text in more than once per question, but seeing everyone's answers appear on the screen and seeing how we felt similarly or different to our peers was pretty cool. AB

I do not have much experience teaching in Jewish education, but while I was in the Peace Corps I ran a program where students in Togo (West Africa) could participate in a series of online activities with a class in France. Some of these activities where creative writing about their daily lives, different types of games, and video chats. This was all done in an earlier version of the collaborative tools available today, and our connection in Africa was done over a phone line and VERY slow. In spite of these challenges it gave students from very different backgrounds a chance to get to know each other, see what they had in common, learn about each other's cultures, and make friends. (SB)

I do a court case every year related to the sin of Golden calf, charging the Israelites with "relationship infidelity". There are 3 groups - defenders, prosecutors, and judges. Each group must study the text and commentaries as a group to prepare for the debate. They must anticipate the arguments and prepare: opening, rebuttal, and closing, and answer questions from the judges (a la supreme court cases). The judges prepare questions to both sides anticipating the argument. After the debate the judges prepare a verdict based on the arguments. What's cool about this is the groups must work together to prepare but also must take on a role in the case alone. The verdict comes out differently each year depending on how well the groups argue their points. This project hasn't incorporated technology particularly before other than listening to Nina Totenberg read transcripts from the court. Perhaps the written notes they prepare could be presented in a soft document (they often use G-docs) but something more advanced or innovative like a wiki or a ning. Perhaps after the debate they could be required to post reflections in a public forum of what they thought about the verdict and the overall project? If you have other ideas let me know! HD

I am honored to facilitate a b'nai mitzvah camping trip every year when collaboration and technology collide. Technology isn't the purpose of the trip but is used which helps solidify the group in a collaborative way. This happens primarily when we do a scavenger hunt with flip cameras. The trip is all about leadership and building group dynamics and this year we're headed to Camp Sabra (on Monday) and I'm looking forward to the trip very much. I'm honored they are still doing the trip in Boulder I started 13 years ago because it makes sense to do this type of camping trip which differentiates the seventh grade year (typically the b'nai mitzvah year) from the progress in learning that has been made so far. I did my masters thesis on this in case anyone wants to continue the conversation elsewhere. On the second night, we have a scavenger hunt all around the camp in teams and use cameras to take short clips of what we are doing. Then we loop the short clips all together and watch them on the big screen. It's an interesting contrast being really low tech (at camp) and then have the use of technology right there to help us immediately. In terms of collaboration, we use many of the exercises within the ISJL curriculum related to the b'nai mitzvah year which support students working well together. Along with the curriculum, they send an educator, a cool 25 year old Jewish role model, with us on the trip. I pick up Moreh Adam at the airport on Sunday night, and having him work with our teachers, students, and families is one of the best things about the curriculum. It truly comes to life because of the collaboration. In terms of technology, I would say the main place of overlap comes when we use flash lights at night and our telescope to see the stars (Perseid meteor shower is coming up). I like to encourage kids not to bring their screens with us but the video scavenger hunt really helps shake things up in a fun and uplifting way. Eliyahu (EK)

In Hebrew School in high school, before the High Holy Days, we were introduced to Rosh Hashanah and were explained what it meant. We were then asked to write in a forum what are New Years Resolutions are. I found this to be an effective way to explain Rosh Hashanah with the New Year and connect it to the secular New Years in a way for younger students to grasp it all. RR

DN response to Part III: The goals of this exercise were synthesis and application. Taking the power and implications of collaboration that you discussed in part I together with the technical understanding of collaborative learning as you defined it in part II, how would this look in an educational setting? Many, many of you noted that collaborative learning is constructivist - student-driven with the goal of making meaning and yet very few of the ideas above reflected this notion. Again, as Erin described Collaborative Learning, it is a situation where the student "can experience novelty (unknown conclusions, different working configurations in the class are examples of components that can result in novel experiences).

Look again at your examples - do you feel that they draw students into learning scenarios as described above? If yes - great. If no, please reconsider...