Introduction of the New Focus for the Blog: the Application of Web 2.0 Tools for Jewish Education, Teacher Training and Mentoring

This post will serve as the introduction to the new focus for our blog, the application of web 2.0 tools for Jewish education and teacher training.

Up to this point, our blog on mentoring Jewish students and teachers has emphasized research-based and clinically tested instructional best practices for the physical classroom in which the teacher and the students interact. Beginning with this post we will be discussing the application of internet resources and applications that can enhance Jewish teaching and teacher training in both the real (i.e. physical) and the virtual (i.e. online) classroom.

Why are we changing the focus of the blog?

It appears obvious to this blogger that the future of both general and Jewish education will be moving toward the use of the internet as a vehicle for teaching and teacher training. Accordingly, we want our students, and our pre-service and in-service Jewish teachers to know how to apply this new technology (i.e. Web 2.0) in teaching Judaic content and training/mentoring Jewish educators.

In all candor, I don’t want to portray myself as an expert in the application of web 2.0 technology to Jewish education and teacher training/mentoring. In fact, I am a novice in this new field. Over the course of time I will be sharing with you, the reader of this blog, what I have learned and pass that new knowledge on to you. More importantly, I am hoping and , in fact, requesting that you will share your knowledge base and skills with me, and the readers of this blog.

Before we begin our exploration of web 2.0 and the various web tools, let’s talk a bit about on site and online communities of practice, CoPs, which will be the subject of our next blog post.