Section archive - Technology & Computers

WhatsApp is a smartphone application for instant messaging. Lately the application's popularity has risen. One of the unique features of the application is its ability to enhance communication within a group. Classroom communication between teaching faculty and high school students using WhatsApp has not yet, to our knowledge, been researched thoroughly. Therefore, we have chosen to conduct an exploratory research project employing a qualitative method. Twelve half- structured interviews were carried out with teachers who use the application in order to communicate with their pupils.

This summer, the DigitalJLearning Network had the pleasure of taking 15 Jewish Day School educators to the 2015 ISTE Conference in Philadelphia, PA. We asked the participants to share what they learned and how the conference inspired them to take action in their schools. Gerald Lazar, Director of Student Life at Bnei Akiva Schools of Toronto, shares his thoughts in the third installment in this new blog series.

The Virtual High School (VHS), a non-profit empowering schools with the industry’s best online learning programs, today announced that Jewish day schools nationwide will now have access to high-quality online Judaic Studies courses through The Online Judaic Studies Consortium (OJSC). VHS, with funding from the New York-based AVI CHAI Foundation, will work with member schools to design and develop a series of Judaic studies courses to be delivered online. These courses will deliver engaging, rigorous content on a variety of Judaic studies topics, and will provide students and teachers with vital digital literacy, global communication and 21st century skills.

The internet abounds with dangers for unwary users and is especially perilous for children whose inexperience renders them vulnerable to hackers, bullies, and pedophiles or worse. In response, an Israeli nonprofit called Red Button has produced the world’s first app that lets anyone, especially kids, easily report negative web behavior. The Red Button app installs itself as a service on Android devices, and there is also an add-on version for popular web browsers like Firefox and Chrome. If an individual comes across something or someone they are uncomfortable with – such as a person who is cursing, threatening, intimidating, or inappropriately discussing personal issues – all they have to do is press a button to begin a process that can lead to taking the offending site down or arresting the offending individual.