Source: AVI CHAI
Five Jewish day schools have been selected for the BOLD (Blending Online Learning in Day Schools) Project, funded by The Affordable Jewish Education Project (AJE), and The Kohelet Foundation. The goal of BOLD Day Schools is to design and implement sustainable, cost-saving blended learning programs to ignite the potential of students through the delivery of innovative and personalized learning. Additionally, BOLD Day Schools will become a network of schools and educators working to accelerate the rollout of sustainable blended learning programs throughout the Jewish day school field.
The BOLD Day Schools are:
- Denver Academy of Torah, Denver, CO Elementary & Middle School
- Magen David Yeshivah High School, Brooklyn, NY High School
- The Moriah School, Englewood, NJ Elementary & Middle School
- The Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, River Edge, NJ Middle School
- Tarbut v’Torah Community Day School, Irvine, CA Elementary School
The five BOLD Day Schools were selected out of a pool of close to 30 submissions through an intensive application process that assessed each school’s vision for blended learning, implementation plan, and financial plan outlining cost savings and program sustainability. The funding organizations also considered school size, location, denomination, and division in an effort to provide a variety of proof points that recognizes the diversity of Jewish day schools.
Blended learning integrates online learning with face-to-face instruction, enabling teachers to align their instructional approaches to the particular academic needs of each student based on real-time, individualized data. In addition to improved educational outcomes for students, blended learning educational models provide opportunities for cost savings through reducing schools’ personnel, facility, and textbook costs.
Over the summer, the BOLD Day Schools have been deeply immersed in program design and planning with the help of one of two blended learning consulting firms. The consultants have been assisting school leaders in refining their financial plans, selecting software, and planning professional development for their faculties. Implementation is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2013. Within three years, every student in the selected division(s) will be learning using a blended education model on a daily basis. In addition, schools will create a plan to realize cost savings through the efficiencies of their new model.
The process will be documented to measure the effectiveness of each model and to provide guidance for additional schools looking to transition to blended learning in the future.
Read more about the BOLD Day Schools and follow their progress here.