The Online Judaic Studies Consortium – A Bridge to Jewish Learning
Source: Online Judaic Studies Consortium
The Online Judaic Studies Consortium (OJSC) is based on a highly collaborative model. Course instruction for students in the OJSC comes from schools/teachers that join the OJSC. Teachers from schools that join the OJSC develop and then teach online courses to students within the program. Through this collaboration each member school receives seats for their students to take innovative Judaic studies courses from the OJSC catalog, taught by expert faculty, in exchange for teacher participation and discounted membership fees. Students collaborate with their peers at other day schools, teachers receive valuable professional development, and schools gain scheduling flexibility and expanded offerings.
Courses offered through the OJSC are cohort-based, teacher led and paced. Schools and teachers have direct input to OJSC course curriculum as the courses are developed for, and by, members of the consortium. Students work in online classrooms in a supervised, nurturing atmosphere. They connect with Jewish day school students and highly qualified Judaic studies teachers in schools across North America through these expanded learning opportunities.
OJSC courses cover topics such as: Tanakh, Rabbinic Literature, Jewish History, Israel, Contemporary Jewish Issues, and Jewish Thought.
The Online Judaic Studies Consortium (OJSC) is based on the successful model developed in 1996 by The Virtual High School (VHS).
OJCS is sponsored through a grant from the AVI CHAI Foundation.
Read a first-hand account of an OJSC teacher and her experiences teaching a Judaic studies course online here.