I’m the film skeptic you hate to watch films with; I will sit there poking fun at abstract future technology, like the hologram-type screens with a gesture-based user interface in Minority Report. Quite frankly, a keyboard with a solid screen is still the most sensible way to work.
(What it does get right is that people are swiping right on things they find agreeable…) In effect, most sci-fi tech is the opposite of intuitive design. As for all those sound effects, let’s be honest, it’s considered obnoxious if you don’t have your phone permanently on silent.
They say teachers are resistant to educational technology in the classroom, and no wonder with the unrealistic way tech is portrayed. But, from the first cave drawing to the wall-art filled contemporary classroom, to the eventual invention of paper so children could make paper airplanes; teachers have always led from the front of the classroom.
In the last 150 years, after the advent of public education, the pace of change has been electric. We had an audio-visual age with the radio and projector, followed quickly by the information age, with the television and computer, and then the digital interactive age …that’s the sweet spot where we’re sitting.
And sure, the last bit happened super fast, but it’s never been about the robots. It’s not like they can cope with a bunch of kids better than a human.
It’s not about taking the teacher out the picture, in all probability good educators, will never leave the picture. (Math joke intended.) It’s more about how we can flip it to run a classroom in ways our children are now accustomed. It’s about facilitation and curation alongside everything else that made you sign on to teach. In short, we digitize parts of a school's curriculum and teach the teachers to do it themselves.
For example, Ji Prime partnership schools can access top-rate educational tech and support. Our expert design team can collaborate with you to develop school-branded gamified curricula and you’ll have premium admission to professional development events and product opportunities.
Teachers can learn how to create games for Hebrew or Jewish Studies lesson, exploring design theory in how it relates to games that engage the student, and then expand the design process to incorporate science, technology, engineering, art and math; STEAM or more accurately, J-STEAM.
It’s a partnership that fosters creativity and critical thinking, where children can practice scripting, instructional design, debugging, graphic design and animation, all in one lesson. One child in a pilot J-STEAM lab used an app to learn to read from the Torah but first, she produced her own pointer, (yad) with 3D design skills and 3D printing technology!
Getting on this EdTech train will only leave you regretting you didn’t do it earlier. Swipe right on us for a dose of reality, while dreaming big.
