Recently, we featured a post entitled, Jewish Game Based Learning. In that blog post, we highlighted how educators are using Minecraft, an online game about placing virtual blocks to build anything, to convey Jewish concepts.  Below, we are going to introduce you to another example of how students are using technology to connect with their heritage.

Rabbi Tzvi Pittinsky is the Director of Educational Technology at the Frisch School in Paramus, NJ. In his class, two students used the educational tool called: Fakebook. Yep, it’s called Fakebook, not Facebook.

Fakebook is an online tool that allows students to tell a story using the “wall” format that Facebook made popular. In this case, Rabbi Pittinsky’s students made a Fakebook account that told the story of Sefer Yona, as if it was happening on a Facebook wall!

It can be  seen in its entirerty here.

Would the students have retained what they learned by writing a ten-page report?

Perhaps.

However, by allowing them to be involved in a project that they can relate to, there’s a greater chance of them really putting their heart and soul into not just the assignment, but the message we are meant to learn from Sefer Yona.

Do you know of any other ways in which students can be engaged in a contemporary manner? Please let us know by leaving a comment below.

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