New England Academy of Torah embraces new mobile technology

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Students and teachers welcome blended learning opportunities

Chava Herzog, a NEAT 9th grader, left, works with her teacher, Nomi Feinberg. /RABBI PERETZ SCHEINERMANPROVIDENCE – How can schools meet the individual academic needs of their students while teaching to 21st century standards and utilizing modern technology in a fiscally responsible and sustainable manner?

In attempting to respond to this question, New England Academy of Torah (NEAT), an Orthodox girls’ high school on the East Side of Providence, announces the creation of a mobile laptop lab.

With this new lab, NEAT offers its students a blended learning math class.  Blended learning refers to a combination of online instruction at the student’s specific level, supplemented with individual and small group instruction by the teacher.  Other classes, including Hebrew classes, will also benefit from the mobile laptop lab, as students will be able to use the laptops for research and word processing.

The core math curriculum will primarily be provided via ALEKS, Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces, which, according to the company’s information, is a powerful, online math program that provides truly individualized learning and assessment with standards-based content.  Fundamentally different from other educational software, ALEKS uses an artificial intelligence engine and adaptive questioning to determine precisely what a student knows and doesn’t know. Through highly targeted instruction and continuous assessment, ALEKS delivers a personalized learning path on the exact topics that a student is most ready to learn. This targeted approach creates tremendous learning momentum and propels students toward success.

Last year, the AVI CHAI Foundation commissioned a study of the state of on available last December. Data revealed that online course adoption is slow and, so far, has impacted few students.  But “steady growth is projected in the number of schools offering online courses in the near future, with as many as 15 percent of these schools adopting each year for the next few years,” the report notes.

Last year, I also conducted a study, obtaining feedback on which high schools within our educational network are using online or blended learning and the strengths and weaknesses of the various programs being used.

In December 2012, a Boston Globe editorial acknowledged that parents may be concerned about online learning, but noted that it is the ‘wave of the future’ – even at the high school level.  Editors cited a 2009 U.S. Department of Education study that found that college students performed ‘modestly better’ in online courses, even better in blended courses, than those in face-to-face courses.  “Done well, online learning and remote classrooms could actually enhance students’ high school experience,” the editorial noted.

NEAT is committed to embracing this new technology in a careful and responsible manner.  Excited about the possibilities created by having a mobile laptop lab, both teachers and students look forward to successfully implementing this program.

Laurel Silverman (laurelsilverman@gmail.com) is the general studies principal at New England Academy of Torah.