The OJA/Tamritz Middle-school Innovation Initiative includes the following components:

Digital Age Teaching e-course

Engage in a 10-week online course, Digital Age Teaching, centered around teaching and learning with new media. The course is broken down into 5 distinct bi-weekly quests, affording teachers with comfortable self-pacing throughout the 10 weeks. Designed within a badge learning framework, teachers are fully immersed in an authentic badge-empowered learning experience.

Upon the completion of five learning quests, educators will earn the Digital Age Teaching badge, a certificate of achievement for the course, which can be displayed on any web interface and within a Mozilla Digital Backpack.

Approximate time demand: 10 weeks, 3-4 hours, weekly

Curriculum Development Retreat (1 teacher/school)

This five-day summer retreat (dates TBD) will allow teachers to come together to work collaboratively to design their courses. Teachers will adapt their current courses into “badgified,” blended courses, and will assemble the necessary digital materials for the course to run effectively. (Additional teachers may participate for an additional fee.  Please contact info@onlinejewishacademy.org for more information.)

Digital Media Literacy e-course for students

9-week badge-based e-course designed to help middle school students grow in their understanding of digital citizenship and new media’s role in their own learning, now and into the future. Students will explore netiquette and online safety; their digital footprint and online identity; evaluation of resources and tools for learning; the power of social media as a communication and collaboration tool; and develop their own personal learning network.

Course Development & Implementation Coaching

OJA and Tamritz staff will work with teachers through the summer to design and create their courses included helping to create and curate digital materials.  Once the school year begins, teachers will receive weekly to bi-weekly coaching sessions and additional support to make sure their course runs smoothly and effectively.

Community of Practice

All teachers will have access to and participate in a community of practice to help teachers support each other and learn from each other’s experiences and best practices.