iPads in Jewish Education - Possibly a Great Idea...

iPads have taken over the technology world! Students worldwide are on iPhones, iPods, and now, iPads. When iPads first came out, many people questioned their purpose. Even though people doubted its use, the iPads were sold out and on back order! Young children and teens especially love the iPad. They use it to play games and watch movies, and now, they use it in a lot of their classrooms.

Apple has spent a lot of time and educational expertise on making educational apps for the classroom. In the North Miami Hillel Academy, there is a classroom that has a paper free Gemara classroom due to iTalmud. “The increased levels of engagement, portability, and space and cost saving have been enormous,” said Seth Dimbert, the school’s director of learning technologies. “Normally, when you study the Talmud, each page is covered with cross-references and tertiary commentaries, and you have bookshelves filled with dozens or even hundreds of secondary reference texts. Using an iPad application puts all of that reference material in hypertext. It’s an ideal way to study the Talmud, which is in some sense the original hypertext.”

In addition, there is an app called Hebrew Books, which has the entire Tanach and all the commentaries with a click of a button! The iPad could be used in a Tanach classroom in many ways. Students can highlight mepharshim, always be on task, and copy and paste p’sukkim into word. They can take notes in Hebrew and email the notes around.

Lastly, the skills students gain by daily interacting and learning on an iPad, are skills that they now need to use for every day life in the 21^st century. If we incorporate iPads into out day schools now, then we know that our students are equipped for their futures.