Technology and Education: A Site Visit at Amit Amichai Rechovot

On a visit to Amit Amichai Rechovot

I’ve been struggling with the issue of cellphones in my classes at Orot.
Last semester, we the college invited a speaker who spoke out our collective addiction to cellphones. Even more impressive than the truly
frightening statistics and stories he told, was the total command he had over an auditorium of 450 students, and his absolute refusal to allow anyone in the room to take out a cellphone. If someone took one out, he stopped his talk, and waited until the person put the phone away.
I was blown away, and convinced that I needed to do the same thing in my classes. And, when the second semester began, I started each class by asking the students to put away their phones in their bags, telling them two things: (1) It’s a distraction for me (which it really is – try talking to someone who’s staring at their phone) and (2) “If you’re there (on the phone) you’re not here. That’s just a fact. You can’t be on the phone and focusing on the class. For a while, I really stuck to it, and I must say that educationally, it was productive. The students were certainly annoyed, but the classes were better – more productive and focused.
But, as the semester has progressed, I’ve backed off – not because I don’t think that the cellphones are a distraction, but because I simply don’t have the energy to fight with them anymore. I would have hoped that students entering my classes would know to put away their phones. Wishful thinking. Each class I have to remind them – over and over – to please put away the phones until the end of class. And then there’s the laptop issue: a number of students bring laptops, and it’s painfully obvious that they’re not only taking notes. How do you distinguish between cellphones and laptops? Why should there be any difference between them?
As part of my work at Orot, I serve as an administrator for the M.Ed. (Masters) program for Educational Administration at Orot’s Rechovot Campus. Today we’re at a site visit at Amit Amichai High School (for boys) in Rechovot. The Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivat Amit, Rav Avi Rokeach, explained that three years ago the school made a strategic decision to invest in technology. They recognized that the students’ lives were intimately involved in technology – not just as tools, but in the way that the kids think today. If we were able to translate the materials that they learned – Gemara, Chumash, mathematics, etc –using the technological language of the students today – then they could dramatically improve the educational experience of the school. Every student and teacher received a tablet, and they invested in putting all of their materials on the tablets, so that the kids would be ready to learn in their way.
Three months into the project, they recognized that the experiment wasn’t working. Despite the incredible investment in technology, they realized that the tools – the technology – wasn’t the answer. It wasn’t that the tech wasn’t working. It really was. But the investment didn’t really create the change that the school was looking for. It was the same school, the same students, the same learning.
We took a tour of the school, and saw a number of classes in which the students were working in groups; they had projects in English, mathematics, science; many of the classes of course have frontal learning. In each class, students were working with laptops, their phones, etc. There was a lot of learning taking place, but also a lot of email, facebook and Whatsapp as well. We asked about how the teachers prevent students from using the laptops to play. The teacher said that he doesn’t make them learn or stop them from playing. Rather, he gives the both the freedom and independence to make the right choice, and not waste their time in class (and have to do the work at home).
Is tech the answer in education? Not the answer – but it’s certainly part of our students’ lives. How to use that technology, or limit its ability to distract – represents a challenge that educators struggle with on a constant and continuous basis. These aren’t new questions, but as technology grows even more integral to our lives, the questions grow more pressing.
At Amit Amichai, the school went through a long process trying to figure out what the end goals of the school should be. In a nutshell, the Rosh Yeshiva explained that they want to make “educated people” – with all that this involves: knowledge, intelligence, fear of Heaven, love of learning – all the tools that you could possibly want a student to have. That being said, how do you do this? What, in the end, is the best way to achieve that goal? If you had a chip that you could buy which you could implant in a student and this would produce the most desirable outcome – would you use it? The school also asked another question: Why, if our educational goals are so broad, do we spend so much time in our schools simply transmitting information: history, English, science, Chumash – whatever?
Rather, he explained that they decided that the most important investment that they would need to make is in the teachers. While a student could spend at most six years in the school, a teacher could theoretically spend twenty years or more in the school, and have the greatest possible influence on the students. Believing that the teachers would be the best possible agents to drive their own development, they created a committee for “Investigation and Development” in order to move the process forward. The committee would investigate what’s going on in the school and develop new processes to transform the school and move it towards the school’s desired goals.
Clearly, it’s a work in progress. But the students spend a great deal of time working on individual projects. They receive tasks in classes, and work in pairs or in small groups, to achieve those tasks. Clearly, the school is “different” – far less frontal teaching, far more individual learning. Does the school produce graduates that are substantially different than other schools? That’s a question that will have important implications for education in the future.

An Astounding Discovery: The Lost Screwtape Letters

I have written before about the great value I have found in reading The Screwtape Letters, (which also seems to be available for free download as an ebook here) a powerful work of human nature by C.S. Lewis that I try and reread around Rosh Hashanah time. As luck would have it, I have gotten my hands on a recently discovered, previously unknown letter, which has only now been discovered, perhaps through a faulty Internet Service Provider. (Apparently, they're now using email.) After exhaustive research, I cannot fully vouch for its authenticity, but I share the letter with you nonetheless.

To: wormwood@pergatory.org

From: exec-vp@pergatory.org

Date: August 27, 2012

Subject: Using a Smartphone for work

My Dear Wormwood,

I am gratified to learn that your subject has recently received a smartphone from his work. Like all implements, this new gadget is nothing more or less than a tool to be used for our purposes, or to bolster the cause of the enemy. I find myself astounded at the myriad of applications our enemy has instigaged in a desperate attempt to minimize the damage these phones can do to their cause. Audio lectures, texts available – I recently learned that they are even developing an application so that a person can study the entire Talmud with a single device.

Contrary to what you might think, these are not negative developments for our cause. Quite the opposite. There is no more titillating experience for us in our work than having your subject use his phone for what he considers to be spiritual purposes, when in fact he achieves almost no benefit at all. Encourage him to download a lecture on a heavy text so that he can listen while he jogs. What emerges is the quite amusing situation in that he thinks that he has spent an hour studying while he runs, freeing him during the rest of his spare time for leisurely pursuits such as watching a baseball game (or, preferably, a situation comedy), when in fact, we know very well that he has not really studied anything at all. At best he has heard the material, and absorbed almost nothing. This is the ideal first step as you slowly reel him into your grasp: to have him feel like he's engaging in valuable, worthwhile endeavors, while in fact he is doing nothing of the sort.

Yet, the smartphone presents a far more delectable opportunity for our purposes. I am not referring to the possibility of his accessing pornography via the phone. That cheap thrill, of course, can be of some value to us, and there are a few rare cases where tempters succeeded in using the pornography to instill a deep sense of guilt that distanced their charge from the bright light of the enemy into the shadows of our Home. Yet, if you wish to tempt to pornography, you will need to steer your subject towards a real computer. No, the smartphone presents even more delicious opportunities for those in our line of work.

With his new phone, your charge will instantly be connected with a myriad of services and websites that previously required him to sit at a computer. He will find himself under a constant barrage of emails from work, friends and other acquaintances that you must convince him to attend to immediately, without delay. Remind him, after all, that he must be constantly available, or he'll be considered a second-rate employee by his boss. Also encourage him to download as many social networking applications as possible, including Facebook (we're still working on that award for Mr. Zuckerberg) but also Google Plus, LinkedIn, and as many applications as possible that share silly pictures, funny quotes, and other useless information.

These applications offer many great benefits to our cause, of which I will share two:

1. They blessedly rob your charge of any free time. One of our greatest dangers is the mere possibility that those under our care spend time in reflection and contemplation. As I have written to you in previous letters (that you have clumsily ignored to this point), our greatest enemy is our subjects' ability and desire to think; to look around the world and contemplate the mystery of the Universe; to wonder about eternal questions. At these moments, our counterparts – when they are wise and quick – lead the man down a road we cannot follow – leading to potentially disastrous consequences.

For this reason, we must thank our Father daily for the curse (blessing to us, that is) of these devices. Armed with such a device, your subject will never, ever have the time to think or contemplate anything. Stuck on the line at the grocery store? Remind him that he's wasting his time, and that he could be spending this "wasted" time doing something far more useful, pointing to his Smartphone. He'll never bother to ask why scrolling through endless vapid comments on Facebook is useful. After all, it's on his Smartphone. (I do love that name! People who use them consider themselves smart! Fantastic!) Get him into the habit of taking out the device whenever there's a lull in his day: on the train to work; during meetings at work; before you know it, you'll have him using the phone during the "boring" periods at religious services – again a win-win for us: he thinks he's praying, while we know that he's answering his email.

2. Yet, this is only a secondary benefit of these wonderful devices to our cause. The main benefit these devices offer us is that they can, when used (by you) properly, drive a subtle, critical wedge between your charge and his loved ones.

You must, ever so slowly, instill in your man a sense of insecurity that causes him to constantly check his phone for updates. As his sense of self-worth diminishes, he will find himself needing to check for new messages with increasing regularity. And, the more he checks the phone and finds comfort from the messages of others, the less self-assured he will become. If you play your cards right, he will begin to evaluate himself solely on the number of "likes" that he receives on a picture he shares, and the number of Facebook friends he has amassed, irrespective of how many of those people he knows (or even cares about).

Moreover, as time progresses, he will begin to think of these virtual relationships as "real", and ignore the very real people in his life. Imagine him sharing a meal with his mother at a local restaurant. As his mother attempts to conduct a conversation with him, she finds him constantly glancing down at his phone to check for updates and messages. She will (assuming her tempter hasn't fallen asleep) blow up at him because she can't get in a word without him checking "that damn phone". You can then, quite easily encourage him to respond with equally righteous indignation, as you insist in his ear that he was, "listening to every word she said." Thus, you have used your phone to distance your man from his beloved mother, and gotten him to blame her for it in the process!

In a way, Wormwood, you are fortunate. Had such tools been available during my tenure, many more of my subjects would have certainly found themselves in our Father's house, and I would have received my well-deserved promotion many centuries ago, instead of having to wait for my previous superior's unfortunate repeated blunders (in which I deny any culpability) that allowed me to achieve the prominent position I now enjoy.

Don't get any ideas. Smartphone or not, you're nowhere near my pay grade. And, I am watching you.

Affectionately yours,

Screwtape

Would You Want to Work for Steve Jobs?

With the media circus surrounding the recent retirement of Steve Jobs, and the plethora of eulogies-while-still-alive comparing him to the likes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford (not a comparison I'd personally like), I've found myself wondering: would I want to work for Steve Jobs?
At face value, the answer is, "Of course. Who wouldn't want to work at Apple, which sits at the top of the technology sector, making money hand over fist? It's a prestigious place to work, seems pretty cool. Why wouldn't I want to work for him?"
You might not want to work for him because, while you do end up making really cool, really excellent products, the work environment might not be that pleasant.
Journalists have been falling all over themselves extolling the greatness that is (or was) Jobs. He truly did have a hand in creating new products, and product categories that have defined modern technological life in the 21st century. People are now writing silly articles about how you should run your company like Steve Jobs. But you can't run your company like he did. He ran his company the way he did for one reason, and one reason only: He knew that he was the smartest person in the room, and he made sure that you knew it too. He made all the important decisions, and had a hand in every detail. He knew that he could do it better than anyone else, and he was right. Essentially, he built the behemoth that is Apple by bullying people. In fact, in 2009 he made Forbes' Bully Bosses Hall of Fame (he's number 4). The piece says that,

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is known for his obsessive attention to detail and iron-fisted management style. He is often accused of making his subordinates cry and firing employees arbitrarily. But Jobs' subordinates remain loyal. Several deputies--even those who have left the company--say they've never done better work. As one Apple employee told journalist John Martellaro, "His autocracy is balanced by his famous charisma--he can make the task of designing a power supply feel like a mission from God.

Really? A (current) Apple employee saying something good about Steve Jobs? I'm shocked. Even journalists shied away from crossing him for fear of being blacklisted by Apple and losing all-important access.
I don't know if people really loved working for Jobs, but they definitely would want the money and prestige that came with working for a winner. So they were willing to put up with a boss that might scream at you, make you cry, and fire you arbitrarily to enjoy the benefits of working for Apple.
But I wouldn't try this in your business for a few reasons:

• You might be in charge, but there's a good chance that you aren't really the smartest guy in the room. Other people sometimes have very good ideas.
• People don't like working in hostile environments. There's a good chance your company isn't as cool as Apple (or as wealthy and powerful), and you could lose employees who jump ship because they don't need to deal with your garbage.
• Finally, have we ever considered the possibility that Jobs' management style might have hurt Apple instead of helping it. How many good ideas from Apple employees never saw the light of day for fear of incurring the "Wrath of Jobs"? If you've ever working in such an environment, people are happy to do their jobs, lay low, and stay off the radar screen.

Have you ever worked in that type of environment? Is it really a recipe for success that can be duplicated (even at Apple)?
I have my doubts.

A Blog Post Worth Reading

Read this post: Rav Tzvi Pittinsky writes about the dangers and possible benefits of social media to our children. Most alarmingly (and something I never thought about) Google Buzz. My sons don't have Facebook accounts, but they do email through Gmail all the time, giving them easy access to social media through Google Buzz. Something to consider...
Tech Rav: Review of (and Supplement to) Yeshiva University's...:

Amazon Kindle in Israel: Nice, but Not Ready for Prime Time

As I wrote here, a while back we ordered the Amazon Kindle in order to easily access English reading material for our children. The Kindle itself is a wonderful device: I'm happy that it's only a book reader, without a color touchscreen or a web browser. (Actually, it does have a browser that almost immediately crashed the device. I wonder why they even included it.) The kids immediately took to the Kindle, reading books at their level. My daughter likes to enlarge the font until there's about three words on a page, but it works for her. She's reading Henry Huggins wonderfully. Sounds great, right? Not really.
1. The device started crashing. A lot. While Amazon promised a month of use, we were regularly getting far less than a week. On more than one occasion, we brought the device for reading in the car on a long drive, and it simply wouldn't start. Plugging it into the computer solved the problem, but it was annoying nonetheless. Rena finally realized that Amazon only promised a month of battery life with the wifi off (and in our bedroom, where we normally keep the Kindle, the wifi signal is quite weak). So we shut off the wifi, upgraded the software, and are now hoping for the best. So far so good.
2. Another minor pet peeve. The device is registered to my email account. Yet, over Chanukah Rena received a gift book to her email address. I got one to a different email address - my hotmail address that I almost never check. Simply put, different people have multiple email addresses, but there was no way for us to (a) know that we'd gotten the gift to another email address and then (b) for Rena to link the eBook to my account, as she herself had a separate Amazon account. Sounds confusing? You're right. She had to return the book, then send my account the book as a gift, and only then buy the book again on the "right" account. That's a lot of work, and needlessly confusing.
More concerning though, is the fact that many of the more popular books are not yet available in Israel. On the face of things, that's just annoying. But from my perspective, it's also dishonest. I'll explain.
Simcha and Bezalel have been pining for a very popular book called "The Lost Hero" by Rick Riordan, so we put it on their wish list. Their aunt, a very generous and loving woman, bought them the eBook, to their great excitement. But when I clicked on the button:

 I found myself looking at this message:

Here's my problem: Amazon knows that we live in Israel. Our Kindle was shipped here, and is registered here. Yet, when our relative bought the book for my kids, instead of getting a message from Amazon that the book is not available where we live, they happily sold it to her. Now we have to exchange the book for a gift card. Another problem: most of the books my kids want are also not available in Israel. What are we supposed to do with gift cards if my kids can't get any of the books that they want. It seems to me that if I can't get a book on my Kindle, Amazon should not allow me to add it to my wish list, or at the very least tell us before someone buys it that they won't sell it to me.
To me, it would be like my buying a physical gift on Amazon for someone to be shipped to, say, Mineappolis, not knowing that due to the severe weather there, Amazon no longer shipped packages there. But instead of telling me this, they went ahead and sent my recipient a gift card. Is it stealing? No. But it's also, to my mind, really, really slimy.

Bottom line: We really like the Kindle. If Amazon worked out the kinks and made every book available here in Israel, it would be amazing. If Amazon was at least more honest and up-front to gift-givers about which books they should or should not buy, I'd at least be a little less upset.