BJENY-SAJES and JESNA’s Lippman-Kanfer Institute invite you to submit a short video that communicates your response to the following question:

As we move toward a world where learning happens anywhere and everywhere, authored by anyone, what could Jewish learning and life look like in the future?

Those submitting the top three responses will be flown to New Orleans on November 7-8, 2010 (all expenses paid) to present their thinking at the Jewish Futures Conference.  The Conference will be held on Monday, November 8, 2010 as part of the General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America.

High profile presenters, combined with up and coming innovators from the Jewish and general world, will each be given 10-18 minutes to describe their vision for the future of Jewish learning in the context of emerging new digital and social technologies.

Submissions will be accepted in the form of 4 minute videos by August 27, 2010 and should be sent to:  futures@bjeny.org

Questions? Contact Rabbi Arnold D. Samlan:  samlana@bjeny.org

What are you waiting for? Come on over and check out submission and event details here now!

What’s your vision? Share a preview in the comments below!

These questions are addressed in the report, Schools That Work: What We Can Learn From Good Jewish Supplementary Schools, authored by Dr. Jack Wertheimer on behalf of the AVI CHAI Foundation, March 2009. In conjunction with the release of the report, JESNA recently hosted an ADCA webinar with Jack Wertheimer to discuss the report and the role of central agencies for Jewish education.  The webinar is available at JESNA’s Sosland Resource Center.  ADCA is the Association of Directors of Central Agencies for Jewish Education.

We wrote about other resources on complementary and congregational education published by JESNA – be sure to take a look at them as well.

What are some of the most powerful characteristics of success in your school? What would you add to the report’s list of policy recommendations? What else do you want to know about successful complementary education?

Take a look at JESNA’s Compendium of Complementary School Alternative Models/ Programs.

See what’s happening with in-home learning programs, family education, camps, tutoring, choose your own courses, art-focused initiatives, complementary education programs with online components, and more. Each entry includes background about the program and contact information for follow up.

The Compendium is published by JESNA’s Center for Excellence in Education. Also be sure to check out the companion volume, Compendium of Complementary School Change Initiatives (Summer 2008).

And to further whet your appetite for the new year, download your copy of Transforming Congregational Education: Lessons Learned and Questions for the Future published by JESNA’s Lippman Kanfer Institute (December 2008). The paper is organized around three questions:

1. What are the goals of congregational educational change? What can and should we hope to achieve through these efforts and for whom? What visions are guiding these endeavors?
2. What is the content of congregational education change? What is it that needs to be changed? What are the primary drivers of success in this endeavor?
3. What is the process for congregational educational change? What needs to be done, by whom, to make congregational educational change efforts succeed?

The paper reflects a synthesis of experiences and observations by key players in Jewish congregational learning. It concludes with ten questions that outline a learning and planning agenda for next steps in congregational educational change.

Dig in – B’tayavon!