Pen-pals are a thing of the past. Even chatrooms have become passé. The students of the Rappaport-Ahavat Yisrael and Gilo schools, together with the students of Jewish Day School in Allentown, Pennsylvania, have discovered that for establishing real connections in real time with their peers across the miles, videoconferencing is the only way to go.
SchoolNet was launched on November 2, 2004 with a group of fifth grade boys from Rappaport and the fifth-grade boys of JDS sharing their names, hobbies, and favorite personal objects. Two weeks later the sixth-graders of Gilo and the JDS sixth graders followed suit.
Then it became time to sit down to some serious learning. The next three sessions were dedicated to learning about the laws and history of Chanukah, with plenty of opportunities for the students to share how they celebrate Chanukah in their own homes. A bona fide archeologist made a special guest appearance and showed off some 2,000-year-old Hasmonean period artifacts. Of course we also made time for some Chanukah fun, with shared singing led by Rappaport's music teacher, Shalom Kinori, on his keyboard.
The academic year continued with more joint learning, and even a virtual seder Pesach. The goal of SchoolNet was to bring Israeli schools together with an American school for shared learning in real time…as if they were in the room together. The Contact Center helped the students bridge the miles, and even learn a little bit about each other in the process.
On the heels of the success of SchoolNet, we have received many requests from other schools – both in Israel and abroad – to start SchoolNet programs of their own. We have set our sights for bigger and better in academic year 2005.
