www.bje.org.au Jewish online school and education forum

Location:Sydney, Australia
Name of implementing organization:Academy BJE, NSW Board of Jewish Education
Date of initial project approval:February 2001
Date of project renewal:November 2003

Brief description of the local Jewish community

Number of Jews -- 45,000

Local Jewish schools, and other Jewish organizations:

• Masada College
• Moriah College
• Yeshiva Colleges
• Mt Sinai College
• Emanuel School

Other organizations are listed HERE

Project aims and objectives

The overall goal of the project was to utilize the technological capabilities of the Internet to create a web site which would extend the scope and reach of all the activities and services provided by BJE, in ways never before possible. This results in a more efficient, interactive method of providing Jewish education to Jewish families isolated by distance from the mainstream Australian Jewish communities.

Specifically, this project will:

• Efficiently reach a Jewish audience spread over a large geographical area, and enable interactive Jewish distance learning for isolated individuals and small communities in Australia and the South East Pacific
• Engender a greatly heightened sense of belonging and community for students and teachers who are geographically isolated from the mainstream of Australian and international Jewish community life
• Create reciprocal links between Australian Jewish community educators, institutions, and individuals and their authentic Jewish international counterparts, thus raising the BJE’s profile and outreach
• Facilitate the dissemination of, and thereby improve access to, Jewish educational materials and professional communications, including BJE’s online library catalogue
• Enhance in-service training opportunities for Hebrew and Jewish Studies teachers operating at a distance from the major Jewish educational institutions, for example by providing online lectures, tutorials and professional discussion forums

Project Description

This project has resulted in the creation of an internationally-acknowledged website which represents the most comprehensive online Jewish education resource available in Australia today. www.bje.org.au offers Jewish children and their families an online venue to explore Jewish knowledge and identity, while interacting with their Jewish peers and our virtual teachers.

www.bje.org.au is a living, dynamic Internet presence which is receiving widespread praise from leaders in the field of Jewish education and educational technology, as well as much positive feedback from its targeted users. Its features and functionality include:

Home Pages (Main, Kids, Teens, Adults, Educators, BJE Staff Admin)

• General & interactive Jewish learning content
• Interactive competitions for kids and teens
• Age-appropriate online courses
• User Feedback Facility
• A searchable Library Database
• Administration: online enrolments, membership, donations, job & volunteer applications, etc.

About Judaism section

• General Jewish learning content
• User input facility: Jewish Learning Facts and Online Activities
• Glossary

Jewish Learning section

• Delivery of general Jewish learning content, including a listing of Jewish educational institutions across Australasia
• Age-appropriate online courses

BJE Programs section

• Content relating to the BJE’s services and activities
• An online enrolment facility

News & Events section

• Local and international Jewish news
• BJE Events Calendar
• Photo gallery

BJE Staff Administration section

• Jewish curriculum content: resources & a lesson bank for BJE teachers
• Administration: class and teacher forms, order forms, etc.
• Teachers’ Noticeboard

Main budget elements

• Salaries of Educational Technology Coordinator and Course Content Developer
• Payment of IT Development Team

The project's successes

In general, www.bje.org.au represents a virtual expansion of Academy BJE, its programs, and services. It is enhancing Jewish education in Australasia and beyond, and intensifying Jewish studies, now making them available to remote and other Jewish communities.

In specific terms, the website has enabled:

• Expanded delivery of Jewish learning content to Jewish children and families, including weekly online Judaism lessons plus access to a “virtual teacher” for feedback
• First-time delivery of Jewish learning content to isolated (and city-based) Jewish students and families, not previously in any BJE program
• Improved delivery of Jewish learning/teaching resources to teachers of Jewish Studies in BJE day schools and also in non-Jewish schools
• Improved outreach and provision of Jewish learning materials to non-Jewish students and teachers
• Vastly expanded distribution of Jewish learning content into wider Australasian educational forums e.g.: EdNa Online Schools Calendar Noticeboards (EdNa Education Network Australia)
• Formation of our BJE Webkids group, and the associated links (educational and social) being formed between Jewish children from the State and day school systems, between urban and country areas and so on; also, the emergence of a strong female student presence in the usually male-dominated field of technology
• Average daily hit rate of 7,500

Difficulties encountered along the way

• Cost of IT Development
• Development of an adequate, affordable online course development template
• Cost of expanded promotion