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UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

County Case Study Interview Report (Israel)

Submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the
Masters of Education in Instructional Technology

Beth Jackson
EDTC 645
Fall 2015
Joe Wieczorek, Professor
November 10, 2015

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Introduction
Many schools in the United States as well as Israel have been experiencing three
overlapping waves of technology adoption since the mid-1980s: the personal computer lab wave,
the online learning wave and the digital classroom wave. Classrooms in Israel are currently
experiencing a transition from a pursuit of individualization and productivity in the first stage to
the pursuit of personalization and global citizenship in the second stage. The linkage between the
first stage and the second stage is also the linkage between the Internet world and the classroom
world, which are now virtually separate (Izenberg, 2013). The purpose of this report was to
interview an individual from another county to see how technology is used in their classroom.
For the purpose of this report I selected an elementary teacher that taught in Israel.

Interview Invitation
The following interview request and questions were emailed to Israel educators.
My name is Beth Jackson. I am currently a graduate student at the University of Maryland
University College in the United States where I am pursuing my M.Ed. in Instructional
Technology. Currently, for one of my project for EDTC 645 we have research another to see how
technology is used in the classroom. I am interested in learning interventions, discoveries, as
well as how technology is used in in Israel classrooms. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thank you for your time,
Beth Jackson

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Interview Questions

1. Are teacher required to participate in any professional development with

regard to technology?
Rational: No, they are not required to participate in professional development, but
some teachers choose to go in order to integrate technology in their schools.
2. How does the school receive funding for its technology?
Rational: The government provides the funding.
3. How easy/difficult is it to obtain new technology for your classroom?
Rational: Very difficult because usually there is only one lab in the school that is
utilized for the technology classes.
4. Are teachers provided with laptops?
Rational: No.
5. Why do you its important to make changes to technology and how it is used
in Israel classrooms?

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Rational: I think technology will provide the teachers with tools that will allow
them to engage their students and to make teaching in the 20th century more
efficient.
6. Who sets the technology policy for the classroom? School? District?
Rational: The principle of the school.
7. Does the schools in Israel have computer labs?
Rational: Yes.
8. Is 1:1 computing used in Israel schools?
Rational: No.
9. How do you think technology will help Israel classrooms?
Rational: Same answer as in number 5.
10. What are your thoughts on technology-based education? Do you believe
that it will teach anything beyond how to use the technology itself?
Rational: Same answer as in number 5.

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Strategy Used
To communicate and find more information about educational technology in Israel, most
of the communication was complete via email. Ortal was very punctual in responding back to
emails in a timely matter. Also, while responding to my initial email Ortal providing some initial
resources about how technology is integrated and used in the classroom. The initial resources
provided me with a better understand of how technology is utilized in schools in Israel.
Throughout our communication via email, Ortal would always ask do I have enough
information needed to write my report. She was always willing to send or find additional
information if needed.

Findings and Reflections

Out of the number of different resources Ortal sent, there was one resources that caught
my attention. It was an article states that, the modern technological world is constantly changing
and evolving. Things happen almost too quickly to assimilate, one development is rapidly out of
date by another, and channels of communication have become ultra-fast. Israel students are
growing up in a world of sophisticated and constantly-improving technologies, including the
web, iPhone, e-learning, and distance education. These circumstance demand that the educational
system must continually seek ways to keep up to date with current trends and methods in order to
ensure that it meets the students needs (Leichman, 2011).
Over the past 25 years, criticism of teachers and teacher education has intensified in
many developed countries around the world. While this negative assessment initially targeted
pre-service teacher education in Israel, the past decade has witnessed an increasing attack on the
continuing lifelong education of teachers. Motivated by a desire to enhance the knowledge and

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skills of teachers on the one hand and improve student achievement and scores on the other, the
Israeli education system is currently seeking to decentralize, modernize, upgrade, and raise the
quality of the teaching/learning system in the light of global and regional changes. Within this
context, teachers are encouraged to view themselves as facing new challenges with the help of
innovative forms of in-service training. Israel has developed a program called MASHAV- Israels
Agency for International Development Cooperation. The program is dedicated to providing
developing countries with the best of Israels experience in development and planning
(Leichman, 2011).
The following article was very interesting due to Ortal expressing that many people in
Israel looks at using the internet and Wi-Fi as a dangerous thing to do. Also, it is close to 100,000
school teachers in the State of Israel do not have access to a personal laptop computer. One of
Israels largest and most important cities, still do not teach with laptops in the classroom, having
received neither laptops for classroom instruction nor appropriate training for effective teaching
with laptops.
In Israel, the worlds most advanced educational software programs have been developed.
Organizations and portals such as the Center for Educational Technology (Matach), Snunit and
Galim, as well as many other publishers, have developed amazing software applications and
powerful databases for use by teachers and students. The Ministry of Education is forcing
publishers to convert all published books to digital formats accessible on the Web. But, not all
teachers have personal computers at their disposal in order to access and utilize these books and
programs (Hayes, 2015).

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Geography teachers who uses old methods such as a two-dimensional map hanging from
a nail or an old atlas and who do not use Google Earth or National Geographic videos to explain
geographic phenomena, places and attractions around the world are hurting their students and
slowing down their educational growth. Science and biology teachers who do not use threedimensional videos to demonstrate natural phenomena that cant be explained using other
methods are hurting their students and undermining their progress (Hayes, 2015).
I believe the solution is, since our students are the future human assets of Israel, it is a
national and moral obligation to ensure that Israel will have teachers equipped with the most
advanced technologies. If they dont provide the students with the best possible teachers, they
will not compete successfully with the advanced education provided in many countries
worldwide. The new minister of education should be addressed so that they can bravely join
forces with all relevant bodies, and to enlist the support of the non-profit sector in Israel and
abroad, mayors in Israel, and the business sector in Israel. Together to achieve the goal of
providing a laptop computer to every teacher in Israel.

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References
Hayes, Schneur. (2015). Technology Integration for the 21st century Torah Student. The Times of
Israel. Retrieved from http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/techniology-integration-for-the21st-century-torah-student/
Izenberg, Dan. (2013). Science and Technology in Israel. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Retrieved from http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/aboutisrael/israelat50/pages/science%20and
%20technology%20in%20israel.aspx
Leichman, Abigail. (2011). How Israel classrooms may change over the next 20 years. Journal
of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(1), 28-52. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00342.x