51 learning patterns and styles, which lecturers can use to refine their teaching methods. But perhaps most of all, the division plans to effect a shift in the pedagogical culture: Data will need to support new ideas and be used to assess the efficacy of academic programs. Data can also provide insight into students’ learning patterns and styles, which lecturers can use to refine their teachingmethods. The divisionwill also turn Bar-Ilan into a beta site for trying out neweducational technologies, with the aimof making learning more engaging, inclusive, and accessible to all. Examples may include technologies for boosting classroom participation or interacting, via video, with other classrooms around the world; gamifying problem-solving; and apps that consistently measure aptitude in place of stress-inducing exams. But the real coup de grace of the division, insists Reich, is its new director, the ed-tech expert Yuval Shraibman. “When you really want to invest in being the best in a certain field, you need more than just the research and the technology. You also need the human assets: the professional staff that knows how to operationalize a vision. Yuval is the ideal person for that task.” Indeed, Shraibman was the founder of Tel Aviv University’s Innovative Learning Center, whichworks to adapt teaching to the digital age, and co-founder of Israel’s Ed-Tech Summit, which connects the Israeli ed-tech community with international investors and entrepreneurs. He was also the founder of Minducate, an interdisciplinary research center for neuro-pedagogy. In his new role as the head of the division, Shraibman plans to make Bar-Ilan an exemplar of “active learning,” or one in which the learning environment facilitates “the building of knowledge, instead of merely its transfer,” he explains. Through models such as the flipped classroom, or in-person learning experiences that supplement and organize independent study online, “we can free our lecturers to focus on more creative, engaging, and even personalized learning activities, and offer real value to our students in turn. “Technologies can enhance the learning experience, but they shouldn’t take the place of human interactions,” Shraibman says, then adds with a smile, “And so long as there are still frontal lectures in the world, we’ll need to work on enhancing those, too.” Yuval Shraibman Prof. Arie Reich
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU2MA==