Asmaa Ganayem Dr. Miri Shonfeld Dr. Elaine Hoter

1. Technology & Multi-culturalism:Can technology bridge the gap between Jews and Arabs in Teacher Education? Asmaa Ganayem Dr. Miri Shonfeld Dr. Elaine Hoter

2. Miri Shonfeld Head of ICT Kibutzim college Asmaa Ganayem Head of ICT Al-Qasemi college Elaine Hoter Head of ICT Talpiot college

3. 2008 Statistics • The Jewish population living in Israel is 5,400,000 • The Arab population is 1,400,000 which amounts to 20% of the total population in Israel

4. Arab Society in Israel • Identity crisis: Israeli-Arab conflict. • Language: Arabic & Hebrew • Social Arab-Jews relation: live mostly in separate areas • Discrimination: wide gaps in different socio-economic aspects

5. Religious Israeli Jewish • separate education system • different political affiliation • Social secular-religious relations: live often in separate areas and communities • Lack of understanding between groups

6. What is peace for Jews living in Israel? • Negative peace: the absence of violence • Positive peace: cooperation, harmony, commerce, & mutuality • Structural peace: equality, independence, and sovereignty

7. What is peace for Arabs living in Israel? • Negative peace: the absence of violence • Positive peace: cooperation, harmony, commerce, & mutuality • Structural peace: equality, independence, and sovereignty

8. What is peace? • Negative peace: the absence of violence • Positive peace: cooperation, harmony, commerce, & mutuality • Structural peace: equality, independence, and sovereignty Percentage of responses (N = 819; Biton, 2002).

9. Is it the role of a teaching college to reduce these biases among students studying in pre-service education? Can ICT help to improve understanding among students? ? ?

10. We are not trying to solve the conflict or hold discussions on issues of the conflict, but we are facilitating a meeting between students on an equal basis according to the model developed with the belief that this will lead to change !

11. Theories Pettigrew and Tropp’s summary of the contact hypothesis (2000) confirmed that in the right conditions, contact could reduce bias between groups. Necessary conditions: the long term contact between groups rather than individuals, between people of equal status, supported at an institutional level and based on cooperation rather than competition.

12. Online Intergroup Contact Hypothesis • Equality of status and collaboration • Supported by institutions • Over a period of time (one year) • Based on collaboration • Gradual development between groups • Writing • Voice • Collaboration • F2F (Shonfeld, Ganayem and Hoter, 2006)

13. Aims • Students will experience online collaborative learning with different populations they would never normally meet. • Students will be proficient internet users • Students will be able to integrate the internet in their teaching • Students will be able to develop and adapt online material • Students will participate and be exposed to Inter and multicultural education

14. How did it work? Kibbutzim College of Education AlQasemi Academic college Talpiot Teacher’s College

15. Small multi-cultural group

16. How does it work with 9 colleges?

17. The students were divided into topic groups

21. Meetings

22. F2F meetings in each college Explanations of how to use the technologies

23. Synchronous meetings More than 50% of the meetings were synchronous The studentsconnected from different places

24. A-synchronous meetings

25. F2F In the middle and end of the course

26. Cooperative Teaching

27. Collaboration, trust and harmony

28. Division of Labour team work: • planning units • giving online lectures • Evaluating assignments

29. Reduction in bias between groups Face to Face end of course meeting and presentation of projects Face to Face meeting of small groups- (discussions & collaborative work) & lecturers 4 all participants Textual Individual A-synchronous work Synch. individualwork&a-synch.groupwork Collaborative synch. group work Wiki (Web 2) Forums & Blogs & synchronous platforms High trust level Low trust level Video conferencing & multimedia Low level thinking assignments +audio +oral/ aural +visual Peer review Parallel & sequential collaboration Synergistic collaboration Dialogue High level thinking assignments Environment Levels of Thinking Building of Trust Educational Technological type Media Type Communication type Required conditions for the OICH Model Small group cooperation & collaboration Institutional support Interaction over a year Team teaching Content a-political Equality of Status Teachers belong to the different cultural groups The OICH Model: online inter-group contact hypothesis

30. The graduates of the courses lead children in schools in online multicultural projects Online collaborative courses between students of the different colleges collaboration for research, conferences & initiatives Connections between colleges

31. Problems encountered • Segregation issues • Language issues • Collaborative issues • Timetable issues- (festivals and holidays) • Political issues

32. Question To what extent can the Internet play a role in bridging between cultures and reducing bias among groups?

33. Implications and Future Plans • Involving more colleges • Working with in-service teachers • Going into schools

34. http://tak.macam.ac.il tak@macam.ac.il