Eteacher: Learn Hebrew Online Lessons From Israel

By Israel News Agency Staff

Jerusalem ---- April 16, 2007 ……. When viewing the Eteacher, HebrewOnline.com ad on an Israel news Website, it appears very modest. One would never guess from first glance that this professional online forum to learn and study Hebrew is the official learn and study Hebrew online site which is endorsed by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Israel Ministry of Education.

Nor would anyone know that Eteacher and Hebrew Online evolved from a decades old family business. That the founders of HebrewOnline.com, Boaz and Yariv Binnun, were following in the footsteps of their grandfather Aharon Rosen. Rosen was the author of the best seller: Thousand Hebrew Words and had created the first Hebrew learning and study text books in modern Israel back in 1950.

The Internet can be deceiving at times. What could appear to be a large organization might turn out to be a one man show. Where in other cases what may appear to be perhaps just one Hebrew teacher providing Hebrew lessons online can in reality be a very real school with hundreds of professional teachers.

Hebrew Online is that very real school.

ETeacher is the owner of HebrewOnline.com. This learn Hebrew portal is the exclusive supplier of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs franchise to teach Hebrew online. In addition, Hebrew Online also represents the Israel Ministry of Education franchise for online Hebrew tutoring.

The online Hebrew school was established five years ago and today employs over 60 workers and 100 Hebrew teachers. Hebrew Online's headquarters are located in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, Israel.

HebrewOnline.com has become the leading institute for teaching and learning Hebrew over the Internet. This online Hebrew school provides courses for 32 countries. All classes are taught using the latest state of the art video conference technology utilizing video, sound and graphics. Hebrew students are able to see their teacher, chat with their classmates and actively participate in class using a set of interactive tools such as raising their hand, asking a question, or practicing their Hebrew on the whiteboard with the teacher.

Hebrew Online has enjoyed very rapid global success.

Many students of HebrewOnline.com say that they thoroughly enjoy the intensive online experience. And recent research proves that their feelings are more than correct.

Ongoing research being conducted by cognitive scientists and education experts at Carnegie Mellon University states that online learning is more effective than attending a conventional class. Carnegie Mellon's Open Learning Initiative (OLI), funded by $5.6 million in grants from the Hewlett Foundation, designed a series of high-quality introductory college-level courses available free on the Internet to anyone with an interest. Unlike other openly available courseware that simply posts the class syllabus online, Carnegie Mellon's OLI offers a Web-based interactive classroom complete with diagrams, real-time feedback, and a virtual tutor that provides hints when needed.

OLI currently offers 11 online courses, ranging from physics to logic to economics. The chemistry course features a virtual lab, where students are given a real-world problem (purifying the arsenic-contaminated water supply in Bangladesh, for example). A typical French lesson includes a video shot in France of two French actors meeting each other at the train station. Students listen to the audio answer choices and choose the one that makes the most sense. The pedagogical methods underlying each exercise were researched by the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Research and Development Center, aided by a $25 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Last fall, Carnegie Mellon took students enrolled in an introductory statistics course and divided them into two groups. The first group served as the control, attending the traditional three lecture hours per week in person and completing hundreds of homework problems. The second group took the course online. They didn't buy a textbook, and only met with an instructor once a week. Students in both groups took three midterms and a final. In the end, the online group performed as well as or better than the traditional group.

This semester, Carnegie Mellon is studying whether online learning could be just as effective as traditional classroom-based instruction, but finish the material in less time. The university chose 23 students to take an accelerated statistics course, which lasts only eight weeks--half the normal semester length.

"We wanted to make OLI better, faster," explains Candace Thille, director of the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon. "Now we're testing to see whether we can get the same outcome with less work and less time."

At press time, the class was still under way, but OLI statistics professor Oded Meyer says it's clear that the students are much more focused.

"Right now it seems like it's succeeding," he says, noting that the online test scores have been as good as if not better than typical classes.

"It's not just that they learn quicker, but they maintain the same depth of learning and they do it faster," says Marsha Lovett, the associate director of CMU's Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence. "The best word for it is 'efficient.'"

Hebrew On Line takes the intensive Internet learning experience to new and higher dimensions.

All Hebrew On Line lessons are recorded and kept on their server. Students can access the recordings directly from their accounts and review past materials from any computer. This allows them to go over difficult subjects or make up a Hebrew lesson in case they missed a class.

The program brings Israel teachers who live in Israel directly into one's home. All of Hebrew Online's teachers are certified educators and are experts in teaching Hebrew as a second language. The majority of Hebrew On-line's professional teachers have taught Hebrew in Israel's leading universities, which are the world's best institutions for Hebrew language tutoring. New teachers undergo long training courses to prepare them for online teaching. After each lesson, students are requested to grade their teacher, enabling Eteacher to ensure that they offer you only the best.

What is the typical profile of a learn Hebrew online teacher?

This is how HebrewOnline.com Hebrew teacher Michal Wilder describes herself:

"I recently moved to Tel Aviv, to live near the Mediterranean Sea that I love so much, and wake up every morning to its beautiful smell," says Wilder. "I enjoy reading on the beach, and my main hobbies include macrame', making mobiles and painting furniture. I began teaching Hebrew during my first year of university studies, when a friend mentioned that the School for Hebrew Studies at the university required Hebrew teachers. I was delighted, as I have always been a great fan of the Hebrew language, and since then have been working in this great profession."

Wilder adds: "I see online teaching as some kind of miracle, where somebody thousands of miles away from me in Alaska can sit in front of his computer, and after only several lessons already understand jokes in Hebrew."
Wilder has a B.A. degree in Psychology, from the The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a B.A. studies in Computer Science, from the The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a M.A. studies in Neuro-Psychology, from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Hebrew Online.com teaching method is teaching Hebrew in Hebrew. Instruction is given in Hebrew only, regardless of the class's level or students' background. Hebrew in Hebrew approach has been proven to be the most effective method for teaching Hebrew. The program includes weekly meetings in small groups of 7-8 students, and homework assignments that are sent by the teacher after each lesson.

The program consists of five different Hebrew learning levels from complete beginners to highly advanced Hebrew and biblical Hebrew students.
The focus of the learning process is the modern spoken Hebrew that is currently in use in Israel.

Children can also enjoy the online experience, attending classes designed for children of ages 7-16.
Classes for children are smaller and hold children from the same age group only.

In addition to the professional Hebrew lessons, Hebrew Online has a large and highly professional customer service department.

This writer tested the Hebrew Online technical support team. They operate 24/7 from Hebrew Online offices in Ramat Gan. I approached them with a brand new computer and knew that in addition to the easy software download from Hebrew Online that they would have to go beyond their own software and adjust my new PC's sound card and other audio and visual devices. They did not even have to explain anything to me as I allowed these Hebrew Online tech support personnel to come directly into my computer using a process called "over the shoulder."

I smiled as I witnessed them rapidly moving my monitor's cursor into different files. Within ten minutes I was talking to them through their software using my headset. I was now ready for my first Hebrew Online class.

Beyond teaching Hebrew online to thousands of students worldwide, Hebrew Online also provides the following excellent Jewish and Israel resources on their site: Turmoil in the Middle East, Dilemmas in Israeli Politics and Society, Terrorism Revealed, Jewish Calendar, aJudaica - Jewish gifts and Judaica, Hebrew Names and Biblical Names, Hebrew Seforim, B-Israeli, Games and activities in Hebrew for children, Jerusalem Online - Your link to Israel, and Hebrew on DVD.

HebrewOnline.com has served as an essential link between Jews and Christians in the Diaspora and the land of Israel since the year 2000. The online experience has been a productive and fun one for over 1,000 students.

"I really enjoy my Hebrew lesson on line and my teacher Ronit is a very good teacher," says Cheshire Rachel of Australia. "I especially like that I can watch the class many times over and this helps me the most. I can learn Hebrew in my own home and pretty much when it suits me. I find it relaxes me and I look forward to every chance I get to study my Hebrew. Those 'funny' letters are just starting to make some sense to me and I can see some words in them now. It is such a cool feeling. It is also such a treat to be connected to someone in Israel once a week, because I miss Israel. It makes Israel feel not so far away. Your service is so professional and customer focused. Your staff is to be commended for this also. I do not receive this quality of service even in my own country. I am completely impressed and satisfied."
Bilmen Sam, from Turkey exclaimed: "Please relay this message to all interested participants: I knew almost nothing in Hebrew, in just a few months I am pretty confident that I can express myself in Hebrew. This is no magic, this is Hebrewonline. Thank you all."

"Dear Hebrew-on-liners, I just want to say how very much I enjoy the lessons," says Sanne Terlouw from Holland. "I had never expected that I would benefit so much from an internet school, but it really works. Until now I tried to learn Hebrew by myself, but since I started this course I sense a real progress. Your organization is very thorough and my teacher Ranit Shachar is amazingly good, always friendly and very patient. Also the quick answers from the technical support and the very very useful possibility to listen to the recorded lessons afterwards and be able to download the slides is very important and makes the lessons even more worthwhile. All in all I feel the course is very much worth the costs. I hope that next year there will be a follow-up course for me to follow."

But perhaps the enthusiam of Leah Elgin of Olympia, Washington, truly sums up the learn Hebrew online positive experience.

"I highly recommend the Hebrew On Line program," says Elgin. "As an adult learner with a busy life, I must admit I was skeptical when I initially read about the program. I had taken another on line program a few years back and was greatly disappointed. Successful completion of level I left me was no closer to my goal than I was before beginning. I've tried computer programs and have learned a plethora of words but still couldn't speak or understand spoken Hebrew. I read and understand Torah and synagogue Hebrew, but Israeli Hebrew - no way!"

Elgin concludes: "The HebrewOnline.com program is live and interactive. During the course of a class you hear, speak, read, and write Hebrew. My fellow five students are all highly motivated, The teacher, Yoni Litt is extremely patient excellent educator who has a knack of making the complex seem doable. The technical support staff are always available and can fix every problem I have encountered. I'm going to Israel again in November for a course and I'll be ready! So, if you want to learn modern Hebrew - look no further! You will not be disappointed!"