Learning & Teaching
- Learning with the audio coursebooks
- Learning with tele-webinars and tele-webseries
- The Study Guide
- Live events by telephone
- Live events by webcast
- Replays
- Teaching with the audio coursebooks
1. Learning with the audio coursebooks
Audio coursebooks are multimedia books. They are a combination of three components: the audio sessions, the study text and the mindmaps. Each component supports your learning and enjoyment differently, appealing to different senses and approaches. Let's briefly explore each in turn:
1 a. The audio sessions
Each CD in the audio coursebook contains two audio sessions (or "lectures," as they are referred to in the audio coursebook's Table of Contents). Each session is about 30 minutes, enabling you to cover an entire session over the course of a single commute, an exercise routine, or a comfortable attention span. A couple of CDs in this set contain a single session plus the recitation of all texts referred to in the part that session just ended.
On the CD, each session is divided into several tracks. Each track covers a single sub-topic of that session. Using the fast-forward or rewind buttons on your CD player, you can go to a specific track, and review that sub-topic alone.
The audio sessions have been designed to be self-contained, meaning that you can listen to the audio without the need for the printed materials. Professor Kimelman went out of his way to read (in English) every single text he is analyzing, so you don't have to have the text in front of you.
1 b. The study text
One of the unique features of The Hidden Poetry of the Jewish Prayerbook audio coursebook is its use of "custom layout study texts." Here is a sample page (click on it to view an enlarged image):
This study text page (like most of them in the audio coursebook) is laid out in three columns: On the left side, there is the custom translation column. In the center, there is the Hebrew in custom layout column. Finally, on the right side, there is the custom transliteration column.
All three columns are laid out so the English text, the Hebrew original and its transliteration correspond across. Within each column, the text is custom laid out in indented verses and sub-verses that illustrate the textual structure Professor Kimelman outlines in his presentation.
Thus, for example, in the illustration shown here, the liturgical text is broken down into verses (corresponding to the Deuteronomy lines), and each verse is further broken down into components. For example, in verse #5, the text is broken down into four lines illustrating the parallel constructions "with all your …" (in English, with the corresponding "b'khol …" parallel construction in Hebrew).
1 c. The mindmaps
Another unique feature of The Hidden Poetry of the Jewish Prayerbook audio coursebook is its use of mindmaps as a way to visually represent the outline of each entire session on a single sheet. Here is a sample mindmap (click on it to view an enlarged image):
Mindmaps are radial representations of information, structured on the principle that the more important a piece of information is, the closer it must be to the center of the page. Thus, in our mindmaps, the session topic is shown at the center of each mindmap page.
Around the center, you will find the sequence of topics Professor Kimelman covers in the audio presentation, ordered clockwise, and shown in the large blue-colored boxes. Each topic corresponds to an audio track on the CD, which is indicated inside each topic box.
Moving outwards from each topic are the main ideas Professor Kimelman teaches within each topic, organized at several levels of detail. Most topics will have at least a level 1, most level 1 ideas also have a level 2, and some even level 3.
Thus, when you read a mindmap, you can first focus on the main topics within that section by just keeping your eye closer to the center of the page (mindmaps are printed on larger, fold-out pages). Then, once you decide to explore a specific topic in more detail, you can start traveling outwards, as deeply as you move further towards the edges of the sheet. Mindmaps are a great way of seeing both "the forest" and "the trees" at the same time, all in one picture.
To make it easier for the eye to focus on a specific topic, each is colored differently.
In the learning process, you can use the mindmaps either by exploring them visually while listening to the corresponding audio session or by reviewing them after having listened to the audio, as a visual reinforcement. Which way works best for you largely depends on whether you are a aurally-dominant learner or a visually-dominant learner. There are even people who are both visually and aurally dominant.
2. Learning with tele-webinars & tele-webseries
Coming soon!
3. Teaching with the audio coursebooks
As an educator, you can use the audio coursebook in multiple ways, largely depending on your teaching style, the scope of the course you're putting together, etc. Here are a few suggestions on how to use the various components of the audio coursebook in the process of both preparing a seminar or a course and teaching this material.
3 a. The audio
The audio sessions are your primary source for learning the material in order to teach it. Depending on your teaching style, you may recommend that your students also listen to Professor Kimelman's teaching or you deliver this material yourself, including your own additions and commentary.
3 b. The study text
Coming soon.
3 c. The mindmaps
Mindmaps are not only structured outlines of the content in each session; they are really class plans you can use to prepare your own rendition of the materials and actually teach from. You may find it useful to annotate our mindmaps with your own thoughts and additional comments, thus expanding the branches outward, and then keep the annotated mindmap in front of you during your own class as a prompter.
3 d. Copying materials
All materials included in the audio coursebook are copyrighted, and licensed to you for personal use under Terms of Use spelled out on the back of the title page in the audio coursebook.
Specifically, you cannot copy and distribute these materials to your students, neither the audio nor the visual components (study text and mindmaps). However, we do provide help in getting these materials to your students in a cost effective manner. To find out more about what your options are, please contact us by email at Sales@OurLearningCompany.com or by telephone at +1-617-731-3132.
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