What is jbop?
jbop offers a new strategy for congregational and community schools, which
- extends Jewish learning beyond the classroom and into the home,
- increases children's enthusiasm about Jewish learning and adds hours to their "Jewish engagement time",
- provides new opportunities for children to express their Jewish voice, and
- invites parents to become more involved with their children's Jewish education.
The jbop program consists of two parts: the Activity Center software, which has six distinct activity areas, and the modular Activity Packs, each covering a different subject (e.g. Welcoming Shabbat, The Story of Joseph, Lashon Ha-Ra, Passover Seder). With a choice of Easy and Advanced levels, each Activity Pack can be geared to Grades 1 through 6, with recommended emphasis on Grades 2 through 5.
In jbop Version 3 we have added a Hebrew option in two of the activity areas, giving even more possibilities to the educator and students. There are also 5 new Activity Packs, bringing the total now available to 25. For details of what is in each Activity Pack, click here.
jbop requires Windows 98 (or upwards) and is not Mac-compatible. It can be used with a Mac Windows emulator - click here for details.
Purchase and installation
Schools and families order either the complete set of 25 Activity Packs or the Holidays set, with 14 Activity Packs, from our distributor, Torah Aura Productions. (In future, it will be possible to purchase selected Activity Packs individually.) You receive an activation code, which allows you to run the program on one computer. Families then download the jbop Activity Center program and Activity Packs from the Internet and install it on their home computer. (There is an optional CD-ROM, at extra cost, for non-download installation and backup.)
Existing jbop users can purchase an upgrade, giving them the 5 new Activity Packs and the Hebrew functionality for all 25 Packs.
jbop runs off-line. Connection to the Internet is only needed once, to register and activate the product. (If you don't have an Internet connection, don't worry - there is an alternative.)
Using jbop
When a topic is presented in the classroom — holidays, values, Bible,
prayer and ritual, Israel, Shabbat — students can be asked to do a corresponding jbop Activity Pack in the computer lab or at home, and will then enjoy some of the most exciting
interactive software ever applied to Jewish learning, including:
- creating original animations for Jewish stories;
- learning, arranging, and recording Jewish songs and prayers;
- viewing "multimedia midrashim" and decoding secret messages;
- mastering Hebrew vocabulary through interactive games;
- playing interactive question-and-answer games.
All of the students' creative output, as well as a computerized "star
chart" of completed activities, can be printed or emailed, so work can be easily viewed
by a teacher and shared with classmates.
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