US and Indian educational bloggers tour the Israeli vibe
The five visitors, four from the US and one from India, all run blogs with monthly followers whose numbers range from 150,000 to 1.5 million.
By JOSH DELLVISITING THE capital’s Old City are, from left, bloggers Utkarsh Lokesh, Terry Heick, Lisa Nielsen, David Wilson and Ronnie Burt.(photo credit: AMIT SHEMESH)
A delegation of five education bloggers from the US and India are taking part in a weeklong tour of Israel educational institutions and projects.The tour is being organized by the Vibe Israel nonprofit, which arranges tours and talks for bloggers from around the wo various aspects of country.The five visitors, four from the US and one from India, all run blogs with monthly followers whose numbers range from 150,000 to 1.5 million. They are Terry Heick of TeachThought, Lisa Nielsen of The Innovative Educator, Ronnie Burt of Edublogs, Utkarsh Lokesh of EdTechReview, and David Wilson of Teach Hub.The tour includes visits to the Mevo’ot Yam Youth Village in Mikmoret, the MindCET education technology innovation center in Yeroham, and the specialized ADHD learning space at the Darka High School in Kiryat Malachi.Lokesh, CEO and editor of EdTechReview, an education technology community and media platform established in 2011 and based in New Delhi, said, “The major thing that I’ve loved is the collaboration between the stakeholders in the educational system.“One thing that is very clear here is that every citizen is contributing to society.”Vibe Israel CEO Joanna Landau told The Jerusalem Post the tour reflects the goals at the heart of the organization’s aims, saying “At the end of the day what we’re interested in is that people want to connect to Israel because Israel offers them something.”Vibe Israel aims to encourage people’s interest in Israel “not because it’s the Jewish homeland, not because they have a moral duty, not because we’re the only democracy in the Middle East, but because they really feel that Israel offers them something that they do not want to lose out on.”