Jewish Futures program puts AI, games and educators’ choices on the same agenda

AI within an educator-led program

The Jewish Education Project’s October 26 Jewish Futures conference will pair an AI-and-games keynote with workshops about educators’ choices. Its published program asks what changing technology means for Jewish learning and what remains distinctly human.

Sam Glassenberg is scheduled to discuss game design, attention, challenge and feedback, and AI’s potential for exploring Jewish history and identity. Afternoon sessions include team planning through Tzomet Games and a Shoshana Bloom workshop on educators’ strengths and next steps. Source: educator.jewishedproject.org

These are planned sessions, not a new classroom product, tested curriculum or evidence of learning gains. The program’s scenarios are exercises in planning, not predictions.

An educational purpose, not just a demonstration

The Jewish Education Project’s published values describe learning as a combination of knowledge, skills, wisdom and understanding, sustained by communities in which people belong. They also pair respect for inherited tradition with openness to change. This is the organizer’s stated educational approach, not a measured result of the conference. Source: jewishedproject.org

The practical question suggested by that approach is what a learner does beyond watching or receiving an answer. A demonstration that captures attention answers one question; whether pupils can explain an idea, question an interpretation or connect it with their community answers another.

A useful classroom check would be to ask pupils to explain why they accepted an answer and identify the source behind it. That is an editorial suggestion, not a method endorsed or tested by the conference.

A question for Christian educators

For Christian educators following the event, the transferable question concerns teaching practice, not an assumption that Jewish and Christian formation are interchangeable. Before adopting an AI-assisted activity, a church school can specify what pupils should understand and what they must still practise themselves.

That distinction allows room for beneficial assistance without confusing a polished response with the pupil’s own understanding. The educator remains responsible for deciding what counts as learning, rather than letting the software’s most impressive feature determine the lesson.

An upcoming event, not a new announcement

The conference is listed for 12:30–8:30 p.m. EDT at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan, with a $36 fee. Registration opens an account-login prompt; remaining places have not been checked. The schedule may change. Its event page is undated: October 23 is this report’s verification date, not an announcement date. Source: educator.jewishedproject.org