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Backer, James A.
Cambridge College School of Education
Educational Technology Committee
Educational technology, support for teachers of English language learners, linguistics
Trustee, The Jack and Paula Freeman Foundation (charity, USA) - 1993-present
Vice President, The Jack and Paula Freeman Foundation - 2000-present
Instructor of Educational Technology for EFL teachers in Druze, Arab, and Jewish pedagogical centers, Ministry of Education, Israel (2009-2014)
Director of Educational Services - Kibbutz Gadot, Israel - 2003-2008
Kibbutz Gadot Executive Committee (town council), Israel (2003-2009)
Chairman of the Kibbutz Gadot General Meeting (town meeting moderator) - 1991-2009
Chairperson of National CALL Committee, Ministry of Education, Israel - 1992-1998
Member of National CALL Commmittee, Ministry of Education, Israel - 1988-1990
- Technology for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms
- Legal and Ethical Internet Issues for Educators
- Linguistics and Language Variations
- Professional Seminar: Instructional Technology
- Professional Seminar: Teaching English Language Learner
Ph.D. - Nova Southeastern University - Computer technology in education
M.A. - University of Massachusetts Boston - ESL/Bilingual education
M.A. - Stanford University - Latin American studies
B.A. - Brandeis University - Politics and Latin American studies
"You can't always get what you want; but if you try sometime, you'll get what you need." - The Rolling Stones
- Teacher of ELLs - Colombia, USA, Israel
- Instructor of teachers of ELLs - various institutions in the USA and Israel
- Instructor of educational technology - various institutions in the USA and Israel
- CALL (computer aided language learning) counselor - Northern District, Ministry of Education, Israel
- National CALL counselor - Ministry of Education, Israel
- Recipient of grant from Fund for the Encouragement of Educational Initiatives (Israel)
- Recipient of the "Ancora Award" for the best book published in Costa Rica in 1974
- Recipient of National Language Fellowship (USA)
- Recipient of Sachar Scholarship (Brandeis University) for Latin American studies research
Backer, J.A. (2001, May). Online education in a war zone: Websites serve students in Israel when violence keeps them from classroom. Learning and Leading with Technology, 28(8), 50-53.
Backer, J.A. (2001, May). Using a modular approach to schMOOze with ESL/EFL students. The Internet TESL Journal, 7(5). [online]
Backer, J.A. (2001, Winter). Instruction delivery during a protracted international crisis. Journal of Instructional Delivery Systems, 15(1) 7-11.
Backer, J.A. (2000, October). The new curriculum in the age of the Internet. English Teachers' Journal (Israel), (53), 50-51.
Backer, J.A. (2000, Summer). A web review of four art history mysteries for ELF. ETAI Forum, 11(3), 41-42.
Backer, J.A. (2000, Spring). The importance of Hebrew touch typing for EFL. ETAI Forum, 11(2), 32.
Various presentions about educational technology at ETAI (English Teachers' Association of Israel) conferences.
ETNI - Elish Teachers Network of Israel
Teachers' Union of Israel