The Open University of Israel

Director of Assessment at the Open University. Former employee at the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in Education. Areas of Expertise: development of large-scale achievement tests and cognitive ability skills, behavioral assessment, research.

דיקנית הפקולטה לחינוך במכללת סמינר הקיבוצים. לפני תפקיד זה שימשה כראש הרשות למחקר במכללה.
תחום ההתמחות העיקרי שלה הוא הערכה בחינוך, בכלל זה הערכת תכניות, הערכת צוותי הוראה, הערכת תלמידים ועוד. מחקריה הבולטים עוסקים בדמות המורה הראוי, הכשרתו ודרכי הערכתו. כמו גם בהערכת תכניות ופרויקטים חינוכיים.

Dr. Michal Levi-Keren is the Head of the Master’s Program in Education Evaluation at Kibbutzim College of Education. She holds a Master's degree (with honors) in the Research, Measurement and Evaluation Methods program at Tel Aviv University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Measurement at Tel Aviv University. Researcher and lecturer since 1991 in the field of research methodology at the Tel Aviv University School of Education and in the master’s programs at the kibbutz seminar. She received teaching diplomas of excellence from the Head of the School of Education at Tel Aviv University (2006) and from the Rector of the University (2007, 2012). For many years, her work at the University has focused on research assessing educational projects and curricula, and assessing the academic achievement of immigrant students. She also served as a district instructor in the field of measurement and evaluation in the Ministry of Education from 2013-2010. In 2016, she was the head of a steering committee for the development of a diploma program for training evaluators of programs and projects of the Center for Professional Development and Training at the Kibbutzim College of Education.

Head of Digital Pedagogy at Kibbutzim College of Education. The pedagogical founder of the "Et Hadaat" digital learning environment. An expert in digital pedagogy and innovation in teaching and learning. He researches the field of digital books and advanced teaching and learning management systems. He has more than 20 years of experience in developing integrated computer learning and training environments. He graduated from the 11th cycle of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership. Selected by Haaretz newspaper as one of the 50 people influencing education in Israel in 2010 and was awarded the commendation in the Prime Minister's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition (2012) for his pioneering work in educational technology.

Professor Guri-Rosenblit is the Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Open University. She previously served as Head of the Department of Education and Psychology and Dean of Development and Learning Technologies. Her areas of expertise over the past twenty years are: Comparative Research of Higher Education Systems, Digital Technologies, Distance Learning, Curriculum Planning and Learning Systems. She has published books and dozens of publications in her field of expertise. She has also developed many courses in education at the Open University, including the course "Curriculum Planning, Teaching and Assessment". In recent decades, she has been a member of many international entities: the Scientific Committee of Europe and North America at the UNESCO Forum for Higher Education, Research and Knowledge; Fulbright's flagship program - New Century Scholars; Evaluation committees of the European Science Foundation (ESF), the Rockefeller Foundation and the Fulbright Foundation for Postdoctoral Grants and more. She has also been invited to give dozens of keynote lectures in her areas of expertise at international conferences around the world, as well as international conferences in Israel. Details of her publications and lectures can be found at: http://www.openu.ac.il/Personal_sites/sara-guri-rosenblit.html

Yoram Eshet is a regular professor in the Department of Education and Psychology and head of the Master's program in technologies and learning systems at the Open University. He has a PhD degree in Geology from the University of New York and was a senior researcher at the Geological Survey for many years. For a decade, he worked as a scientist at a computer company that developed high-tech learning environments and headed the teaching design trend at Tel Hai Academic College. Yoram is the founder and head of the Chase Center for Learning Technologies and the Center for Innovation in Learning Technologies at the Open University. His researchs cover a wide range of aspects related to learning in high-tech environments: digital reading, digital literacy, digital games, digital friendship, human-machine interactions, and technology integration in education.

Naama Ben-Shahar completed her Ph.D at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During her postdoctoral studies, she was awarded the AA Orbach Award for Outstanding Students, receiving the Goren Goldstein Scholarship at Ben Gurion University. Currently under the support of the National Science Foundation, she is continuing her research on the interpretation of the Ten Sephirot on manuscripts at the Open University under the guidance of Prof. Zahi Weiss. Her research focuses on the Jewish theory of the secret in general. and in particular Ashkenaz Hasidism on its various circles.
Her book: Interpretation of the book of Yetzirah attributed to Saadia Gaon: A Critical Edition and Introductory Chapters released in Los Angeles by Keruv Publishing in 2015.

Prof. Tzachi Weiss is a senior academic member of the Department of Literature, Language and Arts at the Open University. He studied BA and Master studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he also completed his doctorate. He did his postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago as a Rothschild Fellow. He specializes in the study of Hebrew literature and Jewish mysticism and their interactions. To date, he has published four books: The Shekhina's Death in the Creation of S.J Agnon (Bar-Ilan 2009), Letters Created in Heaven and Earth (Bialik Institute 2014), Cutting Plants: The Shekhinah Work in the World of Early Accession Literature (Magnes 2015), and Sefer Yetsirah and Its Contexts (Penn Press, 2018)