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   <title>Arab-Israeli Peace School Adopts JavaME and the NetBeans IDE</title>
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 <h1>Arab-Israeli Peace School Adopts JavaME and NetBeans</h1>

 <p style="font-style: italic;">March 2009</p>


 <p><a href="../../../images_www/articles/hashalom/hashalom-3.jpg"><img style="width: 241px; height: 177px;" src="../../../images_www/articles/hashalom/hashalom-3.jpg" class="photo" alt="A high-school student presents the mobile game he wrote."></a></p>

 <p>
             <em>In
 this interview, Omer Pomerantz shares a heart-warming story of how
 Sun's Java ME technology found its way to Israel's Ministry Of
 Education (MOE) and into the curriculum of computer science studies in
 selected high schools in Israel. Omer Pomerantz is a Sun Principal
 Engineer and CTO of the Engineering Services team. </em>
         </p>

         <br clear="all">

 <h2>Omer, Please introduce yourself and your team.</h2>

 <p>
 I'm the CTO of Engineering Services, a team specializing in deploying
 Java solutions into mobile, TV and embedded systems in the market. I've
 been with Sun for 12 years, and was one of the founders of the Sun
 Israel Development Center (SIDC) and the Engineering Services team. </p>


 <h2>How and when did this high school program get started?</h2>


 <p> About a half year ago, and following discussions
 between Yosi Harel (Sun Israel) and the MOE, we were invited to speak
 about Java technologies at a MOE technology forum. Ariel Levin, a
 senior architect on our team, gave the presentation which included Java
 ME. One of the teachers at the forum, Samah Abas, was very interested in
 Java ME and decided to create a course around it for his high schools
 students. <br>
 </p>

 <p>A few months later, we followed up with Samah and several
 members of the MOE technology committee. We discussed Java ME basics,
 development tools and requirements, course
 structure and content, and provided general getting-started tips.
 Within two months a complete program was ready and being taught to
 students. </p>


 <h2>What has been accomplished through the program?<br>
 </h2>


 <p><a href="../../../images_www/articles/hashalom/hashalom-2.jpg"><img src="../../../images_www/articles/hashalom/hashalom-2.jpg" class="photo" alt="Hashalom means peace in Hebrew, and is the name of an Arab school in northern Israel." width="200"></a></p>

 <div class="callout">“We could see the sparkle in the students' eyes when they discussed their projects.”</div>


 <p>Recently, our team visited the school, which is called Hashalom
 ("peace"
 in Hebrew). It's an Arab school that serves several Arab villages in
 northern Israel. We were invited to review selected Java and Java ME
 projects, and were extremely impressed with the students' work. It was
 amazing to see the kind of creativity involved.<br>
 </p>


 <p>The
 Java ME projects focused mainly on gaming. The students used NetBeans
 mobility and their own mobile phones for development and testing. One
 project was a Sudoku game; a table view displayed the game, and
 implemented the necessary logic. Another project involved a memory
 game. The students created animation to support the functionality of
 the
 game. There was also a game of luck, centered around randomly created
 events.
 </p>


 <p>We could see the sparkle in
 the students' eyes when they discussed their projects.  It was great to see the innovation these students exhibited, as
 well as the fun they had. </p>


 <h2>Looking back, would you have done anything differently?</h2>


 <p>
 The first thing that comes to mind is that I should have done this
 earlier. Java ME is a mature technology with excellent support and
 tools like the NetBeans IDE. For the students, it presents an
 engaging way to get into programming. But as the saying goes: “Better late than
 never.” </p>


 <h2>What did you enjoy most about this experience?</h2>


 <div class="callout">“This story represents my ability as a Sun employee and a 'good Java citizen' to make a real difference!”</div>


 <p>
 It was an amazing experience for all of us from Sun, and as we learned
 afterwards - also for the students and their teacher. It was great to
 see the students so excited about our technology and tools. </p>


 <p>As a witness to Java ME development from its earliest days, it
 was heart-warming to see our technology becoming part of high school
 studies in our country. </p>


 <p> For me, this story represents the true spirit of Sun:
 from our open-source drive, to our initiative to work with
 universities and schools, and most important,&nbsp; my ability as a Sun
 employee and a "good Java citizen" to make a real difference! </p>


 <h2>If a school wants to offer Java classes, what should they do?</h2>

 <p>
 Sun Learning Services and Sun Education offers an abundance of teaching
 materials, many of which are available for free to
 academic and educational establishments. These are very good starting
 points for introducing Java to schools. </p>


 <h2>Omer, Thank you for sharing this cool story! </h2>


 <p><br></p>


 <h1>Related Links</h1>


 <table>
 <tbody><tr><td valign="top">

 <h3>Sun Technologies in Education</h3>
 <ul>
 <li><b><a href="http://www.sunacademic.com">Sun Academic Initiative</a> - Apply for Sun courses on Java, Solaris, StarOffice and receive official training materials for schoools!</b></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.sun.com/students/">Sun Student Central</a>
   <ul>
     <li><a href="http://java.sun.com/new2java/learning/young_developers.jsp">Sun Young Developers Center</a> - Tutorials and learning tools for new developers<br> </li>
     <li><a href="http://developers.sun.com/students/">Sun Student Developers Center</a> - Hot technologies, open-source communities, and job opportunities</li>
 <li><a href="http://www.sun.com/solutions/landing/industry/education.xml">Sun in the Education Industry</a> - Meet us on the Digital Campus</li>
   </ul>
 </li>
   <li><a href="http://edu.netbeans.org/bluej/">NetBeans BlueJ Plugin</a> - a simpler IDE interface for learners<br></li>
 </ul>

 </td><td valign="top">

 <h3>Free Learning Materials</h3>
             <ul>
               <li><a href="http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/">The Java Tutorials</a> - Sun's official learning trail for Java SE</li>
               <li><a href="http://java.sun.com/javaee/5/docs/tutorial/doc/">The Java EE Tutorials</a> - Sun's official learning trail for Java SE</li>
               <li><a href="http://javafx.com/docs/gettingstarted/javafx/">Getting Started with JavaFX Technology</a> and <a href="http://java.sun.com/javafx/1/tutorials/core/">Learning the JavaFX Script Programming Language </a></li>
               <li><a href="http://edu.netbeans.org/">NetBeans in Classrooms</a> - Free lessons and tutorials; learn from other teachers</li>
               <li><a href="http://javapassion.com/">Java Passion</a> - Lots of free teaching materials, slides and NetBeans-ready sample projects</li>
             </ul>

 </td></tr>
 </tbody></table>


 </body>
 </html>
	<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
	<!--Copyright © 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms.-->
	<html>
	<head>
	<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
	<meta name="description" content="Arab high-school students in Israel learn Java by writing their own mobile games.">
	<meta name="keywords" content="NetBeans, IDE, integrated development environment, tutorial, guide, user, documentation, open source">
	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../../netbeans.css">
	<style type="text/css">
	.callout {width:200px;float:left;color:gray;padding:0px 14px 10px 0px;line-height:110%;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;}
	.photo {float:right;padding:10px 0px 10px 14px;}
	</style>
	<title>Arab-Israeli Peace School Adopts JavaME and the NetBeans IDE</title>
	</head>
	<body>

	<h1>Arab-Israeli Peace School Adopts JavaME and NetBeans</h1>

	<p style="font-style: italic;">March 2009</p>


	<p><a href="../../../images_www/articles/hashalom/hashalom-3.jpg"><img style="width: 241px; height: 177px;" src="../../../images_www/articles/hashalom/hashalom-3.jpg" class="photo" alt="A high-school student presents the mobile game he wrote."></a></p>

	<p>
	<em>In
	this interview, Omer Pomerantz shares a heart-warming story of how
	Sun's Java ME technology found its way to Israel's Ministry Of
	Education (MOE) and into the curriculum of computer science studies in
	selected high schools in Israel. Omer Pomerantz is a Sun Principal
	Engineer and CTO of the Engineering Services team. </em>
	</p>

	<br clear="all">

	<h2>Omer, Please introduce yourself and your team.</h2>

	<p>
	I'm the CTO of Engineering Services, a team specializing in deploying
	Java solutions into mobile, TV and embedded systems in the market. I've
	been with Sun for 12 years, and was one of the founders of the Sun
	Israel Development Center (SIDC) and the Engineering Services team. </p>


	<h2>How and when did this high school program get started?</h2>


	<p> About a half year ago, and following discussions
	between Yosi Harel (Sun Israel) and the MOE, we were invited to speak
	about Java technologies at a MOE technology forum. Ariel Levin, a
	senior architect on our team, gave the presentation which included Java
	ME. One of the teachers at the forum, Samah Abas, was very interested in
	Java ME and decided to create a course around it for his high schools
	students. <br>
	</p>

	<p>A few months later, we followed up with Samah and several
	members of the MOE technology committee. We discussed Java ME basics,
	development tools and requirements, course
	structure and content, and provided general getting-started tips.
	Within two months a complete program was ready and being taught to
	students. </p>


	<h2>What has been accomplished through the program?<br>
	</h2>


	<p><a href="../../../images_www/articles/hashalom/hashalom-2.jpg"><img src="../../../images_www/articles/hashalom/hashalom-2.jpg" class="photo" alt="Hashalom means peace in Hebrew, and is the name of an Arab school in northern Israel." width="200"></a></p>

	<div class="callout">“We could see the sparkle in the students' eyes when they discussed their projects.”</div>


	<p>Recently, our team visited the school, which is called Hashalom
	("peace"
	in Hebrew). It's an Arab school that serves several Arab villages in
	northern Israel. We were invited to review selected Java and Java ME
	projects, and were extremely impressed with the students' work. It was
	amazing to see the kind of creativity involved.<br>
	</p>



	<p>The
	Java ME projects focused mainly on gaming. The students used NetBeans
	mobility and their own mobile phones for development and testing. One
	project was a Sudoku game; a table view displayed the game, and
	implemented the necessary logic. Another project involved a memory
	game. The students created animation to support the functionality of
	the
	game. There was also a game of luck, centered around randomly created
	events.
	</p>


	<p>We could see the sparkle in
	the students' eyes when they discussed their projects. It was great to see the innovation these students exhibited, as
	well as the fun they had. </p>


	<h2>Looking back, would you have done anything differently?</h2>


	<p>
	The first thing that comes to mind is that I should have done this
	earlier. Java ME is a mature technology with excellent support and
	tools like the NetBeans IDE. For the students, it presents an
	engaging way to get into programming. But as the saying goes: “Better late than
	never.” </p>


	<h2>What did you enjoy most about this experience?</h2>


	<div class="callout">“This story represents my ability as a Sun employee and a 'good Java citizen' to make a real difference!”</div>


	<p>
	It was an amazing experience for all of us from Sun, and as we learned
	afterwards - also for the students and their teacher. It was great to
	see the students so excited about our technology and tools. </p>


	<p>As a witness to Java ME development from its earliest days, it
	was heart-warming to see our technology becoming part of high school
	studies in our country. </p>


	<p> For me, this story represents the true spirit of Sun:
	from our open-source drive, to our initiative to work with
	universities and schools, and most important,  my ability as a Sun
	employee and a "good Java citizen" to make a real difference! </p>


	<h2>If a school wants to offer Java classes, what should they do?</h2>

	<p>
	Sun Learning Services and Sun Education offers an abundance of teaching
	materials, many of which are available for free to
	academic and educational establishments. These are very good starting
	points for introducing Java to schools. </p>


	<h2>Omer, Thank you for sharing this cool story! </h2>


	<p><br></p>


	<h1>Related Links</h1>


	<table>
	<tbody><tr><td valign="top">

	<h3>Sun Technologies in Education</h3>
	<ul>
	<li><b><a href="http://www.sunacademic.com">Sun Academic Initiative</a> - Apply for Sun courses on Java, Solaris, StarOffice and receive official training materials for schoools!</b></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.sun.com/students/">Sun Student Central</a>
	<ul>
	<li><a href="http://java.sun.com/new2java/learning/young_developers.jsp">Sun Young Developers Center</a> - Tutorials and learning tools for new developers<br> </li>
	<li><a href="http://developers.sun.com/students/">Sun Student Developers Center</a> - Hot technologies, open-source communities, and job opportunities</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.sun.com/solutions/landing/industry/education.xml">Sun in the Education Industry</a> - Meet us on the Digital Campus</li>
	</ul>
	</li>
	<li><a href="http://edu.netbeans.org/bluej/">NetBeans BlueJ Plugin</a> - a simpler IDE interface for learners<br></li>
	</ul>

	</td><td valign="top">

	<h3>Free Learning Materials</h3>
	<ul>
	<li><a href="http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/">The Java Tutorials</a> - Sun's official learning trail for Java SE</li>
	<li><a href="http://java.sun.com/javaee/5/docs/tutorial/doc/">The Java EE Tutorials</a> - Sun's official learning trail for Java SE</li>
	<li><a href="http://javafx.com/docs/gettingstarted/javafx/">Getting Started with JavaFX Technology</a> and <a href="http://java.sun.com/javafx/1/tutorials/core/">Learning the JavaFX Script Programming Language </a></li>
	<li><a href="http://edu.netbeans.org/">NetBeans in Classrooms</a> - Free lessons and tutorials; learn from other teachers</li>
	<li><a href="http://javapassion.com/">Java Passion</a> - Lots of free teaching materials, slides and NetBeans-ready sample projects</li>
	</ul>

	</td></tr>
	</tbody></table>


	</body>
	</html>