What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
So far I have begun the process of creating a WebQuest for my students to access. This practice has allowed me to become more familiar with using my school website and putting together a site that my students can use in the class. Since this was my first WebQuest, I made it more about working on a final project I had in place with my Sophomore students In the future, I would make a WebQuest that does more teaching than working on a end of unit project.
What goals are you still working towards?
My students who will be accessing the WebQuest are currently preparing for state exams, so I have yet to complete the WebQuest since we put our To Kill A Mockingbird unit on hold for the time being. That is my main goal; to complete my WebQuest.
Based on the NETS-T, what learning goals will you set for yourself?
Based on the NETS-S standards, I want to “design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments” and “facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.”
If you are not ready to set new learning goals, how will you extend that you have learned so far?
I want to set the above learning goals because students will become more motivated and engaged in learning if they can integrate technology into their education.
What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?
I think that I will use WebQuests in the future, but I will want a more developed plan before implementing my WebQuest. I think that I might want to try using a WebQuest with my other classes as a tool more focused before and during the novel, instead of towards the end and after the novel unit. I also think this would be great to implement in my elective courses (Careers & Drama). There are lots of resources on the internet so I have been spending more time looking at WebQuests already on the web to see how I might make modifications in the future.
Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI think you have a good idea to implement the WebQuest before and during the reading process. This approach allows for more flexibility in your design. Have you learned much from other WebQuests that you have observed? As you plan, do you anticipate that you will take a different approach? When you are able to implement it, I hope it goes well for you. Depending on how you publish, you are not only helping your students access the novel more critically; you are providing a resource that other teachers can use as they teach the novel.
Good Luck,
Jeff
Ellen,
ReplyDeleteHaving used and created several web-quests in my classrooms, I am always amazed at how motivated my students are to complete the task. Don't feel as thought you have to reinvent the wheel with web-quests. Often, I use other teacher's sites or parts of other peoples web-quests. I often feel like I need to customize them to meet the needs of my students, but it is easier to make small changes as opposed to starting from scratch. I think it is also important to house them on a site or html document that does not have a lot of distractions to my students. Even as an adult I have difficulty focusing my attention when online especially if there are a lot of things to distract me. Finally, be sure to take notice to the online advertisements. I have found get web-quests that I could not use because of inappropriate content on the page.
Great for you attempting to use a WebQuest activity. The more you use the approach to teaching the more adept you will become. The big part is trying and adjusting based on the outcome. When you say you are learning and studying To Kill a Mockingbird, maybe a bridge to WebQuest would be to allow searches of other books by the author, compare and contrast to a movie, watching clips online and comparing, authors autobiography, any activity that allows the students to study the book and related links. Another approach may be a class blog where students ask their own questions of each other and respond to one another through comments. When you are taking state exams, are there links to sites for study tips like with the SAT? Perhaps a WebQuest to these links would correlate to the upcoming tests. If the students are allowed to do searches at home and share with the class sites they discovered, not only will they learn by doing but it may offer some resources that you would not have had time to find. The number and diversity of students could surprise a teacher with their discoveries. “While students come with different experiences, languages, cultural backgrounds, and varied levels of technology understanding, technology tools help us customize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles” (Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, pg. 109, 2009). The opportunities to explore are amazing.
ReplyDeleteResources:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI think creating a WebQuest for a novel is a great idea. Like you mentioned, it would be a great idea to use your WebQuest with “before” reading activities with your selected novel. That would help get the students interested and involved early on. Then once they are familiar with the WebQuest, they can continue to use it as they read the novel. I do something similar to this using the simple technology tool of PowerPoint. After my students finish reading a novel, they try to sell the novel to others by creating a one slide presentation that is persuasive. Good luck with using technology and achieving your goals.
Caryn Letts
Ellen,
ReplyDeleteYou are well on your way to completing your WebQuest! EVERYTHING gets put on hold during those state exams, no matter; you have made terrific progress! You mentioned how you would like to have your students complete a WebQuest at the end of a unit you would be studying, but how about if your students completed a WebQuest at the onset of a unit. I don’t know if you read what I blogged to you last week, but I was telling you that I have a WebQuest created for my students on the novella, Of Mice and Men, but I used the WebQuest at the onset of the novella. The students have to go to websites and obtain information on the background information (story takes place during The Great Depression). They also must find information on the author, John Steinbeck. There are vocabulary words that they must find the definition to, and I also have a website where they can view pictures of The Great Depression. I have noticed that my students became quite interested in reading the novella after they did the pre-reading activity of answering the questions from the WebQuest.
Since To Kill a Mockingbird takes place during the 1930s, you could have your students research The Great Depression also. They could locate information about Harper Lee, and they could even locate famous quotes and possibly tell what they think they mean, and then revisit what they wrote about them after they finish reading the novel. Of course you could have them locate the definitions for specific vocabulary words as well. Here is the website address if you would like to view the photos from The Great Depression: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/photoessay.htm
Good luck to you,
Roxanne