Transcript WebQuests - Australian Catholic University

WebQuests
EDTS100 & COMP103
Lecture 10
Donna Gronn
WebQuests began…
• In 1995 Professor Bernie Dodge began developing the
WebQuest Strategy at San Diego State University to help
teachers integrate the power of the web with student learning.
• He wanted to give his students a format for online lessons that
would make the best use of student time while fostering higherlevel thinking skills.
• Tom March (ozline.com) joined him in this pursuit and together
they began creating sample WebQuests and putting them
online for teachers around the world to use.
WebQuests
• Based on the ideas of
•
inquiry &
• constructivism
• Incorporate cooperative and collaborative learning, as students
are encouraged to work on projects in groups.
What are WebQuests?
• A guided exploration of the Internet to solve a student centred
problem
• An inquiry-oriented online tool for learning
In other words:
•Classroom based lessons in which most or all of the
information that students explore and evaluate come
from the World Wide Web.
By using multimedia WebQuests help
cater for multiple intelligences.
WebQuests are tools, not educational theories, so
they can be used in any classroom with
appropriate computer access.
WebQuests
• Can be as short as a single period or as long as a month long
unit
• Usually, though not always, involve group work with division of
labour among students who take on specific roles or
perspectives
• Are built around resources that are preselected by the teacher.
•Students spend their time using
information not looking for it!
Building Blocks for WebQuests
Introduction
–
Tasks
–
Process
–
The purpose of this section is to both prepare and hook the reader. The
student is the intended audience.
The task focuses learners on what they are going to do - specifically, the
culminating performance or product that drives all of the learning
activities.
This section outlines how the learners will accomplish the task. Scaffolding
includes clear steps, resources, and tools for organizing information.
Evaluation
–
This section describes the evaluation criteria needed to meet performance
and content standards.
Conclusion
–
The conclusion brings closure and encourages reflection.
Teacher Page
–
The teacher page includes information to help other teachers implement
the Webquest, including: target learners, standards, notes for teaching
the unit, and, in some cases, examples of student work.
A WebQuest about WebQuests
• Focus - Years 3-4
• Ideally, this exercise will provide you with a larger pool of ideas
to work with as you develop your WebQuest-making skills. The
best WebQuest is yet to be written. It might be yours!
• 4 groups in the room…
Roles
•
•
•
•
The Efficiency Expert: You value time a great deal. You believe that too much time is
wasted in today's classrooms on unfocused activity and learners not knowing what
they should be doing at a given moment. To you, a good WebQuest is one that
delivers the most learning bang for the buck. If it's a short, unambitious activity that
teaches a small thing well, then you like it. If it's a long term activity, it had better
deliver a deep understanding of the topic it covers, in your view.
The Affiliator: To you, the best learning activities are those in which students learn to
work together. WebQuests that force collaboration and create a need for discussion
and consensus are the best in your view. If a WebQuest could be done by a student
working alone, it leaves you cold.
The Altitudinist: Higher level thinking is everything to you. There's too much emphasis
on factual recall in schools today. The only justification for bringing technology into
schools is if it opens up the possibility that students will have to analyze information,
synthesize multiple perspectives, and take a stance on the merits of something. You
also value sites that allow for some creative expression on the part of the learner.
The Technophile: You love this internet thing. To you, the best WebQuest is one that
makes the best use of the technology of the Web. If a WebQuest has attractive
colors, animated gifs, and lots of links to interesting sites, you love it. If it makes
minimal use of the Web, you'd rather use a worksheet.
Activity
• As a group, we'll examine each of the sites.
• Jot down some notes of your opinions of each (from the
perspective of your role).
• We will examine each site fairly quickly. We won't spend more
than 5 minutes on any one site.
The sites we'll be analyzing
•
Stitch in Time
Create a cultural quilt patch
•
Our Sun-Sational Star
Learn about the Sun
•
Journey Back in Time
Portray colonial life
•
Tempests of Fiction and Fact
Write up an account of a shipwreck
•
Penguins
Learn about these funny birds
Sharing evaluations
1.
Individually order the five sites from best to worst
2.
Do you think the other groups will agree with your
conclusions?
3.
Vote…
Results
Show of hands
for each
website
Stitch in
Time
Our SunSational
Star
Journey
Back in
Time
Tempests
of Fiction
and Fact
Penguins
Efficiency
Best
Efficiency
Worst
Affiliator
Best
Affiliator
Worst
Altitudinist
Best
Altitudinist
Worst
Technophile
Best
Technophile
Worst
Sites to visit
An Introduction
• http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuests.html
An Alternate Introduction
• http://www.ozline.com/webquests/intro.html
Bernie Dodge’s Webquest site
• http://webquest.sdsu.edu
Tom March’s oz site
• http://www.ozline.com/learning/
Some more sites to visit
The Webquest Homepage
• http://webquest.org/
Teacher Resources
• http://sesd.sk.ca/teacherresource/webquests.htm
Themes and Ideas
• http://www.edhelper.com/
Some practical hints and ideas
• http://www.techtrekers.com/webquests/
Webquest Building blocks
• http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/buildingblocks/pindex.htm
In your tutorials – Some checks
Where in the world are you?