Webquest update

Just a note about my webquest post of earlier today. If you click on my Zunal Webquest site, you won't get to see the webquest, just the sign in page!

It's up and running now!!

What about Webquests?

I have to say that beginning work on creating a Webquest this past week was much more enjoyable than updating my e-portfolio! I love the idea of webquests, allowing self exploration and creation by the students. I have used several webquests in the past while teaching in the traditional high school English classroom. My favorite was a Shakepeare quest, "Will the Real William Shakespeare Please Stand Up". I also have used "Life in Shakespeare's Time". I like both because my students liked them. I used to do a project about Elizabethan times and use library books and other research materials. While some of my students did a good job with it, others just lost interest while trying to sift through books and find information that pertained to the specifics parts they were looking for. Another problem with doing library research is that a school library is only stocked with so many books, so students can't check them out to use outside of class. Trying to get 6 classes of 25-30 students each enough print references to complete a project is a real teacher's nightmare!

Another great aspect of webquests is that the students are able to be as creative as they want. Most webquests ask the students to complete some sort of presentation of their knowledge. I am usually pleasantly surprised by the presentations I see. I don't require students to do power point presentations, but I have seen some great ones done, and also a variety of other kinds. Posters, videos and even a costumed plan! When I allow the students to come up with their own vision of how to present the knowledge they have gained, I find that they are much more innovative and creative than me!

Creating my own WebQuest this week, titled "Money, Money, What to do with the Money" has been fun. My idea comes from the fact Eagle Academy will be moving into a new building in about a month. We have computers and the basics needed for running an alternative school, but I wondered what sorts of things the students would think would be the ultimate in a technology based school. My webquests imagines that a fictitious booster club is giving us $25,000 to spend on technology. The students are to explore different types of hardware, software and other materials that they would like to have, and then present their ideas to the boosters. I am really excited to see what they come up with, and think I will put the webquest up for them to use in the next few weeks. I am using Zunal.com for this webquest, and while it is a really easy program to use, basically fill in the blank, I think over time I would want to move the quest off to my own page so I could be creative in the design. For now though, it is a great program and I think it's a great way to create quickly and easily. For a teacher who wanted to create lots of webquests, or practice with content without worrying about the formatting, it is perfect!

Reflections 9/1/08

Evangeline said...
You have an interesting perspective given your current field of work. I wonder how many of your students might have excelled more in school had technology been more meaningfully integrated in their learning. You see yourself as a facilitator - which is good - but how do you see yourself facilitating. What do you do now that you didn't in the past?

Margie Says:
In the past, I thought of myself as a "fountain of knowledge". I learned to teach the way I was taught in the 70's. The teacher stood at the front of the room, spouting knowledge, and I took notes and listened, and hopefully either absorbed enough of the information, or could study and memorize it long enough to take and pass a test. After a few years in the classroom, I figured out that just wasn't working with my students. So, I learned to ask a lot of questions, guide class discussion, and try to ensure that everyone was involved in the learning process. I also went to a conference that changed my thinking... The speaker taught us that students remember more information when they find it for themselves that they do when someone tells them. Of course I knew this somewhere in my brain, but, I had just never processed it. I was too busy sharing my knowledge! :)

Do I think that my students would have been more successful if technology had been more integrated into the regular high school? You bet!! Now I know, on all levels that students have to be active learners. I see it with my 3 year old granddaughter when I try to tell her how to do something, but she really only learns it when she does it for herself, and I see with it my high school students who are exceeding all of our expectations for them because at long last, they are able to learn by doing. We have to ask the right questions, and give them a place to go to find what information they need, but they are learning.