The Creation of Said WebQuest

Well, we have jumped in feet first into this one! WebQuests seem like a very valuable and useful piece of educational technology. By learning how to make them, it will prove to be very useful for me and my fellow teachers as we move into our own classrooms. I really enjoy the fact that there are so many facets to the creation of our own WebQuest, and that we can personalize it any way that we would like. As an instructor, if it does not catch your eye or interest you when you are making it, then what are the chances that it interest your students?! Through the creation of our own comprehensive lesson plan and WebQuest we should be able to better understand the inner workings of this format for educational technology. Let's face it, website are cool (at least the students should think so), therefore making one specifically for class should prove interesting.

Join me for an Adventurous WebQuest?!

WebQuests eh? Well, I can definately see their value in the classroom. The sheer mention of the fact that lessons and classes will be completed on the World Wide Web and I'm sure that the classes will discover some new found motivation. They could also, be hell bent on breaking the rules as they are sitting at a computer with regrettably limited monitoring. These are the pros and cons of all computer lessons though. The good must be taken with the bad. For WebQuests specifically, they seem very useful for lesson planning and integration of technology and academic content. The ones that were discussed in class, a few of them were actually very helpful and informative.

The one thing that I would propose with the use of WebQuests is that they stimulate critical thinking skills throughout the assignment. Regurgitating information, research projects, etc. really have no place with WebQuests. In doing so, the students aren't really learning anything about their connections, implications, uses of their own work. It turns into one huge "copy and paste session", even without the plagarism. I am nervous and excited about being able to create a WebQuest, more so because I want to be able to portray those things that I want the student to get from the experience. This puts a little more pressure on me, but that is alright, that's what being a teacher is all about anyway!

Presentations for Instructional Tech.

Today's instructional tech. presentations were VERY well done. They all presented relevent material, information, resources, uses, etc. that aid in the education of students and educators themselves. The use of laptops in the classroom was interesting. Especially to see the extent of funding into the implamentation of laptops for as many students as possible. Laptops obviously would have a great impact in the classroom. They pointed out things such as individual instruction, the use of online texts, and other areas that may make the academic process more efficient. Laptops, although expensive and hard to come by, would be a very good idea down the road for the vast implamentation of tech. in the classroom.

Smartboards are wicked cool!! The use of these boards appeals towards the student as well as the teacher. This represents yet another technological area that would make learning and participating more efficient. These also illustrate how the use of visually appealing and informative they can be. The use of desktop computers also goes along the lines of the use of laptops only in a different form. In the end, the use of these instructional tech. elements can greatly influence instruction and the educational success of any and all students.

Online Lesson Plans

I have always thought about using online lesson plans. The one thing that stands in my way is my own little pride issue. I sometimes just don't like the idea of borrowing someone else's idea in terms of what or how I am going to instruct my students. For this reason, I use online lesson plans for two real reasons. First, I use them as a fall back for times when I am having a lot of difficulty in making a lesson plan for a particular class for time or content issues. Second, I use online lesson plans when they are either THAT good, or are geared towards intructional tech. in the classroom. Therefore, under these circumstances, I use online lesson plans sparingly but in good context.

The assignment that we are going through seems to be a very good idea in order to instruct teachers and administrators how to plan lessons, as well as provide ideas for the instruction of students in a classroom setting. The use of online sources, especially in terms of primary resources, created a great connection to the classroom via the use of online lesson plans that aim at using these ideals.