Best Webquest

My favorite Webquest: http://questgarden.com/71/60/6/081020120004/

I think the best two webquests were the foreign-country project and the save the gorillas project. Both of these projects would be something that students would find interest in and wouldn't mind doing a project on. A couple of the other webquests seemed really dry and also seemed like they could be way over most students abilities and interest level. It is important in a project like this to pick something that both the students can be heavily engaged in as well as having them use technology while learning new things. In my opinion, the waves and sound project and the shakespeare project would be the two worst webquests. The waves and sound project was just way too long and tedious for the subject matter it was covering. Also, it didn't incorporate hardly any other learning benefits. It was not a project where a group could really work together on and it didn't promote learning or using any new technology. The Shakespeare project also was very long and drawn out, and I think it would be hard to get students to be excited about doing a project on Shakespeare. It would be hard to engage them in this project, at least right away. The one benefit I really liked is that it was really hands-on and the students would be creative in coming up with their own production. I think they can learn alot with this project, just not sure it is worth the time and if it encompasses a very broad range of learning in different areas. It was a very narrow project. For me with these projects best means which projects would allow the students to learn the most and not be burdensome to work on. I would want my students to have fun as well as learn a broad range of skills and information. The use of technology and creativity is very important to any project. The use of technology is very practical and much needed in today's world and the creativity helps the students have fun and be engaged in the project. Worst would be the projects that students couldn't be engaged in and the projects that were too narrow and drawn out. If a project is going to take a long time, it must encompass all facets of learning and be well worth it. Time is a very important thing in the classroom, it is very limited. So we must focus to always try to have our students making quality use of our time in the classroom and to learn as much as possible in that time.

Webquest Worksheet

My role: The technophile

GORILLAS WEBQUEST- This webquest had both its strengths and weaknesses for my role. I think the technophile would love the use of websites, it was loaded with links to all sorts of sites that had very interesting and relavent information to the project. I would say the main drawback for this site would be alot of the sites and information is very dull and there is not much interaction from any of the sites. It would help maybe to have a link with some interesting videos for students to watch or games for them to play.

WORLD OF SHAKESPEARE WEBQUEST- This project is more of a hands-on, less technology based webquest. I think the technophile would say we might as well not use the web at all for this project. It might be a better idea for the teacher to pass out the relavent background information needed for the project or take a class to go over the history before they started.

ANTI-EARTHQUAKE WEBQUEST- I think the technophile wouldn't be satisfied with the technology aspects of this project as well, I would have like to see them find a website that had students being able to have some sort of interaction with a web module to get familiar with designing structures that can withstand force from an earthquake. With the amount of technology and information we have on architecture, it seems very likely that there would be a hands-on website for the students to use.

FOREIGN COUNTRY WEBQUEST- The technophile would love this project, it makes great use of a wide range of technologies that students need to be familiar with. It also allows students to be creative and use lots of interesting technologies for their project. It uses databases, powerpoint, microsoft word. It goes deep into all 3 of these as well. For example, it has them making a flyer using Microsoft Word something that forces them to have a much deeper understanding of its technology and multiple uses.

WAVES AND SOUND WEBQUEST- The technophile would not be happy at all with this project. It is very long and drawn out. It takes way too much time for what is being learned. The students do not need to focus in that much on such a demanding subject that they will not be using for the rest of their education or lives. It does not address the students growing technology needs. The technophile wants a project that introduces new technologies and allows students to practice their skills using the web and all of the interesting things you can do and present with a website.

The Top Ten Video

This is very different than anything I experience in my education at the K-12 level. For the most part, we did not have this kind of technology. More importantly, teachers did not realize how important it would be to have media literacy as students progressed in their education and prepared to enter the real world. We just didn't have the foresight to know that almost every job now requires knowledge in technology. My learning style is definitely found in this unit, it is very hands-on and the students get to play a major role in making every step of the project. They learned by making mistakes and trying different things. I am not surprised that textbooks were not used for this project. I love the fact that they did not use textbooks, it allows students to be more hands-on, more competent in finding information, and saves money. My teaching philosophy is to use textbooks as little as possible so I would definitely be in favor of this teaching style. I think some barriers would definitely be finding credible information and would be very time consuming to research every single site to make sure the information we gathered to teach was credible and accurate. I think another barrier is having enough technology in your classroom or in the children's homes. The idea is great and I would definitely try to make it work in my classroom.

Blogging and Having a Blog

I like having a blog for this class for many reasons. One of the main reasons is we can all share our views and they can be accessed by everyone in the classroom as well as anyone else who comes across our blog. I also like the fact that our views and work can be stored and viewed at anytime. It also provides great experience if we feel that using a blog will help our students for whatever we may be teaching. Blogging can definitely help a teacher be more effective. It helps a teacher connect to their students as well as keeping them inform. The connection is big because once a student feels comfortable with you, can relate to you, and trust that you have their best interest at heart, teaching becomes so much more effective. I actually probably will continue to blog after this class, I would love to put up a bible verse of the day and maybe once a week put down what I learned in a bible study or if I prepared a sermon that week I could put it up as well for others to see. It is a good way to share the gospel for people who may not be able to attend church. One of the media literacies we have used blogging is appropriation. We have learned how to take images and music and to make a video to get across a message on our blog. I love being able to have the creative ability with this media literacy.

Learning Style Test

I found out that I am a very engaged learner, I like to be a part of the learning. I learn best by hearing and seeing things visually more than just taking notes. Also, I like to experience what I am learning, I learn best by trying things out or having someone show me how to do them in the correct way. The test defnitely was accurate and matched my previous thoughts about how I have always learned most efficiently. I think the test showed as an educator we should find out how our students learn best and try to adapt and include as many methods as we can to help all students. We all learn differently and more efficiently in certain areas, so teachers should be careful not to lock on to any one certain style.

Reading on the Rise Statistic

There has been a 21% increase in literacy among ages 18-24, which is a dramatic change from the 20% decrease just six years ago. It definitely lessens the legitimacy of the argument that technology such as the internet, cell phone, etc has hampered literacy among younger people in our country. It is also hard to question the data when the sample size for this study was more than 20 times the average sample size for similar studies. This article and its data definitely contradicts that new technology has forced our children to lose literacy in their most important years of learning.

140 Character Limit

I don't like the limit on characters, but it forces us to communicate efficiently and Twittering and texting can help. We can't afford to waste language.

Twitter translation poem

An apple a dy keeps d dr awy

WHen I was little my mom always told me if I swallowed my gum that worms would grow in my belly.

\_/ lots of OJ

treat othas hw ud wan2B treatd

uv 2 giv respect 2 gt respect

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