This webquest contest is for teachers at Terrace Hills MS. The first three classroom teachers to complete all directions and questions correctly and submit the answers via email to me (slmartin@episd.org) will receive a back to school gift. The contest ends September 18, 2010 at 12:00 midnight. The names of the webquest winners will be posted on my blog.
1. What is a webquest? (Hint: Select the hyperlinked term in this question. After viewing the page, arrow back to the questions in this post.)
2. Who was the first EPISD superintendent? (Hint: Select the hyperlinked terms in this question. After viewing the page, arrow back to the questions in this post.)
3. Which school district in Texas was the home to the first public kindergarten class? (Hint: Select the hyperlinked terms in this question. After viewing the page, arrow back to the questions in this post.)
4. Neat site for classroom activity ideas:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech141.shtml.
Arrow down this site's page and take a look at the "NOT NECESSARILY TECH" section. What are students asked to do on #17 of the "First-Day Quiz"?
5. Post a comment regarding this webquest. (Select the hyperlinked comment below this post.
No need to email me your response to #5 as I can go online and read your comment.
*Is a webquest something you might be willing to incorporate into your lesson(s)?
*Do you think it would be an activity students would enjoy?
*Have you ever used a web-based activity in your classroom? If so, what did you use? Did it engage students more than "traditional" classroom activities?
Well, I thought that it was very basic, and could involve cut-n-paste mentality; which I prefer students do not get in the habit of doing. However, the structure is viable and could be utilized in a way that requires students to dig deeper into communication, perhaps via social networking, to make for better ownership of responses. I don't know if i will get a chance to do this project this year, because it seems that fine arts always gets the computer lab last.
ReplyDeleteYou are the 1st to respond! Thanks for your comments. You are correct. It is a very basic activity. I intentionally created it this way so that all teachers can see how "easy" it is to create. Also, teachers see that one can take this simple activity and really extend it.
ReplyDeleteI understand the situation with computer lab shortages. However, maybe you could create a scavenger hunt. Give the students the link and let them explore before school, lunch, after school, or at home . . .
Looking forward to visiting with you when I deliver your prize.
BTW, have you noticed that the first two here are fine arts people?
ReplyDeleteFun assignment, there are endless possibilities for students to research topics on the web. I would love to give students an assignment where they would find new and interesting ways of discovering math. Students would undoubtedly enjoy such a web quest.
ReplyDeleteSo far, we've used web-based activities such as V-Math and online testing. Students seem to be more focused and engaged when on the web, compared to a traditional classroom setting.
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ReplyDelete1.Webquests were developed by Bernie Dodge originally housed at SDSU and were inquiry based learning activities utilizing the web through linked searches but unlike a web scavenger hunt, which just asks the learner to find miscellaneous information on the web, the information collected was linked to a common thread of study many times leading to the completion of a project of some sort based on the quest and evaluated by both the teacher and the students based on a rubric. For a long time, this was a core model of constructivist learning.
ReplyDelete2.The first superintendent of the El Paso Independent School District was Calvin Esterly.
3. The first school district in Texas to house the first public kindergarten class was the El Paso Independent School District in 1893 at Central Elementary School.
4. At the Education World website under "NOT NECESSARILY TECH," #17 of the quiz asks the students to "draw a circle around your answer."
5. This web scavenger hunt was OK.
* At this point I would like to incorporate any kind of computer technology into my classes (it is part of my TEKS also), even if it was PowerPoint. Preferably, I would love to utilize epals (which I have done), webpaging using DreamWeaver, music composition using Finale with midi keyboards, and maybe even webquests, but the reality is technology use in schools is still elitest (core classes have the monopoly).
Also, as we stress real world applications and 21st century learning applying to a global marketplace, getting equipment such as midi keyboards, mikes, a small multi-track mixer, some video cameras and CD/DVD burners so the input would be as close to what real commercial music entails is just a pipe dream since this type of learning is not in TAKS format...LOL.
That way a student can do the webquest on music video recording, production and marketing and as a final project, produce their own. Computer technology is still basically used as a drill and kill or just for creating fancy book reports on powerpoint.
*Yes, I have used a web-based activity in the past.
I used epals with my choirs, Finale with my electronic music classes, WebQuests and Tech4Learning Stop Motion Software with my English classes, Hyperstudio, Logo Programming, and Netscape Composer with Elementary and Middle School students and the NYSE Competition for my Economics classes. And yes, they and I enjoyed it immensely.
Currently, I do utilize United Streaming, but I don't consider that utilizing technology in the classroom as constructivist would see it because the kids aren't leading the learning.
United Streaming has some pretty neat things to do with the kids but again, live streaming is very tough on the network, especially if I were to have 40 kids all hit the site at once to watch the vids and work on a project/take an exam at their own working pace.
BTW, is there anyway to do a quick edit without having to totally delete a post?
@realitybite:
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating in the webquest. Please copy and paste your responses and send via e-mail. This way, I will know who you are and get you the prize.
Seems like you have a “handle” on what type of technology you want to incorporate into your classes. I am sure the students appreciate and enjoy your classes.
You can preview your post to the blog before publishing your comments. You can edit prior to publishing.
Fine Arts people ROCK!!!!!!
ReplyDelete