Week 6: Webquest!

This week was awesome! I learned all about webquests.  Turns out, I love them!  I have never heard of them before, but I did some research.  I even made one of my own.  Webquests, which were created by Bernie Dodge and Tom March in 1995.  They are a great way to integrate technology and problem based learning.  Students are given a short or long project that engages them in searching information through the world wide web.  It asks students questions that encourage them to think critically and take learning in to their own hands.  You can use webquests that have been created by other teachers, or you can make your own.  I explored both of these options.  Webquest was soooo user friendly.  I was able to create a free 30 day account.  It allowed me to do a subject search for the grade level I work for.  http://questgarden.com/170/04/6/140408055957/ is a webquest that was already created by another teacher.  I thought it was a good example to use for third or fourth graders while learning the parts of speech.  This webquest is very well put together and it seems to be very upbeat.  The teacher encourages students along the way and the instructions are easy to understand.   
I created my own webquest, first one, and it was a little challenging.  I particularly had trouble with the resources and getting them in the webquest.  I enjoyed the experience of making one but it was a little time consuming.  I could see why some teachers may not choose this to use, but I think students would enjoy it.  It could be useful in centers during morning work as a project.  The students that do it would be responsible for managing their time to make sure it gets finished.  http://questgarden.com/170/31/2/140414050726/  is the webquest that I created.  I designed this webquest for fifth grade students.  They were assigned to explore the elements of a story and then create a group presentation using the information they found.  I think this is good for the students I work with because the students I work with are very independent.  Looking back at my webquest, I wish I would have done a few things differently.  I wish I would have taken the time to put more encouraging words through the quest.  I also wish I would have put some graphics in to each one of the different pages.  If I could have spent more time on this, I could have made it 100 times better.  I think it's important to know, though, that the work I did did not take over four hours.  So, when I am a teacher I could easily see using something like this for a center for my students.  I think it is a great way to incorporate technology in to the classroom.  I also think students would be excited to have the responsibility to take on so much for their own learning.