The presentations of the WebQuests today in class were really creative and everyone had such different ideas. It got me thinking that technology isn't just used for research or presentations, it can really be used to tap into a new type of education. There were so many interesting ideas that were presented about how they were going to use the Webquest in the classroom to make a lesson more interactive. Most of the ones shared were so creative but they also served a purpose. I know with making my webquest I was afraid that it would just turn into students sitting at computers duing research and just answering the questions to get done. I felt that if I was going to intergrate technology into the classroom that it should be encouraging to learn and to engage students. That it isn't just busy work for them. I really liked how some of the Webquests dealt with real world things. The students can relate to the subject and they know how this is beneficial to them.
By doing the Webquest project myself I was really able to see how it can really add more to a lesson. The students become more engaged and actually want to learn. It is easy for a WebQuest to become pointless busy work and that students will regret it more than just having a regular lecture or test. The challenge with WebQuests is to keep them engaging but simple. The students should clearly understand what you expect from them in every aspect of it. Sometimes that is really hard to do. Directions and rubrics are key.
I agree in the fact that it may be difficult to gain motivation from students with web quests, but that some students may be more motivated to do web quests as it is something different than every day class. However, as many students are moving to one-on-one schools, the excitement of web quests may decrease as students will be spending much of their time on the computers.
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