Like Danielle previously mentioned, my idea of a Webquest was a random search on the internet for information relating to a noted topic. After reading this chapter, my impression has improved greatly. Webquests seem like a great tool to have in the classroom to, yet again, allow students to dive into the material and experience it hands-on.
Not only will Webquests familiarize students with the internet, but they can also improve many skills involved in everyday math problems. The main advantages discussed in the chapter were improvements in problem solving, reasoning, communication, making connections, and representing the information. All five of these strategies are extremely beneficial in a math classroom and later in life.
One major thing a teacher has to keep in mind when introducing a Webquest activity is its purpose. Its intent is not to have a student go to his or her favorite search engine and blindly look for answers. It is a way to learn where to find useful, reliable information, figuring out what that information means, and how to present the results made in the requested manner. Through all of the projects we have done this semester, we all have stressed the importance on keeping the purpose in the forefront. A teacher's purpose cannot get mixed up when teaching an important concept.
1 comment:
I think that you hit on a great point when you talk about using WebQuest for a purpose. They cannot be used just to use them, but they have to mean something to the unit, teacher, and especially students. With math I assume that WebQuests would be very useful, but only when used at the right time. It might be harder to develop a WebQuest, but I know that I would have benefited from learning math through WebQuests. For such a hard subject, these are great tools that should be utilized.
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