Webquest Response

Before attempting to make my own webquest, I was really unsure about it. I had tried looking at some of the examples that are already available online and was actually really disappointed. The tasks on a lot of them sounded great. They involve higher order thinking, independence and/or group collaboration, an alternative method for gathering information that had the potential to be fun. However, I have some reservations about webquests. A lot of the ones I came across when trying to do research for my own had a lot of broken links. It's kind of a Catch-22, the internet is always changing, which is great, but it also makes creating online based lesson plans rather difficult. I suppose it makes a difference as to where the sources come from too. I tried to make sure all of the ones I used were either government based and/or from some sort of an educational institution because I think those websites change less often.

I also find graphic organizers extremely helpful, no matter what the capability is for a student. I feel like anything that can make something clearer and easier to grasp is necessary in the classroom for all students. It kind of amazed my how many different kinds of organizers were out there and how few I had been introduced to as a student. If I had had those I feel like I could have been a much more organized and overall better prepared student.

WebQuest Reflection

I had no idea what a WebQuest was until we worked on it in class. I really wish that my teachers had utilized them on certain projects in high school. A WebQuest is, in a lot of ways, an eco- and user-friendly version of most of the hand-outs I received. A teacher would hand me a paper that explained the assignment and included most of the information I needed. A WebQuest is, to me, very much a hand-out, but is more explanatory and easier to comprehend. I love that it has the task, process, evaluation, conclusion and notes all in one place without wasting paper. A WebQuest is also, in my opinion, a better alternative to hand-outs because useful websites can be hyperlinked and if the students or teacher wished to, the finished assignments can easily be posted on a class blog for other classmates to evaluate and give suggestions. I think WebQuests are a really great piece of technology that can give a different feel to classroom assignments.

Webquest Reflection

Before working on this project, webquests had a rather negative connotation in my mind. The only time I had seen webquests were in my high school French class. The ones we were assigned only asked us to find information to fill in the blanks on the worksheets and we constantly had to search through poorly designed and confusing websites and had to work around broken or incorrect links. Because of that negative experience, it was really fascinating to see what webquests are intended to be. I think they are a fantastic way of facilitating higher level thinking and independent work. As Liz said, it's important for students to be able to find information on their own, rather than getting all of their information from the teacher. I think these webquests would be really empowering and interesting, as well as challenging, for students. I'm really glad that we made real webquests and have them posted online so that they are available for future use. If I ever teach in a middle school social studies class, I would definitely like to try and use my webquest in the classroom!

Liz Exo's Blog Post:

Before working on this WebQuest project and my WebQuest Tech of the Week project, I did not have that much previous knowledge about WebQuests. I had maybe done one or two in my high school or junior high years, but they did not involve that much critical thinking and were more worksheet-based. So, doing this WebQuest project helped me to see that there are many different types of tasks like creative, compilation, analytical, self-knowledge...etc. I think this is important to keep in mind because WebQuests should challenge the students to create something, rather than simply completeing a question-answer type of task. I also think that WebQuests are great activities to get students to interact and share their knowledge. It breaks the routine of the teacher being the primary source of information, which would keep the students more interested in learning.

Google Offers Free In-Flight Wi-Fi for the Holidays

This holiday season how airline passenger will be able to enjoy free wireless interest while flying. The article describes that, "This is the second year in a row that Google has offered free Wi-Fi, with the program expanding this year to three airlines - AirTran, Delta and Virgin America." The deal is supposed to last from November 20 through January 2.

Though this article has very little to do with education or our class, I'm still very intrigued by the concept of free wi-fi while flying. Oftentimes, while flying on long cross country flights, I get bored and wish that I could access the internet. The article brought up a good point that it would be useful to contact family members that a person is going to visit while they are in the air so discuss pick up times and last minute plans.

I'm quite impressed that google is taking such drastic measures to promote their name. However, a lot of people are going to benefit from the free internet and likely use their services. Way to go google.

University web site addresses gender gap in “STEM” fields

Liz Exo’s Blog Post:

One of the ongoing issues in education is the gender gap. This article specifically targets the gap that is present in the science, technology, education, and math (S.T.E.M.) fields. This means that each of these fields are dominated by a specific gender, which sometimes makes it intimidating for the minority gender to want to study in that field.

This article discusses Arizona State University’s new web resource available to help close the gender gaps. The website will have “HerStory” video clips of women that have started up careers in these fields that are dominated mostly by males. These videos will depict women of specific professions, as opposed to women studying in the general field of math or science, for example. ASU believes that by giving examples of real women in specific jobs will help boost the morale of other women hoping to get into on e of these “STEM” fields.

I really think this is a great use of technology. It gives women a way to gain confidence that they can choose whichever field they want to study. I also think this article brings up another point; would this idea of “HerStory” videos be suitable for younger students as well? I almost feel that college may be a little too late to be providing the inspiration, so maybe ASU should look into using their idea for high school aged students.

Scientists move closer to live 3-D video

This article discusses the advances made by scientists towards creating live 3-D video capabilities for the internet. It explains that, if successful, the videos would resemble holograms. While the images would not actually be projected into the air, they would appear that way to someone looking at the screen. While this technology is still a work in progress, as the team working on it needs to gain more speed and more camera angles in order to create true 3-D video, it is well on its way to becoming a reality.
The article says that these videos would be used primarily in classrooms and laboratories, but also notes the implications they could have for advertisements, car and airplane design, and military training. I think that, if made readily available, this technology could have a huge impact in the classroom, specifically for science lessons. While it is currently possible to do virtual dissections online, there is much debate as to whether or not they are as valuable as real-life dissections. With this 3-D video technology, students could actually watch live dissections and get the full effect as if it were right in front of them. Similarly, advanced students could watch more involved procedures that they would not otherwise be able to witness, such as cadaver dissections and autopsies. This technology could also be useful for virtual field trips and conferences with experts and other students.