For example - one web quest titled Housing Cost
is a internet quest to find information on how much an average house costs per square foot. Students must then predict the price of a house when they will be ready to purchase their home based on a scatter plot and line of best fit...I love it!! What an excellent application to a lesson that students can see and understand. Real information applied to their actual lives.
In addition to simply finding any information and applying it to the lesson, the web quests require the students to analyze the information for validity and also asks probing questions at the conclusion of the lesson to ensure the students have used solid web information and good resources. This is a great application of ISTE Student Standard #3 which talks about research and information fluency. Not only do these web quests guide students to find quality information on the web but they encourage the students to understand the information they are looking at and fully question their sources.
Finally, in addition to the web quests, this site has a list of what seems to be classroom extension activities or lessons to challenge a class or group of students. There is one that is a Domino activity that students have dominoes and complete what seems like a discovery lesson followed by several challenging questions about the concepts.
This is a great site. I can really see myself using these web quests to integrate technology in my classroom this year at BURKE!!
Geesh Mary, way to show off!! You used a previous assignment to answer this one. :) Only kidding. Way to go rockstar, that's really awesome. I like the part where you talk about figuring the cost of a house per sq. foot. I think that is something that could be very benefical to them in their future. I wish that I went over things like that, it could have come in handy a couple of years ago when we bought our first house. I also liked the Domino assignment. I am in favor of giving the students the outline to a problem but still have them figure out the answer on their own. Nice job!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great website Mary. Finding real-world applications for some of my math classes can be difficult at times, and this site helps relate math to the students' lives. The activities presented are things the students are interested in. Once again Mary, great job.
ReplyDeleteYeah Mary! So glad to hear that you got a job!! I was a Burke Bulldog!!
ReplyDeleteLoved your post! I could use some of the web quests in the after school program at school I will also share it with our math teachers. Although it is high school, I could see how they could be modified for middle school students.
Thanks!
Enjoyed the post, I have never used Web Quests in the classroom before but I definitely see the educational benefit from using it. I like how the students receive the information and must analyze it to ensure validity. Asking the students to answer probing questions at the conclusion of the lesson is also beneficial to ensure the students have used the resources.
ReplyDeleteOh and Congrats Mary, you will like Omaha Burke.
Mary - I am really excited that you are going to be joining us out at BURKE next year, congratulations.
ReplyDeleteOther wise on the post I really like how you recognized the relationship of the webquest back to the technology standards we covered earlier in this course.