I am almost overwhelmed by the amount of computer based material that is out there. I never realized what was available. I think that the most important consideration when using computer based objects is that they meet the needs of the student. With the huge variety of material and the skills that we are developing in class it seems that it will be possible to achieve this for everyone. I hope to spend time this summer developing several computer based activities for each topic that I teach.
I have looked at a lot of WebQuests over the last week. Some of them were not very good. My favorite was titled: The Baffling Baby Mix Up www.uni.edu/schnedj/webquests/spring05/baby/index.html. I found the concept to be an interesting way to reenforce a unit on DNA. The problem is realistic in that the students are to play the role of detectives. They have to try to determine the parents of babies who were mixed up at birth. Problem solving and scaffolding are built in. Each of the 4 activities in the webquest contain review links. Students who were absent or did not understand the concepts can receive remedial help at each step. The activity was designed well and visually appealing.
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I agree, there is a huge variety of material out there. We just need to look for the quality material.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I liked the WebQuest you posted. I plan to pass it on to a colleague at work.
Katy is right, quality instructional objects are important for the students. At first, when searching for webquests, I found none that even looked interesting to me and I am a geek for new info and lesson plans. I finally started finding ones that I thought would be good for the students, but it took an incredible amount of time.
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