WebQuest

by Kim Thomas

To education and beyond...........

Technology Use - Personal Philosophy	Introduction	Task
Goal	Resources for students	Teacher Notes
	Evaluation

 

 

My personal philosophy on the use of technology (internet).

Some people have asked if there really is a need for using the internet in the classroom. My question would be, who wouldn't want to use the internet in the classroom? I can understand that many are intimidated by technology and all the little gremlins that can abide within, but the benefits will far out weigh the troubles that may be part of dealing with technology. And, like anything that is used in teaching, we have to take into consideration how the internet is used.

In today's society knowledge of technology and to use it is a must, both for many adults and, most assuredly, for all students. Technology is making its way into education, for some it is a slow pace, for others it is like a ride on the Autobahn. At first. for many of us teachers, it seemed to another aspect of teaching that was dumped on us. After the shock wore off (and inservicing began) many of us looked for ways to use technology as another tool for teaching, not a separate entity, but part of our toolkit.

I have witnessed some of the benefits over the last two years, some of which I have noted below.

• Can encourage cooperation
• Good place for higher level thinking skills to be put into practice
• Sparks interest in children, provides a good buy-in
• Students will be learning from various resources (caveat--how they find sources and use them must be a skill taught to children in order for them to benefit from this)

Using technology will call upon teacher to examine how they approach not only what they teach but how they teach as well. Classroom management will take on a whole new light and we in the teaching profession will need to look to a new game plan. One suggestion, I have worked with students who seem to have a natural ability for working on the computer. They are trained as "Tech Mentors" and will help during our computer time or in the classroom. This provides another source for the students go to and allows me more time to work with students.

Technology (in particular, the internet) is not the answer to our educational needs but, if used properly, it can become a valuable educational source.

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Web Quest 

Introduction

Imagine you are in the car taking a drive through town. As you are looking out the window notice all the different things that are going on. Traffic signals are working to keep all the traffic regulated, city workers may be fixing a hole in the street, a police officer is helping someone who is having trouble with their car, an electrician is fixing a power line and a telephone crew is laying new line down for the apartment building that is being built. All these people are working together, making your city a good place to work and live.

Our own bodies are much like the city you live in. We have different systems that, by themselves, perform specific functions that, by themselves, can exist. But when they all come together, working with one another, they make up all the essential systems of our bodies.

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Task

You're mission, should you choose to accept it, is it to learn all about one specific system of the human body. You will part of a system yourself, working with others to complete your mission. Your group will travel along the Internet highway and gather information that will provide you will enough knowledge to accomplish your goal. You will take this information and put it into a HyperStudio stack.

Home card (Title Card)

• team name (name of your system)and
• team member names
• buttons going to each of the other three cards

Lower Level cards

• 3 cards that tell about the system (will be referred to as lower level cards)
• each card will have three buttons linking it to all other cards
• at least one picture from the Internet on each of these cards
• each card should have a clear title of what the card is about
• one card will have to be about what purpose the system serves
• one card will have to about how the system works
• the last card you and your team will decide what the contents will be

It would be a good idea for your team to look over the Evaluation form to see how you will be graded for this project.

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Goal

You will, as a group, construct a multimedia presentation, using HyperStudio, that tells all about the particular body system you have learned about. Once this is done we will link all the HyperStudio stacks together, forming our own HyperStudio Body System.

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Resources

Each group will have a group of web sites they will be using to gather their information. Go to the website that has the information your group needs.

Circulatory System	Muscular System	Skeletal System
Nervous System	Digestive System	Respiratory System

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Teacher Note

Subject Area: Science with integration of Writing, Technology and Social Studies.

Grade Level: Grades 5-7th

Necessary Skills: Basic technology knowledge of HyperStudio and Internet navigation.

Materials Needed: Access to computers with Internet and HyperStudio. Optional, but very highly suggested - patience and a positive attitude, especially if this is your first time doing a Web Quest!

Goal: Conduct research on Internet on a specific body system. This information will be used (including pictures) to produce a HyperStudio stack. Ultimately all stacks will be linked together for one major presentation of the Human Body Systems.

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Evaluation

Click on the moving cow to go to the web page that has the rubric for this Webquest.

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My Herd...	Cows, Cows, Cows	My Biography
AUP	My Favorite Web Sites	WebQuest
.	Where I Teach	..

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These materials are © copyrighted by Kim Thomas

You may link to this page, but any other use must be by permission of the author.

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