First Came Students, Then Came Webquests

WebQuests are a relatively new learning tool for me. I have yet to facilitate students in completing one. I am familiar with them because I have used portions of ones created by others that I found on the internet. My initial impression of WebQuests was they are an interesting way to find basic information. In other words, do a worksheet on the computer instead of a paper and look at web pages instead of books. Through the readings, lectures, and examples of my EPSY 556 class, I have learned this is not necessarily the case. WebQuests are much like any learning tool; they are only as effective as you make them. I now understand that WebQuests can and should be a means of deep inquiry to help students learn information through higher order thinking. With this in mind, the idea of using WebQuests with students is very exciting.

It is so exciting because this learning tool, in my opinion, is very empowering for students. First, WebQuests use the medium of digital information which today's kids are all too familiar with. This is especially important because I believe that students today process information differently than before. Twenty years ago, people, such as myself, found information in books but today most people go straight to the internet. Adjusting lessons to the current way of "researching" will most likely make them more effective. Second, WebQuests push students to be active learners. In the past, the teacher would "feed" students information and students would be required to "spit" it back out. With WebQuests, this is not the case. Students are responsible for gathering the information along a semi-directed path. I have learned that, initially, WebQuests can be a lot of work for the teacher which may serve as a deterrent for some. For me, though, I think any amount of work is worth it when it results in a student's development of deep conceptual knowledge instead of a laundry list of forgettable facts.

Free, Free, Free

Educators are very funny. In general, we love free things. I think it comes from trying to do so much with so few resources. So when I saw the word FREE I was eager to investigate the educator resource sites:
http://www.edutopia.org/
http://www.thejournal.com/
http://www.techlearning.com/

Overall, the sites were rather similar in their webpage formats, topic selections, and reading flow. After review, I could see how any of the sites could be a useful tool for finding information regarding current technology and news in schools, especially because they support access to archived issues. The only aspect I found disappointing was they were covered with advertisements. I found the advertisements very distracting and sometimes could not easily navigate what would actually link to just information.
My favorite of the three was Edutopia. I liked it because it was very easy to navigate and a variety of related resources were available at the push of a button. I am a busy person and finding time to read through an entire article is often difficult so I especially liked the quick related video clips. I was also pleased that it was sponsored by the George Lucas Foundation and therefore lacked the annoying advertisements. I decided to subscribe. I guess only time will tell if my initial impression was correct.