Web Quest Search

http://questgarden.com/116/35/3/101209170456/index.htm

This is a link for a web quest that I found when searching for a webquest that relates to special education. The grade level is for the fourth grade students who are in special education or behind in reading in general. This webquest provides links to the story "The Polar Express" and Power Point presentations that will help the students review what they learn from the reading comprehension in the text. They are required to write in full details what happens in the story, and the web quest provides a rubric for the students to use and know what is expected. In the conclusion, the teacher encourages the students to have fun with this activity because there will be a Polar Express party in the classroom after the activity is completed. This is an excellent way to have the students involved in what they are learning.

Web Quests

I enjoyed our Web Quest activity last week. I did a few of these in middle and high school, and now I understand what to look for when giving them to children as learning tools. Teachers have different mindsets and goals when making these, and each one of those dictates what kind of webquest will be used. A few of the ones I looked at were terrible for what I needed for my role, and some were great. I am interested in sites where I can make these for my future classes. I think that they are a great learning tool for discovery and also technology. Even if a child does not have alot of technological background, just using computers for classroom assignments will help them tremendously.

Web Evaluation Checklist

I was online looking for checklists that would help me to evaluate resources and websites to use for the classroom. I discovered Kathy Schrock and her many checklists that have standards for web resources for different age groups. I noticed a difference in the checklists for certain age groups. For example, the elementary age checklist was very simple, and as the students get older, the requirements change and the websites demand more careful attention to details. For elementary students, the questions are mainly dealing with the layout and making sure the layout is clean and reliable sources wrote the site. As children grow older the website has more importance for bias, how the information is presented, and how much information is given.

Dabbleboard!

When working on my web evaluation assignment, I used a tool I found on Blackboard that was a website that was dedicated to the top 100 websites for teachers. I was browsing throught the lists, and I stumbled upon Dabbleboard. Dabbleboard is a site that allows teachers and students to make visual flowcharts, mind maps, pictures, charts, etc. What made it even better was the fact that it was so simple to use!  As I was going through the evaluation form, there were many things I realized while rummaging through the site to check for reliability. This site has no known authors, publishers, or sources relating to anything proffesional. If I needed a site for anything besides making visual representations, this would not be reliable. Howver, since this a giant toolbox used for creating pictures, I feel that this is reliable!

Confused About Wikis!

When we started talking about wikis I thought that they were very simple and a good tool. At the moment, I am trying to completely understand the technicalities that go into making one. I am also trying to decide what I could use a wiki for in the Special Education classroom....?