Would Socrates approve of WebQuest?

I believe Socrates would approve of using WebQuest to teach students. Socrates was not a conventional teacher, he taught his students anywhere and everywhere, not confined to a classroom. With this in mind, I think he would approve of looking outside the textbooks and workbooks and allowing students to learn through working with technology since it has expanded so much in the last few years and will continue to grow in the years to come. Since Socrates believed we learn best by asking questions and testing answers against reason and fact, using WebQuests we can teach students how to do the research it takes to discover answers to some of the everyday questions in life and in school. I think Socrates would like to see us blending the knowledge from before the technology with the knowledge during and after the discovery of technology. One shouldn't out-weigh the other but should both work together to teach our students in the best way possible.

After looking at the Taxonomy WebQuest, I think my WebQuest is designed around the Compilation Tasks.

WebQuest Rough Draft

Here is the rough draft of the WebQuest I created. Any comments would be appreciated :)

Please click here to view the WebQuest.

WebQuest Changes

I chose to work on the WebQuest "Break -out at Rolling Hills"

The changes I would like to make to this WebQuest is the story line of why the animals escaped and I would like to change the tasks the students have to complete slightly. I think the WebQuest is a really good idea but I don't enjoy the reasoning the animals left the zoo. I think that with some work it could be better. Also I would like to change the tasks and make it to where the students need to learn what the animal's favorite food or activity is and use that to persuade the animals to come back to the zoo. By doing it this way the students will get to learn a little more about the animals in the zoo and their diet and day-to-day activities.

Media Collage

Students should be allowed to create multimedia projects instead of writing papers in school. Most school systems are allowing more and more time for students to spend on computers and in computer labs. Technology is becoming more of use among citizens, students, and teachers. There is one section of the NETS-T standards that is dedicated to using technology in the classroom to teach students to incorporate digital tools and resources into their learning and creativity, to develop technology-enriched learning environments that enables students to set their own educational goals, manage learning and assess progress. There are also standards that ask educators to customize learning activities to address learning styles, working strategies and abilities using digital tools and resources.

I believe students should still write papers sometimes, but they also need to be introduced more to technology since technology is becoming much more popular in the schools. They need to have the knowledge of the technology in order to progress later on in school and life.

My PhotoStory

During class we were asked to create a PhotoStory describing what we believe is a good teacher and stating what kind of teacher we are going to be when we get our own classroom. You can view my PhotoStory below or also at http://www.teachertube.com/members/myProfile.php

WebQuest

Our group decided Poetry of War was the best WebQuest because it allows students to be creative and it was well organized and easy for children to follow. The color scheme also set a good atmosphere for the subject matter being taught. The Creative Encounters WebQuest was also good for students because it is very kid friendly with the pictures and multimedia. Our group felt the Landfill and the John Wilkes Booth were the worst WebQuests due to it being more unorganized an harder for children to complete and follow along with.

Resume

Here is a link to my current Resume.

Indiana Mysteries

I looked at the blog "Indiana Mysteries". This blog is very educational for children. Each blog posting is a mystery animal posted with facts about the animal or insect, sometimes even fossils and plants. While looking at this blog, readers find interesting facts about the specific item being discussed and also can see a picture of it. If I were to use this blog in my future classroom I would be teaching my students interesting facts that other teachers have found about certain "creatures" and plants. I would also be introducing the following two NETS-T standards: 2a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity, and also 2D. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.

For those who would like to check out this interesting blog, here is the link...enjoy!
http://authorvisitsindiana.blogspot.com/