Teaching with Webquests September 20 th Early dismissal Kevin Jamieson
Mar 26, 2015
Teaching with Webquests
September 20th Early dismissal
Kevin Jamieson
Who the heck am I?• I currently teach:
– Biology I
– Foundations of Biology
Why should you be taking advice from a newbie?
• I have many things to learn, but I have unique perspectives
• I enjoy using technology to facilitate student learning
What is a web-quest?• A web-quest is supposed to involve
setting up a website, giving the students a URL and letting them rip
• Students are usually expected to answer questions from several websites linked to the site
Webquests are valuable• Students enjoy doing them
• Students will do more work on computers than with more conventional methods
• Students tend to read more when material is web-based
If you’re still not convinced...• Very high percentage of completion
• Computer literacy is an essential part of day to day life in professional America, and many of our students don’t have computers
But, computers are the devil!
• True, computers are fallible, and a handout will never crash on a student halfway through an interactive website that had a mile-long URL...
• However, there are few things that I can do that make my students jump out of their seats like giving them a web-quest.
Backup plan• Always have a go-to plan.
–Worksheets or bookwork are good ideas.
–Useful in case the websites take less time to get through than you expected
Webquest design• Tips:
–Single page, double-sided
–Limit them to ~ 3 websites
–There are exceptions to the rule
How many days of computer use should I sign up for ?
• One day for experienced users
–In this way, I do not feel like I am tying up the ERC too much, but I am taking full advantage of webquests
What about students that need more time?
• If a student runs out of time, consider writing them a pass to get them out of a study hall or a lunch period
• Remember, as your students get used to the pacing of the work, they will learn the proper pace for a webquest
But why can’t I just print the material off of the ‘net?
• If you’re JUST using sites that are mainly text, you do not need to do a web-quest
• Seek out at least one or two sites that have some level of student interactivity
Examples• Rock cycle/Erosion webquest• http://www.classzone
.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0602/es0602page02.cfm
• Cell Biology Web-quest• http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/
anisamples/nonmajorsbiology/organelles.html
More good sitesEmerging scientific issues web-quest
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/coming/
Webquest Usage