My final assignment (aside from this portfolio!) for this class was a big one! We had to make a WebQuest, which was another thing that I had never heard of before. A WebQuest is actually a website that is designed for students and centered around a certain subject or project. The teacher designs it and then the students can use it to help them progress through the unit or project.
I really liked the idea of a WebQuest, because it is a good place that teachers can post information that the students can access from both school and home. And it’s nice because students can work on their projects from home and maybe even get some questions answered by looking on the website at the resources and instructions that the teacher provided.
I really think that a WebQuest would be ideal for middle or high school students. Teachers could really make the most of the website technology. They could have a message board where students can ask questions, the teacher can answer, and everyone from the class can see the answer. It would also be a great place for students to share ideas with each other. It may even be possible to incorporate a chat window so that groups can work on a project together from their separate homes without having to meet. It could be a text chat or a video chat. The teacher could even schedule conference calls or chats to talk about the assignments.
For my project, I couldn’t do anything nearly that complex since I decided to gear my page for a 3rd grade class. I again chose to design for an older audience instead of preschool. For this assignment, a lot of text was required, so again, I had to make sure it was an old enough age group to navigate the website and to read and understand the instructions.
I decided to make my WebQuest for a month-long project about Earth Day. I designed it to be a three-part project, with students working in groups for the first two parts. First they would research and do a group presentation about a form of pollution, then for the next step, they would stay with their group to invent something useful out of recyclable materials. Then they would do the last part individually, which would be to reflect on what they learned by writing a letter to “Mother Earth.”
I made a 6-page WebQuest. The home page is an introduction to Earth Day and the project, and the next page gives a basic description of the projects. The process page explains exactly what the students can do to get started and how to do it. Then I included a resources page filled with links to help students research and find ideas. I decided to create a calendar page for students to see when they would have class time to work on their projects together and when the projects are due. I think that this element is very important – it has to be clear to students how much time they have to get their work done. Finally, I added a grading rubric to the last page of the site so students can see what they would be graded on.
It was fun creating my WebQuest. I used Webs to make it, and it was easy to figure out even though I had no prior experience. I also found that I enjoyed designing the Earth Day unit and coming up with the projects. It was a lot of work though, and that is the only problem I see with using this for your classroom. It is so time consuming and a teacher would have to set aside quite a bit of time to put this together just for one project for their students. I could see it being worth the effort if the teacher was able to keep the website active and reuse it again year after year, only having to change a few things like dates and minor details for every new class.
I never felt like this assignment was difficult, but it took a very long time to design the site, write the assignments and put it all together. If I made something like this for my class, I would want to make sure it lasted me a long time. But I do think that students would enjoy having this website as a guide and resource, and it would definitely be a fun way to introduce and encourage involvement in a unit or class project.
Check out my WebQuest below! You can click on the screen grab, or click here. I hope you like it!
Miss Stephanie’s Earth Day Project WebQuest
Miss Stephanie's Site 