For this post I chose to review the professional learning community Edutopia. Although I was at first hesitant about the benefits I may discover on site such as this, I have learned that Edutopia is valuable resource for a teacher of any grade level/ content area. The site literally has a spot for everything education. One of my favorite aspects of this site is that includes articles about what is new in education and personal blogs of several teachers. This is useful because if a person chooses to read an informative article, he or she is typically able to find several opinions about that article in the blog section. Teachers discuss everything from whether or not they should assign homework, to what music is appropriate at a middle school dance.
Another benefit to Edutopia is its organization. A teacher can easily filter through the site and look for particular information. For example, teachers can easily search by grade level. If more specific information is required teachers are even able to search in specific " communities" such as assessment, new teachers, and classroom management. Lastly, Edutopia provides tabs for things such as effective strategies and schools that work. This can help not only teachers, but also administrators, when trying to improve a school.
Although I am still a fairly new member of Edutopia, I plan to stay a member throughout my professional career. I had never really spent much time considering professional learning communities before, but I am glad that I have finally been exposed to one. Despite discussing several benefits of the site here, I have only just uncovered the tip of the iceberg. I think there is still a lot to learn about Edutopia and the potential it has to assist me in the classroom.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
WebQuest Review
For my WebQuest review I looked at a WebQuest found on QuestGarden.com. The Me: 20 years from now WebQuest asks students to discover their interests and then research a potential career field relating to these interests. After completing this WebQuest students were asked to write a short paper on their findings, create a resume for the job of their choosing, and fill out an application for this job provided by the guidance counselor.
Prior to researching WebQuests, I thought of them as a single, individual activity. In the example that I looked at, however, the teacher was able to create an entire project centered around the completion of a WebQuest. Students started the process by taking personality surveys online. Although this is not technically a WebQuest, it helps get students used to using the internet to find information. After choosing which career field they wanted to research, students were given a list of websites they had to use to answer a given set of questions. I found this WebQuest to be particularly unique because students were answering the same questions, but had the freedom choose which career field they researched. This gave students power over their education and hopefully increased their engagement in the activity. After completing the WebQuest, the teacher had students actually apply what they had learned. Instead of simply using technology for the sake of technology, students were asked to write a paper and fill out a real resume and application. Although these documents were slightly modified to better fit the average adolescent, these activities still gave high school students some real world, hands-on experience.
Overall, I found this WebQuest to be very effective when used in a high school English classroom. Students get real world experience with technology, while still being asked to practice and improve upon their writing skills. In addition to this, students get a good introduction to the process of research, something valuable across all subject areas. I liked how the creator of this WebQuest made it a segment of a larger assignment. I think that in applying the knowledge gained from the WebQuest, students will have a higher comprehension level of the materials that they researched. I also think this WebQuest could serve as a good scaffolding technique before assigning an independent research project. With the WebQuest the resources are provided by the teacher, but the students still have to access these sources and search for the information needed. This activity may serve as a good stepping stone towards having students find their own resources and complete an individual project.
The only criticism I have of this blog is the age ranges under which it was listed. I think that high school students could greatly benefit from this activity, but the author also said this WebQuest could work for students in grades 6-8. Although a modified version of this WebQuest may work for younger students, I think completing the tasks as they are listed may be little too much to ask of middle school students. Overall, however, I could see several uses for a WebQuest similar to this in my English classroom.
Link: http://questgarden.com/113/83/9/101206131207/process.htm
Prior to researching WebQuests, I thought of them as a single, individual activity. In the example that I looked at, however, the teacher was able to create an entire project centered around the completion of a WebQuest. Students started the process by taking personality surveys online. Although this is not technically a WebQuest, it helps get students used to using the internet to find information. After choosing which career field they wanted to research, students were given a list of websites they had to use to answer a given set of questions. I found this WebQuest to be particularly unique because students were answering the same questions, but had the freedom choose which career field they researched. This gave students power over their education and hopefully increased their engagement in the activity. After completing the WebQuest, the teacher had students actually apply what they had learned. Instead of simply using technology for the sake of technology, students were asked to write a paper and fill out a real resume and application. Although these documents were slightly modified to better fit the average adolescent, these activities still gave high school students some real world, hands-on experience.
Overall, I found this WebQuest to be very effective when used in a high school English classroom. Students get real world experience with technology, while still being asked to practice and improve upon their writing skills. In addition to this, students get a good introduction to the process of research, something valuable across all subject areas. I liked how the creator of this WebQuest made it a segment of a larger assignment. I think that in applying the knowledge gained from the WebQuest, students will have a higher comprehension level of the materials that they researched. I also think this WebQuest could serve as a good scaffolding technique before assigning an independent research project. With the WebQuest the resources are provided by the teacher, but the students still have to access these sources and search for the information needed. This activity may serve as a good stepping stone towards having students find their own resources and complete an individual project.
The only criticism I have of this blog is the age ranges under which it was listed. I think that high school students could greatly benefit from this activity, but the author also said this WebQuest could work for students in grades 6-8. Although a modified version of this WebQuest may work for younger students, I think completing the tasks as they are listed may be little too much to ask of middle school students. Overall, however, I could see several uses for a WebQuest similar to this in my English classroom.
Link: http://questgarden.com/113/83/9/101206131207/process.htm
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