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
I think you're right to say that this should most likely be used with high school students. I think that this would be a great WebQuest for freshmen in high school to do since that's when most of them would start thinking about applying for part-time jobs and thinking about what they want to do in the future. This has great real-life application since students are asked to create a resume and fill out an application and, like you said, it also helps improve their research and writing skills. Maybe this WebQuest could even be tied to a piece of literature in which a character is trying to figure out his/her future.
ReplyDeleteAnne Marie, I think this is an excellent WebQuest! Most WebQuests strive to make the information/task relatable to the real world but many fall short of actually accomplishing this. On the other hand, this WebQuest actually fulfills this goal as almost all of our students will have to make resumes and fill out job applications. I would definitely use this in a my future classroom.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the relevance of the web quest you found! I truly feel, as a high school teacher, that teaching students how to fill our job applications and make resumes should 100% be somewhere in the curriculum. This Webquest would be fun, interactive way to teach this.
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