Do You Want Your Students to Soar to New Heights of Learning? Learn To Collaborate? Learn to Problem Solve? Learn to Think Outside the Box? Analyze? Synthesize? Evaluate?

Pre-Mission Engagement Before we start our mission today, I would like you to take 2 minutes and complete 3 stars on your Cross Curricular Brainstorm. We will use these documents later in the mission! 2 minutes on the clock

Let’s Go!

Objectives Understand – the fundamentals, origins, and theoretical foundations of Web-Quests – 6 reasons teachers use Web-Quests – 6 components of a Web-Quests – How to Assess a Web-Quest Compare, evaluate, and rank Web-Quests Present Findings

Bernie Dodge, a Professor of Education at San Diego State University, coined the term “Web-Quest” in 1995 to describe an inquiry-based activity that involves students in using web- based resources and tools to transform their learning into meaningful understandings and real-world projects. Rather than spending substantial time using search tools, most or all of the information used by learners is found on pre-selected websites. Students can then focus on using web-based information to analyze, synthesis, and evaluate information to address high-level questions

Theoretical Foundations of Web- Quests Web-Quests are a learner-centered, project-based approach to teaching, learning, and information inquiry drawing on a variety of theories that include the following areas (Lamb & Teclehaimanot, 2005): – constructivist philosophy – critical and creative thinking, questioning, understanding, and transformational learning – authenticity, meaningfulness, and situated learning environments – scaffolding – differentiation – cooperative learning – motivation, challenge and engaged learning

To begin a unit as an anticipatory set (as per Madeline Hunter); To conclude a unit as a summation; As a collaborative activity in which students create a product (fostering cooperative learning); To teach students how to be independent thinkers since most of the problems encountered in a Web Quest are real-world problems; To increase competency in the use of technology; and As a motivational techniques to keep students on task.

Go beyond simple fact finding Analyze a variety of resources and use their creativity and critical-thinking skills to solve a problem

This is an overview (often a simple one) of what is to come. Many Web-Quests take place within a story setting; in these instances, the Introduction is where the plot and characters are introduced.

This page details the assignment that is to Come. Tasks are often comprised of numbered lists of items that must be accomplished to Complete The quest.

The Process is the meat of the quest — it is Here That students work together, develop plans of action, and find ways to solve the Presented problem. Often, quest processes may involve role playing and other off-line methods.

The evaluation phase centers on a “rubric,” a carefully designed chart listing goals for the quest and the standards by which performance will be measured. This can be thought of as a great widening of the typical letter grade usually given to classroom assignments. Rubrics are highly annotated “grades” with extensive annotation detailing many aspects of the project.

This is a brief summary, usually congratulatory in tone, that wraps up the project.

Instructors are provided with their own Subsection of the Web-Quest site, with instructions for each of the above sections. Teachers who develop Web-Quests often Fill this section with information to help Other educators adapt the quest to their own class.

Just because a Web-Quest contains the essential elements, doesn't mean that it's perfect for your classroom. Look beyond the structure and examine the effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal of the project. Ask yourself: – Is it a quality project? – Does it fit my needs? – Is it a good use of time? – Is it a good use of technology?

Rubric for Assessing a Web Quest rix.asp rix.asp

Your Mission For the Day!

Operation Web-Quest

Since early in 1995, teachers everywhere have learned how to use the web well by adopting the Web-Quest format to create inquiry- oriented lessons. But what exactly is a Web- Quest? What does it feel like to do one? How do you know a good one when you see it? In the space of 90 minutes, you're going to grapple with these questions and more.

To develop great Web-Quests, you need to develop a thorough understanding of the different possibilities open to you as you create web-based lessons. One way for you to get there is to critically analyze a number of web-quest examples and discuss them from multiple perspectives. That's your task in this exercise. By the end of this lesson, you and your group will answer these questions: 1.Which two of example Web-Quests listed below are the best ones? Why? 2.Which two are the worst? Why? 3.What do best and worst mean to you?

The Process You will assemble with your Squadron to answer the questions stated in “The Task”. The Squadron Assignments are as follows: Squadron 1 Gibson Carreon Perryman Seglem Squadron 3 Colvin Douglass King George Squadron 2 Roberts Williams Gervis Bechuk

Within the group, each of you will take on one of the following roles:

1. Individually, you'll examine each of the sites on the list of resources and use the worksheet to jot down some notes of your opinions of each from the perspective of your role. You'll need to examine each site fairly quickly. Don't spend more than 7minutes on any one site. 2. When everyone in the group has seen all the sites, it's time to get together to answer the questions. One way to proceed would be to go around and poll each team member for the best two and worst two from their perspective. Pay attention to each of the other perspectives, even if at first you think you might disagree with them. 3. There will probably not be unanimous agreement, so the next step is to talk together to hammer out A compromise consensus about your team's nominations for best and worst. Pool your perspectives and see if you can agree on what's best for the learner. 4.One person in each group should record the group's thoughts. 5.When debriefing time is called, report your results to the whole class. Do you think the other groups will agree with your conclusions?

Debrief and Share

Departing thoughts Refer to your Cross Curricular Brainstorm Think about the web-quests that viewed today – Did any of the web-quests present an opportunity to work with another teacher in a different content area? In the last star, write a brief statement about your thoughts of assigning a project, such as the web-quests you viewed today in collaboration with another content area? Do you think this would benefit the students’ learning? I would like to assist you in your efforts. Turn in your Brainstorm and I will search for Web-Quests that may serve your needs.

Math Geometry in Real Life h/index.htm h/index.htm Using Area and Perimeter to Design a Fun House erim/areaperim.htm erim/areaperim.htm

Science Pandemic Quest Biome Zoo Design Badge and The Bones Why Should You Bother Taking High School Physics Rube Goldberg Physics

Spanish La Fiesta Brava aFiestaBrava.html aFiestaBrava.html Mexico Tour Package z/index.html z/index.html

English The 1920’s: A Decade in Review Peace Quest /PeaceQuest/index.htm /PeaceQuest/index.htm “Gimme Shelter!” Homelessness in America 111/index.htm 111/index.htm

Social Studies Gettysburg: A Personal Journey ettysburg.html ettysburg.html Political Activism Return of the Great Game: Crisis in Central Asia game/ game/

National Educational Technology Standards (Nets) 1. Creativity and Innovation – Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students: a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression. c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues. d. identify trends and forecast possibilities.

National Educational Technology Standards (Nets) 2. Communication and Collaboration – Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students: a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.

National Educational Technology Standards (Nets) 3. Research and Information Fluency – Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students: a. plan strategies to guide inquiry. b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. d. process data and report results.

4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making – Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make – informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students: a. identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation. b. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project. c. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions. d. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions. National Educational Technology Standards (Nets)

Resources 1.Johnson, L. and Lamb, A Teacher Tap. Professional Development Resources for Teachers and Librarians. Retrieved from the World Wide Web November Johnson, L. and Lamb, A Internet Expeditions. Retrieved from the World Wide Web November Dodge, Bernie Phd WebQuest.Org. Department of Educational Technology, San Diego State University retrieved from the World Wide Web November Dodge, Bernie A Web-Quest About Web-Quests. Retrieved from the World Wide Web November Zunal.com Evaluating Web-Quests. Retrieved from the World Wide Web November Teachnology Tutorials. Enter The Web-Quest. nology.com/tutorials/web_quests/six_reasons/ nology.com/tutorials/web_quests/six_reasons/