This week, we created our very own WebQuest! We researched
and learned about these earlier in this course, but our big assignment for this
week was to make our very own. At first, I was very intimidated. It is somewhat like a creating a lesson plan, but
one that everyone can see! I was pleasantly surprised however when I first
began. It was easier than I expected, and very well explained throughout the
entire process.
After I signed up
for my free 30-day account on WebQuest, I decided on which subject area and
grade level I would like to focus on. I chose Social Studies; partly because I
love it myself, and partly because I thought it would be interesting and fun
for students to do. I can recall in Middle School one of the only good times I
had, planning a trip with a group. I remember this being one of the most fun
and exciting projects that I have ever done. It spoke to my personality and my
interests. It also made me feel independent and mature, something that I
remember most of all. I found in neat that my teachers “trusted” my peers and I
to plan a vacation, as if we were mature enough to prepare for such a thing! It
is a feeling that I want to provide my students with however, a feeling that
they are old and wise enough to “conquer the world” so to speak and plan their
own vacation. So, that was my basis for my WebQuest, Around the World in 80 Days. Although my students are not actually
travelling around the world in 80 days, I thought it was a cute and catchy
title for their trip-planning project.
My WebQuest
was based solely on the students planning their own trip. They were required to
work in groups, as well as a small list of requirements (go to a different
country than which you live in, go on at least three excursions or tours on
your trip, stay for at least five nights and six days, and most of all have
fun!) for each group to complete. I also made sure that there were individual
tasks that students had to complete so that there was contribution from every
member. This was mostly in regard to the last step of the WebQuest, creating a
blog (much like we do here) to document their travels, a travel diary if you
will. Each student would have a daily task, or two, to document. They ranged
from the food they ate each day, to the historical connections they could make
from things they had discussed in class. I also considered doing a sort of
social media connection in terms of a Twitter or Facebook feed that they could
summarize each day on. I however overlooked this when focusing on the other
requirements for the WebQuest, leading me to another discussion of my WebQuest
experience.
This is
probably one of the most fun things that I have done in my graduate courses,
but I could also easily say it is one that I underestimated the time commitment
on. This took much longer than I expected (as we were warned!) and if I had
more time to take on it, I would love to make it a little more visually
appealing. I was kind of unsure how much information to divulge to the
students. I did not want it to bore them, or take the excitement out of how fun
it should be. I hope I was not too vague! However, this is definitely something
that I can see myself using in my future classroom. Now that I have created
one, I have more confidence in my future abilities, and I am sure that I will
be thinking of many more ideas that I can create WebQuests on! I included the link to my very own WebQuest below!
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