“To the ship without a compass, any
port’s a destination.”
Learning
with the web should be more effective and efficient than wandering around
aimlessly and getting happy when any learning just happens to take place. The
Internet can provide exciting learning opportunities for your students. There
are many existing Internet-based activities available for free if you know
where to find them. Here is a list of activities that can greatly enrich your
curriculum:
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Scavenger Hunt |
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Single Site Activity |
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Daily Task |
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Subject Sampler |
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WebQuest |
A Scavenger Hunt is an activity in which
students are asked questions and are provided a matching list of Websites they
must explore to discover the answers. They are good for training students to
find and record information.
Scavenger hunts can be specific or general in
scope; they can be focused around one or more sites; they can be designed so
that students are given direct links to information; or they can be designed so
that the students must use a search engine or directory to find answers. It is
best to give elementary students direct links to sites with answers. (Tip:
These are exact pages you want the students to go to for information, not the
top page of a huge Website and expect them to find the needle in a cyberstack).
Visit
the following website Scavenger Hunts:
Searching for Treasure on the Internet!
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr113.shtml
Review the information presented on Scavenger
hunts, and then complete The Hunt.
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Single
Site Activity
You can use single site activities to help
your students learn the structure of a site or to explore a topic of study.
Single site activities can be assigned on a regular basis and can be content or
theme related or Internet-skill related. The activities can include specific
questions, open-ended questions, writing activities, drawing activities,
reporting activities, or evaluative activities. You might also create
activities that tie in with current events or seasonal events.
Single site activities are great for the
one-computer classroom. Students can complete their activity sheets during a
given week. Try creating activities that can be completed in about 15 minutes.
You might want to pair up students to move things along.
Try the following single site activity, and
then find a site that would complement an upcoming unit in your class and
devise a single site activity for it.
Go to this website: What's it Like Where You
Live?™ http://mbgnet.mobot.org/
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You can also use the Internet for daily data
collection of information like weather, news, or stock prices. Look for ways to
use the Internet to collect "just-in-time" information as well.
Finding ways to use the Internet on a daily basis for quick tasks is a great
way to extend the use of the computer in a one-computer classroom. It also
teaches students to find what they are looking for quickly on the Internet.
Visit the following
sample news and information sites and familiarize yourself with their resources
and potential for classroom use. What would you have your students do with the
information once it was collected?
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Use a subject sampler when you want your students
to feel connected to the topic and to feel that the subject matter matters.
Create a subject sampler if your goals for a particular activity turn more
toward the affective - getting students to engage in the topic and find
personal relevance. In a subject sampler students are presented with a few
intriguing websites organized around a main topic. These sites should provide
information or content not seen on TV, magazines, and newspapers or on the
school library shelves. Rather than uncover hard knowledge as they do in a
treasure hunt, students are asked about their perspectives on topics,
comparisons to experiences they have had, interpretations of artworks or data
etc. The purpose is for students to see and feel that their views are valued in
the context.
Surf, Stumble, Search and
Lurch is a Subject Sampler that is meant to help you “hook into something
that lets you intrinsically feel the value of the Web.” See how the activities
proposed are directed and yet not closed.
Visit example sites www.qesn.meq.gouv.qc.ca/project/inclass/sampler.htm
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WebQuests
WebQuests are inquiry-based activities that
use the Internet as a primary source of information. Basically, a WebQuest
presents student groups with a challenging task, scenario, or problems to
solve. There are hundreds of WebQuests on the Internet. You can use one of
these existing WebQuests with your students or design your own. You can also
use WebQuests as resources for finding new websites—since a great amount of
time and effort was spent in creating the hundreds of WebQuests already
available on the Web—with the added security of knowing that the sites in
question have already been "teacher-tested." There are six components
to a well-designed WebQuest.
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The
Introduction
The introduction gives the students an overview of the
purpose of the WebQuest. It grabs their attention and explains key issues.
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The
Task
The task explains what the students will have to do with
the information found during the WebQuest. For example, a task could be to give
an oral report, create a PowerPoint presentation, or write a newspaper article
or a research paper. The task is the end result of the WebQuest.
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The
Process
The process is a step-by-step explanation of what the student will have to do
during the WebQuest. In the process description, you could assign different
tasks to different students, give a timeline for completion, or give tips and
suggestions for completing the WebQuest.
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Resources
The resource section is where you list websites the students should visit to
complete the WebQuest. The resource list can and should include other resources
besides webpages. You can include books, local resources, magazines, and any
other resource that will help the students complete the WebQuest.
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Evaluation
This should lay out the evaluation criteria for the final product. You should
clearly state what you will look for in the final product. You might create a
rubric or checklist so students can monitor their progress and their product.
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Conclusion
In the conclusion, students should be asked to reflect on or summarize what
they have learned during the WebQuest. The conclusion should wrap up the whole
experience for the students and bring closure to the WebQuest.
Check
out the following WebQuests, paying particular attention to how they present
the six components mentioned above.
In
Search of Stellaluna's Family
Shocking Sharks
The
Great Depression
African-American Women in History
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Visit the following collection of WebQuests
and find one that you could use with your class.
WebQuest: Matrix of Examples
Students' Center for
WebQuests
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Develop a simple WebQuest of your own to use
in class. Remember to use all 6 components.
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You are now well on the way to incorporating the Internet
into your classroom teaching. Make frequent use of the activities mentioned
above, and continue to create activities of your own as you adapt these ideas
to the specific needs of your class.