WebQuests

WebQuests are tools designed to integrated technology into the classroom and facilitate learning.  Designing a WebQuest means gathering resources from the internet that you want your students to use and designing a lesson plan around them. WebQuests can be used for a number of different subjects and every cross curricular discipline. You need to take into account several things before using a WebQuest in your classroom, however: whether or not the activity could be done without the internet, how comprehensive it is, whether or not you should use groups, etc.

Evaluating Websites

Evaluating websites is critical to being able to provide valuable resources to your students. If we do not take the time to evaluate websites we put ourselves at risk for giving and receiving false or erroneous information. If we are not evaluating the teaching strategies we research online, we could be in danger of employing harmful strategies rather than credible evidence based practices. We also need to be able to show students how to critically evaluate website information for themselves. By doing this we are able to provide our students with important tools for their future success in both academic research and personal research and self-education. An activity similar to the one we completed in this class could be used in order to guide students' thinking about what factors they need to take into account in order to determine the credibility of a website.

Blogging in the Educational Community

Blogging is an easy way to consolidate thoughts, resources, experiences, and ideas into one space. This is especially useful in education as a way for teachers to share and collaborate both within a community and to the world at large. Niche communities find their own spaces within the blogging community - I've included a few SpEd blogs on a list to the side - which can help teachers with their lesson plans or simply with coping in the classroom. Many times, (and traditionally) blogs were used as online journals/diaries but now they are used for promotion and commercial interests as well as a source for activities/classroom resources, etc.