When creating computer-based instructional objects such as WebQuests and StAIRs, it is important for educators to consider multiple things, including the type of learning they want their students to be conducting, abilities of students, and the technology students have access to.
To begin with, teachers should think about the strategies they would like to employ when designing and/or using computer-based activities. After having looked at a few WebQuests, I have found that those centering around project- or problem-based methods seem to have the most value. There are WebQuests that simply ask students to visit sites, record the information they learn from the sites, and then apply this information to tasks. This deductive approach to learning works well if you are purely using the WebQuest as a medium through which to deliver information. However, it does not require students to do much more than what they could have done without a computer. If a teacher wishes for students to construct their own understanding, I feel it is imperative that things such as StAIRs and WebQuests be centered around ideas students construct and/or problems that students must develop their own answers to based on learning. For example, one WebQuest I visited, To Choose Freedom: A WebQuest http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Emerson_MS/levin_wq/, asks students to answer the question “If you had been a slave, would you have tried to reach freedom using the Underground Railroad?” Students are then asked to visit sites to learn about slavery, Harriet Tubman, and the Underground Railroad. They then formulate their response to the question from the research they have done and write a paper supporting their decision. This WebQuest asks students to learn by reading; however, they are also asked to analyze the information in a team and construct their own opinions based on the information they have learned. This uses both the constructivist and the problem-based approach to teaching and provides students with the opportunity to develop their own understanding because the teacher is acting as the “guide on the side,” coaching them, while they are held accountable for their own learning.
Another factor educators must consider when developing or using computer-based activities is the abilities of the students. In a co-taught special education classroom, the teacher will most likely need to keep in mind that some students will finish before others will and it may take some students with learning disabilities a longer amount of time to complete an exercise where they must extract information from a variety of sources on the Internet and come up with their own solutions. At the same time though, teachers can easily adapt the requirements for students based on their individual needs.
Yet another thing educators must consider when using computer-based instructional objects is whether or not students have access to computers. I know that the laptop carts are limited and difficult to get at our school and normally are booked up to a month or two months in advance. This makes it difficult to implement computer-based activities. If students are asked to do a WebQuest at home because of the lack of technology in schools, a teacher must consider whether or not this student has a computer and/or the Internet or whether or not the student can access it through a local library or come after school to complete the assignment.
Two WebQuests I saw that I would consider using in my classroom include the one previously mentioned: To Choose Freedom: A WebQuest http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Emerson_MS/levin_wq/ and World War II: In Defense of Freedom http://www.lifestreamcenter.net/DrB/Lessons/WW2/index.htm. The first one I would use in the freshman nonfiction unit, where students read part of a slave narrative. The other, about World War II, I could use with my freshmen before they read Night, by Elie Wiesel, which is about one boy’s experience in a concentration camp. This could be used to introduce the Holocaust and World War II prior to reading.
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with you that teachers must consider what types of technology that their students have access to. It is easy to take for granted that all students have access to the internet and to computers at home. This year a number of my students do not have these amenities and requiring them to complete computer based instruction outside of the classroom can be very difficult for a number of them.
I found the webquest that you present to be very well done. The author does a wonderful job of using the problem-based approach. I agree that the problem based approach makes learning much more rich. However, there is a distinct advantage to using the problem based approach in certain subject areas. In my opinion, it is much easier to center a three day English or Social Studies lesson on a real life problem that it is for Mathematics. As a math teacher I have centered lessons on graphing and analyzing data, however it is very difficult to come up with multiple day computer based lessons revolving around graphing quadratics, and solving equations. Thus, in my area I have utilized the constructivist approach much more.
Accommodating students with learning disabilities is another important thing to consider when making computer-based lessons. With a stAIR project the teacher could possibly allow the student to use notes, since reworking the entire project would be very time consuming. With webquests a teacher could simply reduce the number of requirements, or grade more leniently without posting such accommodations on the website. I only have two special education students that often are pulled out of the class for one-on-one assistance, so I usually do not do the accommodations myself however it is very valuable to contemplate how to make the assignment relevant for all involved.
Brian
Katie, There isn't much more I can say, that Brian hasn't already mentioned. Another option besides problem-based learning is project-based learning - which is one of my favorites. My Alien Adventure is project based. Students are presented is with a project to do and they have to do the research, reading and problem-solving in order to complete the assigned task. Teachers are definitely "guides on the side" or stage managers with this strategy.
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