Webquests

Let's try this as a table ...

go back home Language Arts 3rd Grade || For the pilot test, I had a survey posted on my WebQuest asking several questions pertaining to the functionality of the site. One of the testers was a third grade student, and the other was the teacher of that student. The questions asked on the WebQuest were: 1. Did all of the links work? 2. What did you have trouble looking for? 3. If more than one link was hard to find, which ones were they? 4. What did you like about the website? Both of the testers said all of the links worked, none of the links were hard to find, and there was no trouble looking for links. Mr. Davidson, the teacher, wrote, "All the links fine and I could see the kids being able to also." About what he liked, Mr. Davidson wrote, "Not too wordy, easy large tabs, clear and precise." The student wrote that the website "was cool to be on" and he "learned from the website to write." I also personally asked Mr. Davidson if he could explain why my WebQuest would be something that could be used in a classrom, he said: "I see that you thought things through and with some modeling and practice, the kids would be able to navigate through this themselves." However Mr. Davidson did mention 3rd graders not doing a thorough job with something like the survey, so that was some good advise to take. Mr. Davidson also said he would use the WebQuest at a computer lab or at centers, but he would model the steps first. He would also share with colleges and have them share similar creations as well. At first, the rubric under the evaluation tab did not work, but that got fixed right away. || Biology 9th grade @http://bagwellbernie.weebly.com || My WebQuest is designed for a ninth grade Biology class and focuses on ecosystems within a unit on Ecology. I had a ninth grade student and a peer participate in a mock test of my WebQuest and evaluate it. Overall the results came back positive with a few minor constructive criticisms. First, the ninth grader reported that she understood the overall assignment and would know exactly what was expected of her to do in order to complete the task. She said the navigation within the WebQuest was smooth. Her only constructive advice was to make the pictures bigger and to play with the font of the text to make it look more aesthetically appealing, otherwise the appearance was also good. I tried to play with the font style, but I am not sure if perhaps the “design” I chose does not allow that option. Therefore I could not change the font. Secondly, I had a peer review and evaluate my WebQuest and she said overall it was constructed well and aesthetically appealing. She did question the validity of Wikipedia as a sound resource for information. Other criticisms were suggestions on how to word things differently and suggestions on grammatical issues. She also suggested making the pictures bigger, which I did do, but there is one image I cannot seem to make bigger. I really enjoyed making creating this WebQuest. I like t because it is versatile where a teacher can use it at any grade level. It really adds the “fun” factor in learning as it removes students from the typical classroom instruction and allows them to explore while completing state standards. I will definitely be using this in the future for my Biology students and my English Language Learners. || [] || 1. Did you learn anything from the website? 2. Did all of the links work? 3. What did you like about the website? 4. Would you have changed anything about the website? 5. What did you have trouble with? I created a list of questions that I asked both parties when they completed the web quest. The first person was a fourth grade student and the other person was a special education teacher. The answers to the questions from the student 1. Yes I learned that air enters the tree through openings on the back of the leaves. 2. Yes all of the links worked for me. 3. I liked all of the pictures. 4. I would have added more pictures. 5. I had trouble picking what plant I wanted to grow, I think that I would like to grow them all someday. The answers to the questions from the teacher 1. I learned some interesting facts about the different types of plants. I also learned that I could create something like this that would benefit my classroom. 2. All of the links worked when I tried them. 3. I liked how the students could really interact with the website; navigate to where they wanted to be, go back to a page if they misunderstood something. I also liked how you included more information for the student who would like to know more on the subject. 4. I would have added more plant options to pick from as children like to have many choices. 5. I did not have trouble with the website but I could see that some of my students might being that there is a lot of reading. || Math mysterymath.weebly.com || I sent the link to my website to an 8th grade student and his mom. Below I have the questions that I asked them to answer along with their responses.
 * **Name** || **Webquest** || **Pilot test** ||
 * Joshua Fitzsimmons || Tell Your Story - Language Arts
 * Bernadette Bagwell || Ecology Unit
 * Holly Watkins || 4th grade Science Unit on what plants need to grow
 * Jaimie Kilbourn || 8th Grade

1. Was the website appealing? a. "Yes, I wanted to play. I liked the colors" b. “I thought the website was appealing and the layout and colors caught my eye and my son’s eye. There were minimal words and a good number of pictures to make the website look fun but also secretly look educational.”

2. Was the website easy to navigate in the proper order? a. "It was easy to understand the order." b. “Yes, the tabs at the top listed each page in the order needed to follow, and the links on the bottom of the pages provided extra help in navigating.”

3. Was the work challenging or too easy for 8th grade math students? a. “The work is something that we covered more in 7th grade, but it is still taught in my 8th grade class so it helped as a great review.” b. “Based on my son’s homework, I would say that the material was at a good level for 8th grade students. I remember helping him with some of the material in his classes but he looked interested in this website.”

4. What did you learn from this website? a. “The website was more of a review from 7th grade, but it helped me remember basic information, such as finding the slope of a graph and equation, factoring, and graphing.” b. “As a parent, I was able to see enthusiasm from my son to want to learn something and take the time and effort to do math. This website taught me that math could be fun and educational at the same time.

5. What could be improved? a. “I felt a little childish when I was reading the website because of the words that were used. It was hard to do some of the assignments without a partner. The math could be looked at again in order to be more advance for some 8th grade students.” b. “He kind of giggled at the language of being called a super sleuth and the "handy dandy notebook" reminded him of Blues Clues, so he was thinking it was a little too "kiddy" for him. I think the language would be too kiddy for eighth graders, though.” || 3rd Grade Geography || __Britni's Pilot Test__ For my WebQuest, I asked a few questions in order to figure out how well our WebQuest works. 3rd grader Adult
 * Claire Walthall and Britni Pins || [|The Fifty United States!]
 * 1) Did the links work well? Were you able to open them easily?
 * 2) Yes they did. Yes I was.
 * 3) Could you navigate from page to page without any trouble?
 * 4) Yes. It was really easy.
 * 5) Is the WebQuest easy to look at and to read?
 * 6) Yes. The directions were easy to read. I knew what I was supposed to do.
 * 7) Was this information at a level that you were able to understand?
 * 8) Yes. I learned about the states and capitals this year in school.
 * 9) What is one thing you think could be improved on this WebQuest?
 * 10) There could be more things happening in the story.
 * 1) Did the links work well? Were you able to open them easily?
 * 2) Yes and yes.
 * 3) Could you navigate from page to page without any trouble?
 * 4) Yes, it was very easy to navigate from page to page.
 * 5) Is the WebQuest pleasing to the eye? Do you think a 3rd grader would enjoy using it as a resource to learn?
 * 6) I think that there could be more color added to the WebQuest. It might make it a little more exciting for the students to look at. Overall, I think the activities are really good and will be exciting for students to use.
 * 7) Was the information at a level where you think a 3rd grader could understand and retain it?
 * 8) Yes. That is something they learn in third grade.
 * 9) What is one thing you think could be improved on this WebQuest?
 * 10) Make sure that all the links open in a new window instead of changing the webpage. It would be good for the WebQuest to stay open so the students can continually return to the page.

__Claire's Pilot Test__ These are the questions for the Third Grader: 1. What was the first thing you noticed on the webiste? 2. Were you inteterested in helping Billy on his quest to learn teh 50 States and Captials? 3. Did the link work when you cliked on them? 4. Which link was the most fun for you? 5. Which link helped you learn the best? 6. In the end, did you learn the 50 States and Capitals? These are the questions for the Teacher: 1. What were your first thoughts when you saw the website? Was it too crowded, would you add anything? 2. From a teachers perspective, do you think this is at a third grade level? 3. How are the links working? 4. Was the teacher page helpful and how would you improve it? 5. Do you think this would be easily integrated into the classroom? 6. Has this website helped you learn or review the 50 States and Capitals? || Gonzalez || [|www.thedantronmission.weebly.com]
 * Emmanuel Olmos

7-8th Middle School or 9-12th High School

Spanish Class & Latino Icons || Emmanuel Olmos Gonzalez Prof: Rubio EDU361 4/30/2011

FILLED OUT BY HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR DANIEL OLMOS
 * __Web-quest Evaluation__**

1. Did you like the way the web-quest looked? Were all the pictures helpful? I did indeed, the pictures were cool and they were very helpful for me to think about my research. 2. Did all the links work correctly? Was it easy to navigate through the web-quest pages? Yes it wasn’t too difficult for me to navigate. 3. Was it easy to read the directions? Were the directions clear and concise or really confusing? It was easy and helpful ,the directions were pretty clear to me. 4. Was the task easy to understand? Did you have enough information to complete the task? The task was very understandable and the information was enough for me to find what I needed. 5. Did you enjoy working on the task? Did you find the web-quest too easy or too difficult?

I did enjoy working on this project it was fun and educational. The web quest wasn’t too easy or too difficult. It was very comprehensive.

6. If you could change something from the web-quest what would it be? Not a lot, the web-quest seemed fine to me. If I could change something it would be to make it a little bit more challenging.



Emmanuel Olmos Gonzalez Prof: Rubio EDU361 4/30/2011 __**Web-quest Evaluation**__ **FILLED OUT BY 1st Grade Teacher EMILY OLMOS**

1. Did you like the way the web-quest looked? Were all the pictures helpful? I thought it was very professionally put together. I enjoyed the pop up pictures and the brief bio. I also thought the initial page was beautiful and the picture of Kobe Bryant in the “time machine” was classic and added humor into the WebQuest.

2. Did all the links work correctly? Was it easy to navigate through the web-quest pages? I struggled to open up the rubrics (unless I clicked “open in a new window”). However this may have been the result of slow internet. It should probably be tested by another computer. I appreciated how you could use the links at the top but also the embedded links as well.

3. Was it easy to read the directions? Were the directions clear and concise or really confusing? There were just A LOT of details. As a perfectionist J I would have appreciated a bit more conciseness but for the most part I knew what you were asking for. 4. Was the task easy to understand? Did you have enough information to complete the task? The tasks were easy to understand. I think that asking students to identify and differentiate between present and future Latinos is a bit difficult as the person we choose for the present may very well also be someone who influences the future. But I understand the concept.

5. Did you enjoy working on the task? Did you find the web-quest too easy or too difficult? I think the premise was creative and I enjoyed looking up information. I got a chance to reread some of Sandra Cisneros works. It reminds me of how I need to read The House on Mango Street again.

6. If you could change something from the web-quest what would it be? Less words and bullet points for easier reading. However, that could just be my opinion and not that of others.

Civil Rights Movement activity || I asked a freshman who will be going into the 10th grade next fall to take a look at this webquest. I asked her a few questions about the technicality and the information on the site.
 * 1) [[file:The Dantron Mission (Emily's PP).pptx]] ||
 * Lynnette Kies || 10th Grade 20th Century
 * 1) Was it difficult to follow?
 * 2) No, because there were things at the bottom that I could follow.\
 * 3) Was the information understandable, and were the links easy to go to?
 * 4) The information is cool, we've gone over this a little in class. I could go to the links cause they were different colors. So i could see them better.
 * 5) Do you think you would enjoy doing the activity? Do you think you would do an activity like this somewhere else?
 * 6) It would be cool to do the activity. Something that isn't just listening to the teacher talk. I think it would be cool to use this activity for things like school rules, or school governments. the student government could make a rule or an activity and the rest of the school could vote on it.
 * 7) Would you have any advice for making another webquest? Or change something in this webquest?
 * 8) Not have it be history! It would be better if it was english, because I'm not that good at history.

I also asked a former teacher to take a look at the webquest to see what she has to say about it.
 * 1) Is it too complicated?
 * 2) I don't think its too complicated, however it could be made a little simpler. Have maybe a few more YouTube videos if possible. Maybe have speeches by Malcolm X or a KKK march.
 * 3) What do you think of the links at the bottom of the page moving to the next page?
 * 4) I think it's a great idea. A teacher could inform the students that they don't even need to use the top buttons because it's like a brick road. Just follow the yellow brick road until it takes you to the assignment.
 * 5) Do you think the students would easily participate in this?
 * 6) YES! Students need something to do. They learn more when their doing something and helping each other out. History isn't an easy subject to have hands on experience like math or science. So this would be something they would enjoy very much rather then sitting there listening to the teacher.
 * 7) If you were still teaching, would you use this or something like it?
 * 8) I most likely would use this. These webquests can be used to help children learn so much. It's amazing the technology they have today that they didn't have twenty years ago. ||
 * Teryn Donihue || <span class="wiki_link_ext">Spanish Exploration

<span class="wiki_link_ext"> Fifth Grade or First year language learners. || ====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Web-quest Evaluation ====

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Student Evaluation
====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">1. Did you like the way the web-quest looked? Were all the pictures helpful? I feel that the website was put together great! It had a wonderful picture on the front that captured my attention ==== ====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> and the writing/font was different for each important directions. At the end of the website, I knew what was ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">2. Did all the links work correctly? Was it easy to navigate through the web-quest pages? All of the links worked besides the rubric link and also the teacher link did not take me to anything new. Not sure if ====

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">3. Was it easy to read the directions? Were the directions clear and concise or really confusing?
====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> The directions were very easy to understand. As a teacher I feel that each one of my students would be capable of ==== ====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> understanding and following the directions. At the end of the website, I knew what was expected of me and I felt that I ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">4. Was the task easy to understand? Did you have enough information to complete the task? The task was easy to understand as long as the students could comprehend the website that was they were reading. ====

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> I understood the task well there were no problems with directions.
====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> 5. Did you enjoy working on the task? Did you find the web-quest too easy or too difficult? Although I did not actually complete the task, I think that I would really enjoy doing this type of activity because it ==== ====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> involves many different skills like researching, writing, drawing, and creating a newspaper. Students also have the ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">6. If you could change something from the web-quest what would it be? The only thing I think I would change or add would be possibly a picture or example of the finished project. This ==== ====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> way students have an idea as to what they are required to do. Many students will probably copy what they see; ====

<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> however, this at least gives them the opportunity to observe how these types of projects should be done.
====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> My other suggestion (depending on the grade you are teaching) is finding more kid friendly websites to use to get the ==== ====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> research from. I know that teaching middle school students, many have a hard time staying focused long enough to ====

<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> information. If using Wikipedia (I heard not always the best choice), they have a spot where you can
====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> change the content to "simple English" on the left hand side under languages. This simplifies a lot of the information ==== ====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> and pulls out the essentials of the document. Also on Google when you are searching for websites to use, you could ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">7. Would you use this in your classroom? Would it be beneficial to your students? During my student teaching, I actually taught fifth grade, which is when Michigan learns about explorers. I think that ==== ====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> my kids would have loved to do something like this for their project instead of creating a report like the curriculum ==== ====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> suggested. This is a report but students will see it as more of a fun and exciting activity because it is more hands-on ==== ====<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> than just writing. The students would benefit greatly because they would have the opportunity to show their creative ====

<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> side as well as the information they have obtained!!!
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