FOCUS

My Thoughts on FOCUS

FOCUS is an acronym used to help creators of WebQuest site takes all the right steps when developing their first WebQuest. F stands for find quality sites. When providing resources for your students, it is the teacher's job to search sites that will provide the best and most interesting information for the student. The sites need to be engaging and educational at the same time. Searching deep into the web will allow you to find articles that will be beneficial for the students to analyze. O stands for orchestrate learners and resources. This means that to be willing to work around and with the resources you have. Plan your time wisely and incorporate other activities if only a few computers are available for use. Constructing groups and delegate different responsibilities to each student. C stands for challenge your learners. The whole idea behind WebQuest is to unlock higher order thinking skills. The information that we present should be asking the learner what he or she can do with the information as opposed to simply understanding the data. U stands for uses of medium. This simply means that as a teacher, be willing to explore and incorporate multiple mediums in your WebQuest. Videos, articles, documents and pictures are all useful tools that can help a student better solve the problem. Finally, S stands for scaffolding the experience. Scaffolding the experience for the student is a way to help guide the students thinking and understanding of the data. Providing templates, writing prompts or production ideas, will help the student understand how he or she can use the data to solve the problem.

Each of the steps stated above are extremely important and beneficial for a teacher to think about when creating WebQuest for classroom use. Thinking of all the important components of a WebQuest will allow the teacher to construct a meaningful educational experience for his or her students.

Web Quest

My Thoughts on WebQuest

WebQuest is an amazing resource for teachers who want to challenge and inspire his or her students. By utilizing WebQuest, a teacher can develop lessons that will enhance students' problem thinking and decision making skills. WebQuest is a tool that teachers can use to create lesson plans that will allow the student to analyze and evaluted data in order to construct a creative solution to a given problem. It is  a safe way for the students to use the World Wide Web, without the teacher constantly worrying about his or her students navigating the Web on their own.

WebQuest was first developed in 1995 at San Diego State University by Bernie Dodge and Tom March.(Yoder 1999) The two wanted to create lesson plans where the students could link to the web in order to research information on a given scenario or question. Typically, the students are given the particular scenario and are provided with the resources that the students must analyze and evaluate, in order to answer the question to the best of the students ability.

As a teacher, I have the ability of searching created WebQuests on a search engine such as Google. Also, I have the ability of creating my own WebQuest. This particular piece explains what is needed in order to create a WebQuest (typically a scenario or question the students must solve) as well as tips on how to find the best resources for your students to use in order to answer the question.

Personally, I think that this is an outstanding way to make learning exciting and engaging for the students. As I teacher, I would be able to construct the learning that is taking place in my classroom by selecting the resources I want my students to analyze in order to solve a problem and at the same time, I am allowing my students the freedom to explore and express his or her interpretation of the data. Using WebQuest moves student think from understanding to evaluation, the highest form of thinking. I would be able to challenge my students in a intriguing way and the thinking skills need to answer such questions would reach the top of Blooms Taxonomy. Along with promoting higher order thinking skills, using WebQuest in my classroom would allow me as a teacher to incorporate multiple disciplines in to one lesson. For example I could pose a question that delt with the Civil War. By using WebQuest, I would be able to incorporate reading, writing, art, technology, communication and civility all within one lesson! What more could you ask for as a teacher. I know that I want to learn more about WebQuest so that I can effectively use them in my classroom. I know that my students will truly benefit from WebQuests and so will I.

My Thoughts- Google Sites

Kelsey Green

Essentially, this reading explains how to go about creating a website using the google site. I found each step to be fairly self explanatory and using this guide, I could begin creating my own website right away. The guide explains how to sign up to create your site, editing your site, inserting images, objects and gadgets, change font sizes, align text, sharing and collaborating, creating a list, inviting people to your site,  how to insert a video as well as how to check your revision history on your site if you choose to collaborate with someone else. Again, this guide will be so useful. Integrating the two articles will be beneficial when I create my class site because I can use the first article, Design a website from the bottom up, to decide how I want my website to look and the information I want to provide my audience, and then the google site guide will take me step by step through the process of actually creating my own webpage. Again, I am very excited to get this project underway!  

My Thoughts- Bottom Up
Kelsey Green

The article entitled, "Design Your Web Site from the Bottom Up" by Peter Pappas explains how one should think about the construction of a website he or she wishes to create by starting from the bottom and working your way up. Begin by brainstorm all the items that you wish to have on your web site; think about what it is you want for your site and what your audience will be looking for. Second begin to group the items into categories, and be sure to not include to many categories; 2-4 is usually best. After you create your categories, go through each one and decide if the information found in that category will stay the same, or if it will need frequent updating. Ask yourself, "Do these categories make sense?" Revise the categories to ensure you have decided upon the best choices to suit your site. Develop a flow chart that will become the "road map" for your website. Begin with your main categories, then branch of and decide what information you want to have in each category and then if there will be a third level with additional information. It is important that the information in the categories stays balanced and does not overload the viewer. After you create a road map, next design a navigational plan that will link your categories, as well as provide short cuts to jump around the site without having to use the back button. Ideally, you want a navigation bar on the top and bottom of each page. Also, always identify the site and the designer at the bottom of each page. Next you will want to think of each page and the page layout. Each page should have a navigational bar that links all the pages at the top and bottom of each page, the site and designers name at the bottom of the page, and each page should be title with bold letters. Each page should be clutter free and easy to find what you are looking for. Keeping it simple is the way to go! Finally, after all the planning, the creation of the website can begin!

This article is extremely helpful seeing that I will be creating a class website! Working backwards is a great strategy, because it really allows you to think about what you want to have on the site as well as what your audience (in my case parents and students) will want to have on the site. I never thought about having a navigational bar on each page, and it is something that I will definitely include on my page. This was such a useful article, and I am excited to build my very own class site!

Security vs Access- Inappropriate Content

Chapter two of Security vs access explains how inappropriate content on the Internet, and the access to that content is a threat to not only student's viewing safety, but to teachers, schools and administrations as well. This is because teachers a fearful of using the Internet, even-though it provides the students will a vast range of exciting information, due to exposure of inappropriate material under the teacher's supervision either accidently or intentional. Teachers and schools feel that it is easier to eliminate Internet access to students at school because of inappropriate content. Schools are afraid of loosing government funding if students access content that is not suitable for his or her viewing.

There are a few options that schools have in order to reduce the students ability to view inappropriate content. Blocking is where the schools block key inappropriate sites from students. This approach can be extremely time consuming seeing that new sites are being introduced to the Internet everyday. Filtering takes key words are blocks the sites that have those words within them. However, this approach often times blocks sites that are educational and beneficial for the student. Acceptable use policies is an approach where students essentially become educated on the do's and dont's of the Internet. Students are responsible for their own Internet viewing and are well aware of the consequences for breaking the AUP. Finally direct supervision is where the teacher is monitoring at all times the students and his or her use of the Internet. Again, this can be somewhat difficult with a class for 30 or more.

Overall, it is a shame that teachers and schools alike are afraid to use the Internet, when the Internet really helps to broaden the students information base. I believe AUP's and some form of direct supervision will be the best approach to reduce viewing of inappropriate content. Acceptable use policies teaches the students the dangers of the world wide web which will in turn create more responsible Internet users in the future. Thus, will hopefully reduce the viewing of inappropriate content at school and at home.

AUP-My Thoughts

The article, "Acceptable Use Policies" explains how the Internet can be a powerful tool for not only teachers, but students as well. With the use of the Internet, teachers have access to sites that provide lesson plan ideas, worksheets as well as on-line activities for the students. Students have access to information that is not found in the library, and on-line games that can be tied in with the subject matter. However, the Internet can be a dangerous, and sometimes dishonest place. Instead of banning or blocking certain sites, educators are teaching students how to responsibly use the Internet. Once students are educated on how to responsibly use the Internet, then the student signs a binding contact called an AUP; Acceptable Use Policy. This policy will state that the student has undergone the appropriate training needed in order to use the Internet, and that the student and parents are aware of the consequences for violating the contract. This contract holds students accountable for their use of the Internet.

I think that this is a excellent opportunity for not only students but teachers, faulty members and parents as well. Just a few weeks ago I had a conversation with my mother in regards to my younger sister Internet use. We discussed how we felt it is necessary that not only parents talk to their children about the dangers of the Internet, but teachers and schools should discuss the issue as well. By teaching our students appropriate Internet conduct, we are only allowing each student to make better choices using the Internet in the future. I hope that all schools use AUP. If the school I work at in the future does not have an Internet education course for all students; it is something I would take on.