Webquest Evaluation

Webquest Review


I have chosen the Webquest Freshwater Ecosystems from Lauren O'Connor at the below link.

http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=808

My first impression of the webquest is that it is well organized due to the tabs available to navigate through the pages. The photos are enjoyable to look at and the instructions for the assignment are very clear. I do like the idea of a webquest to assign a project. It can direct the students to use the web links provided, or an instructor may also suggest independent research. 

What I don' t like about this particular webquest is that two of the weblinks under the process tab are not functioning. Watercare.net company is for sale, and healthywater.com was unable to load the page, and had to be typed in manually. Not having the proper links is always frustrating for the students, but I'm certain that they can adapt to the situation. I also noticed two spelling errors within the pages. If this assignment were given to post secondary students, it NEEDS to be error free. The links provided are not what I consider professional sites to use for research. These are opinion sites from personal/private organizations. The research must include reputable organizations that are current with the water quality standards. 

My overall opinion of this webquest is that it is well laid out. After making the necessary changes to the web links and correcting the spelling errors, this would be usable for a post secondary assignment.

Student Centered Learning

Should student-centered learning be the norm?

After viewing the short video pertaining to an individual computer programming prodigy, I find myself wondering how the following generations learn about social integration. The video chronicles the life of a young boy, age 14, who started off being miserable in grade school due to the fact that he was not challenged enough; he was bored in the classroom. All of his learning, starting from age 2, has been self-taught. When you have the desire to learn, information is always better absorbed. The fact that children have access to all the knowledge shared in the world, via the internet, makes learning that much easier.

But what about learning social skills? Can those be self taught? What I see from this video is a young boy, that by his own admission,  "does not want to interact with other kids his age". That could very well be that his maturity is more advanced than the other children. It is difficult to interact with people that do not share the same interests as you do. But what about teaching the need to get along with other people? I am an advocate of the classroom structure.  This is where children learn the social skill of how to get along with other types of people, a skill well utilized throughout one's entire life.

One method that I would use to ensure that a child would be taught the social skills would be to have that child volunteer their time to humanitarian projects within the community. This way, the child will have to interact with many different types of people, and in the process learn about being a socially responsible individual.


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