Students Using WebQuests

Video based on the following WebQuest:

http://www.intime.uni.edu/lessons/026iams/Solar_System_Webquest/INDEX.HTM

I was really interested in how well the students seemed to work together in their groups. They were really engaged in the activity and looked like they were interested in the research aspect of it. The teacher also did an excellent job of facilitating the students' learning, I thought. Her comments to the class were helpful, timely, informative, and concise.

From this video alone, it seems that WebQuests would be a beneficial activity to use within the classroom. It promotes the use of technology and enables students to better research for things using the Internet. It also promotes group work and good communication between classmates and the teacher.

Something that might be difficult in doing a WebQuest with a large class is being sure that all the students are on task and not surfing the web.

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

Are students digital learners?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

The idea that students are solely digital learners is a little bit fluffy to me. I am surrounded by technology, but that doesn't mean that I need to use it all the time in order to learn something. A classroom shouldn't be wholly dependent on technology in order for students to learn. However, that also doesn't mean that a classroom should never use technology.

A teacher should use technology to the extent that he or she feels that it is going to be beneficial to the student, taking into consideration the opinion of his or her students. Too much technology can create a negatively dependent classroom, so that when the student doesn't have a chance to use technology they don't know what to do and they don't know how to learn. Too little technology used with students can make a subject seem irrelevant, inapplicable.

I like the idea that teachers need to engage their students - that is part of their job. I think that one of the most detrimental aspects of technology in education is the development of lazy teachers because they can just use technology to teach students. Yes - students enjoy technology. But they still need a teacher. They need someone who can utilize the latest technology in a way that doesn't waste time or effort, in a way that helps the students learn better. Students don't need technology; they need a teacher who can use technology.

A Vision of Students Today

College students today are surrounded by technology, but is that technology helping them or harming them?

http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/?p=119

Often times, technology in college can be extremely helpful: word processors, search engines, online research programs, instant information through the Internet, the ability to communicate quickly and effectively, etc. However, a student's education can also be simultaneously harmed by the abundant use of technology: excessive distractions from school work, constant communication with many people, an overwhelming amount of information to dig through to find what you need, and so on.

There are so many times in most of my classes that students are going through Facebook when the professor is speaking. And there similarly many times when professors think that a PowerPoint presentation is effective teaching. While technology is helpful, it seems to be underutilized in the classroom. Students use it - but mostly for entertainment. Educators use it sometimes - but mostly for PowerPoint lectures that could be just as effective, if not more effective, if done without. When a classroom makes the most of the technology that is available - and when it is used by both the teachers and the students - then it will be useful in the classroom. In my college career, I have experienced this rarely.

Web 2.0

I originally did not know what Web 2.0 was because I am apparently too young, which is one an example of how technology changes so quickly! 

This video claims to describe what Web 2.0 is in about 5 minutes. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

So now that I understand it a little bit better, briefly, Web 2.0 describes the way we now communicate with each other using technology and the Internet. It is the instant sharing of information - picture, video, or text. Facebook and MySpace are two primary examples; people around the world can communicate with each other quicker than ever before and with ease (provided that you understand the Internet and basic computer functions). Web 2.0 has seen the transformation of how we give and receive information. Instead of magazines and newspapers and word of mouth, although all of those things are still widely in use, our world has become one of digital technology. Our information comes from the Internet and we give our information through the Internet. 

This kind of digital technology can have impressive impacts on education today - both positively and negatively. Utilizing the current technology, teachers can interact and respond with students, parents, and other educators in an instant. Teachers can pull ideas and resources from countless websites, and students can research quickly using digital technology. 

However, classrooms need to avoid becoming so dependent on computers that the relationship between teachers, students, and parents is lost. Relationships can often be facilitated and encouraged through on-line interaction, but they can also be drowned by it. We need to be careful to maintain face-to-face relationships, to be personable and available for our students and their parents. And if we want our students to be balanced, healthy individuals we often need to pull away from the digital screen.