WebQuest

This project requires another collaborative effort by your team. This is the first of several learning activities you will design in the course to support your thematic unit as you explore how technology can effectively support learning.

A WebQuest is a collaborative and inquiry-oriented activity in which most of the information that learners need to complete their tasks come from resources online. The Internet is an incredible resource for learning, but it can be overwhelming. It is necessary to provide goal-oriented activities and guided search processes to assist students in a sea of information. WebQuests define structured, goal-oriented activities for using the Internet to support learning.

The Purpose

The purpose of this activity is to design a collaborative, inquiry-based activity for your students that will help them become effective knowledge constructors, creative communicators, and empowered learners.

By creating the projects, you will be able to

• Collaboratively create an interactive learning environment (multi-page website in Google sites)
• Design structured, collaborative, and inquiry-oriented activity for students
• Articulate core standards and skills in a student friendly language (I CAN statements)
• Create self-assessment tool for students (Create Google forms )
• Create and use QR codes to enrich students’ learning experience
• Conduct efficient online searches
• Evaluate the accuracy, credibility, and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
• Cite the sources or the images and use them in adherence to the copyrights and creative commons guidelines.

The project is aligned with

• ISTE Standards for Educators: 3b, 4a, 5a b, 6a c, 7c
• ISTE Standards for Students: 1a b c, 3a c d, 4a, 5c, 6a d, 7c
• InTASC Standards for Pre-Service Teachers: 1,3 and 8

Assignment

Using Google Sites, you and your team will design a WebQuest activity that supports one or more instructional objectives/skills from each of your subject areas. You have already selected these outcomes/skills in the Thematic Unit (refer to the last section of your Thematic Unit) and now it is your opportunity to create an activity that will support your students' achievement of some of them. Remember, a WebQuest is a collaborative and inquiry-oriented activity.

Plan Your WebQuest

After exploring several examples of WebQuest activities collected in the yellow sidebar =>, collaborate with your team to design your students activity to support your thematic unit. Focus on one or two topics or concepts defined in your team's unit description. Do not attempt to teach the entire unit. The intent should be to design just one of the learning activities to support some aspect of the overall unit. Use the WebQuest Organizer worksheet to make preliminary decisions about the activity you will design. This worksheet will be a base for the formative assessment meeting you will have with your professor.

Formative Assessment Meeting

Your professor will have a formative assessment meeting with you as you develop your WebQuest. At this meeting, your professor will review your completed WebQuest Organizer Sheet. S/he will provide suggestions for developing your concepts that you will turn into your final WebQuest.

Your WebQuest Organizer Worksheet must be completed prior to the meeting, it must be evident that your team spent a significant amount of effort to complete each section to the best of your ability. (Remember to refer to the WebQuest examples and/or ask for assistance if you don't understand what is expected.) Your worksheets won't be graded for content but rather completeness.

Specific Requirements:

Follow these specific requirements. Consider using the list below as your checklist

Introduction Page:

This section should both prepare the learners and build their interests.

Include three things:

1. Introduce the activity in a way that is designed to appeal directly to the learners' interests.
2. Present an essential question, scenario, or statement to guide their inquiry throughout the activity.
3. Explain to students how this learning activity relates to the overall thematic unit (more than just citing the unit theme--relate this activity to previous or future learning in the unit)

Task Page

This section should clearly and concisely define the outcomes of the activity

Include two things:

1. Define the tangible outcome of the activity—the culminating task/project
2. List of skills (in the format of I CAN statements) that students should improve by completing the task
   

Do not list the steps or the process that students will follow here. You may briefly describe background information or a scenario to help students better understand their overall task.

Make sure that I CAN statements are aligned with the standards/ skills listed on a Notes for Teachers page.

Process Page

This section should provide structure and support for inquiry and group collaboration. Each member of your UNI team will be responsible for at least one role.

Include three things:

1. Outline specific steps the group should follow to accomplish the culminating task. Number these steps.
2. Define individual inquiry-oriented roles (one unique role for each member of the group)

3. Copyright

   Copyright-protected works may only be used with explicit written permission of the copyright owner. You may not use any media under the terms of fair use because fair use does not apply when publishing material on the open web. Creative commons images may be used in accordance with their license terms. Refer to the RWLDs for Copyright, Fair Use & Creative Commons

   Provide guidance and tools to support organizing and sharing information (collaboration)

Support the part of the process that occurs after students work within their individual roles. For the group to effectively collaborate on the culminating task, students will need guidance for working together to synthesize and apply the information they have each gathered individually. This may include specific steps, guiding questions, organizational tools such as graphic organizers or worksheets, etc.

Resources Page:

• Provide a set of resources provided for each role (Include the name of the person responsible for the role and its corresponding resources)
• Each resource should include a description that clearly identifies:
  • what it provides in terms of information
  • how it can be used to support the learning activity
• Headings organize resources by role and resource type
• Resources for each role must include:

2 web sites	Provide at least two hyperlinks to the websites with resources helpful to complete the inquiry. It could be a link to a specific web page, a non-YouTube video, or a browser-based game or simulation.
2 Google Embeds, Google Docs, or Apps	Dynamic web content that is embedded on a web page. Students can interact with embeds or docs on the resources page without leaving the page. An example could be an “embedded” YouTube video, Google Slides, Google Form, Calculator, Google Map, Weather gadget, etc. Embed and describe at least 2 different types of Google doc or other tools, including at least one with audio and video. Note: simply linking to a YouTube video would not meet the requirements. Videos need to be embedded on your page Application (App): An app is a piece of software that can run on your mobile device. On your computer, an app can be an add-on or extension to the browser (for example Google translator, Skype, currency converter, BMI calculator...)   NOTE: The apps need to correspond with the 1-to-1 devices described in your thematic unit. You cannot have links to the Android store if your students are iPad users and vice versa.
2 others	Examples of this category may include traditional materials that don't require an Internet or even a computer. For example, books, maps, DVDs, CD-ROMs, manipulatives, printed materials, photographs, worksheets, graphic organizers, diagrams, slide shows, etc. List the media type, title, author or publisher, year of publication, and a short description for each resource. You may include Amazon or ISBN number so other teachers can find the resource. If you use computer based worksheet or document please attach it in the attachments area at the bottom of the resource page.

Evaluation Page:

• Provide a system describing the criteria that will be used to assess learners. It may provide a rubric or something less complicated. It should be well organized and structured with a point system or other self-checking mechanism for students.

Conclusion Page:

Include two things:

1. Provide closure by summarizing what the learners have accomplished or learned as a result of participating in the activity.
   • Include at least two rhetorical questions that encourage students to reflect upon their experience or extend their thinking (perhaps challenge them to apply what they learned to another situation or scenario beyond the scope of this particular activity).
2. Embed student's self-evaluation form (Google form) in a format of the "I CAN statements"
   • Analyze the demo example. Notice how the Google form supports Goals/Skills listed on a Notes for Teacher page and skills on a Task Page

Notes for Teacher Page:

Include a written reflection aligning this project to at least one ISTE Standard for Students and one ISTE Standard for Educators. Follow these prompts:

1. This WebQuest supports the interdisciplinary unit theme ________ .
2. The instructional purpose (based on WebQuest Design Patterns)
3. The instructional objectives/skills this project supports is: Restate related objective/skills from your thematic unit description and include Iowa Core or other standard indicator (from the second column in your Thematic Unit). There must be at least one objective from every subject area listed in a Unit. See Dr. Z's helpful explanation of how to create a meaningful reflections
4. The intended learners are: (briefly summarize the learners described in your thematic unit description))
5. Standard Alignment
1. ISTE Standards for Students.
   We designed this project to support the indicator "_________" from ISTE S Standard "_________" , by...
   - Explain how you designed your project to help your students achieve indicator/standard.
   - Repeat this prompt to address at least 1 indicator of ISTE Standards for Students
2. ISTE Standards for Educators.
   We designed this project to support the indicator "_________" from ISTE S Standard "_________" , by...
   - Explain how you designed your project to help your students achieve indicator/standard.
   - Repeat this prompt to address at least 1 indicator of ISTE Standards for Educators

Watch Dr. Z's helpful explanation of how to create a meaningful reflections

Overall:

• Each page includes at least one image displayed
• All images are used with permission or in accordance with a creative commons license, and all image sources are attributed according to the terms of use provided by the source.
• Except for the Teacher page, content should be addressed to and written for the learner.
• All pages maintain an effective and consistent visual design throughout.
• Navigation hyperlinks connect all pages of the site (sidebar navigation is sufficient).
• The web site is viewable by anyone in the world (confirm this by going Share > Who has access > Public on the web - Anyone on the Internet can find and view).
• The activity supports at least one of the stated objectives/skills per subject area, from your thematic unit description.

Submitting:

Submit the URL to the published Introduction page in the eLearning assignment submission box. Copy and paste the URL address to avoid errors.

Additional Resources

Follow this link for:
Copyrights friendly Image Sources,
Non-Internet Media Resources,
Color Selection Help
Rubric Generators and more

Examples of the interactive resources for your tangible task

• Knightlab: Timeline maker http://timeline.knightlab.com/
  • more free timeline makers
• Interactive multimedia posters: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/02/3-excellent-tools-to-create-interactive.html
• Visual Stories makers: https://edtechideas.com/2011/05/05/3-great-storybook-creators/
• Animated videos makers : http://www.freemake.com/blog/5-best-sites-to-make-animated-video-trouble-free/

Point Structure (120 points)

Special Notes:

• Publish your website and make sure that it is set to anyone on the web can visit your site.
• Preview your page as a viewer (not signed-in) to confirm that all images display properly and all hyperlinks function correctly in advance of the due date! If possible, preview your web site on more than one browser, or even computer to see how the layout and text wrap may vary.
• Submission: Copy & paste the URL of your published WebQuest introduction page and submit this to the Assignments Drop box in eLearning (Class Projects >WebQuest folder). Follow the instructions provided in the submission box precisely to avoid losing points on your assignment.