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I am still shocked to have heard that the president was shot and killed on live tv.  They say that they have found the only killer.  They believe that they have the only killer caught.  This whole experience is horrible.  I cant imagine how the poepl in texas are feeling right now.  What will we do as a country?

Great Web Quest on Canada

Great Web quest http://questgarden.com/137/88/4/120123115821/index.htm

Canada’s top destination

I thought this was a great web quest.  It contained all the components of a great web quest.  It also had a teacher page that I think is crucial for implanting in the classroom.  The web quest also contained a credits section that I thought was a nice extra step.  The usability of this site worked well.  Every linked opened.  I loved the mechanics of this web quest.  This web quest contained several images that fit perfectly.  It even contained maps that I think were crucial to convey this lesson.    It contained soft colors that made the font and material easy to read.  The actual content of the web quest I felt was great.  The reading level of the material was right on for the intended age group.  The directions and steps were clear cut and easy to follow.  I also really enjoyed the rubric.  Again the rubric was very clear for the students to figure out what is required from them.  Overall I enjoyed this web quest for the students because it was a fun scenario set up for the students to research and I think that it would keep the students actively engages in this assignment.

Poor Great Depression web quest

Poor Web Quest https://www.inetlibrary.com/frame.html?table=library&id=56058

One of my major clues as to why I felt this was going to be a poor web quest was because I did not find it one an educational website.  Not everything on educational websites are always a good source but it is definitely a good place to start.  One of the major things I noticed about this web quest right from the bat was that it is missing components.  It is missing an evaluation section for the students to know how they will be graded.  It did have a hyper dictionary section that I thought would be cool if the link actually worked. The criterion that makes a web quest good is also lacking.  The usability is poor, as I stated earlier some of the links did not work.  The mechanics are also lacking.  The web quest is very boring.  The topic is the Great Depression and the screen is white will blue writing.  If there was maybe a grey background to set the mood and maybe some graphics, I think that it would be more engaging for the students.  As far as content, it was kind of hard to judge with the lack of links that actually opened.  I did however feel that by reading the questions posed to the students in the process section, they were at the lowest levels of bloom’s taxonomy.  95 percent of the questions were merely asking the students to list down a fact they see on the webpage.  It wasn’t till the very end that the students were asked an opinion question that allowed them to analyze interpret and develop a rational as to why they chose their decision.    The ending of the web quest left the students with an extra credit opportunity to interview a person who may have lived during the depression.  It would have been nice to see the teacher maybe possibly list some sample questions to ask the person.  I feel that the students would go into this subject and maybe not realize the sensitivity it may bring up and they should have been provided some guidance.  I also think that the web quest should have offered some links to additional information if the student was interested.

In class experience

The in class experience for this assignment was something that I was not used to.  I think that it went well.  There was some awkward silence until someone took the initiative online.  Having the chartrooms set up prior to the assignment went over well.  It was very easy to look up the chat room.  One aspect that I did not like about the chat in the Angel program was that there is no notification of having a new message.  It was easy to get carried away in what I was typing and not respond to my classmates question for several minutes.  I like this type of assignment for maybe a take home assignment.  Personally if I am in a classroom I would much rather talk in person, however it did meet its objective of exposing the class to different types of technology that is available to use in the classroom to communicate.  Completing the assignment was easy, everyone each did their own work and just copied and pasted it and sent the same assignment.  I am not entirely convinced that I would like to use this I’m my classroom like I stated above for an in class assignment but I think having chat rooms set up would be beneficial at home.  The only problem I foresee with that is not everyone goes on and does homework at the same time.  Students might have sports they play, jobs or other needs and there may be hours in between before other classmates see their work or questions.  I think this might work for more of a long term assignment. I think realistic integration of technology looks very similar to the exercise we expeirenced in class.  The technology should be avaibale but still be able to have the lesson with out it in case something goes wrong.  The lesson was set up using pirate pad and if for some reason the network were to go down we could of eaily finished th assignment in person if we broke into groups.  I think a lesson where tecnology is a supplment to the lesson is ideal.