From East Lansing to Detroit

Teachers, have you ever created a lesson plan that just taught itself?  Not only would it satisfy curriculum requirements, but the students also pick up on everything being taught?  Have you ever come across those lessons?  Well neither have I, but I believe WebQuest assignments can come close. 

After reading the article “WebQuest” by Annette Lamb and reviewing some webquest assignments I believe this format is a catalyst to higher level thinking about online learning.  Computers have always excelled at constructing information from payroll reports to schedules for entire university campuses.  (Now this is mentioned in the article, I remember much of this too.)  The problem was since the days of personal computers whether it be an Apple, a Commadore 64 and so forth many of the computers available for education did not allow students to construct a project.  Many of the games were just that, games.  They were flashy flash cards.  Most importantly the outcomes were the same.  In to the early 1990’s teachers could begin to construct projects with the help of the world wide web, but many of those assignments became nothing more than “low level scaverger hunts.”  That is a quote from the Lamb article and I agree with it.

WebQuest seems to be the best of what learning online can be.  It uses computer graphics…always fun, it provides all the resources, allows students to construct a project and use their own creativity.  I look forward to contributing a project as well.