WebQuests - Ancient Civilizations

Ancient Civilizations WebQuest - This webquest reviews the River Valley Civilizations 

1. Synopsis of the WebQuest including its intended audience, its educational goals, and the curriculum standards addressed if stated.  The intended audience for this WebQuest is a secondary level student in a World History class. It could also be used for a World Geography class. 
2. What pedagogical strategies are employed in the WebQuest and are they effective? Is there use of metaphor? Are they using inductive or deductive strategies? Is there scaffolding? What other strategies do you see?   The students are required to analyze events and "decide what makes an event significant in history." These events are then added to a timeline the students are creating. This WebQuest seems to be using both inductive and deducting strategies   The students must deduce the order of events on the timeline. However they must also inductively decide what events are important enough to add to the timeline.  All the while this is producing a scaffolding for the later description of each event and their personal reflection.  
3. In what ways is the WebQuest taking advantage of technology? In what ways is it 'change without difference'? Could this WebQuest be done just as well by photocopying pages and handing them out to students? The students are required to post their timeline online, the internet is being used for research as well as the discovery of pictures and videos.  The WebQuest could be done just as well with photocopying pages and handing them to students.  If necessary it can be done but I don't think it will be to the benefit of the learner to be done in the manner.  There are several links for each region which provides the students with options for sources.  If all of this information were to be printed out no student would want to go near it because the packet along would be too overwhelming.  
4. Technically, does it work? Does it have bugs or flaws such as broken links or images? Is the material out of date? Does it credit its sources? I didn't find any broken links for missing images.  The material doesn't seem out of date.  It was created in 2009 and we are talking about history that is thousands of years old.  The only way it can be out of date is if we discovered that aliens created the early civilizations.  The site does credit its sources.  
5. How would you improve the WebQuest? I would have the links open up into new pages. As soon as you clicked a research link you lost the instructions.  

Merlot

Through Merlot I found a source called Eye Witness to History.  This site entrigued me because it entails exactly what History is... His Story!  Eye Witness to History provides first hand accounts of historical events. To quote their website it is, "History through the eyes of those who lived it." 

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com 

Quality of Content:

1. Does the software present valid (correct) concepts, models, and skills? The content provided appears to be very valid.  Every section of the site it organized by time period and each article is supported by references   It will become a great teaching tool for research as it also includes information on "How to Cite this article. "
2. Does the software present educationally significant concepts, models, and skills for the discipline? The website provides first hand accounts of historical events.  Some of the articles are also interactive.  The site also includes Photos and Videos which students can use to develop better analysis skills of non-text Primary Sources. 

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool:

1. What stage(s) in the learning process/cycle could the materials be used? The material can be used for all states of learning.  Mainly it can be used for explanation and applying.  The first hand accounds can help students develope a deeper understanding of the events they are learning about.  They can also apply the skills they learn in history to the first hand accounts as a menthod of confirming events or discovering the bias displayed in their textbooks.  
   1. Explanation or description of the topic/stating the problem
   2. Demonstration of the curriculum/exploration of the problem
   3. Practice using the curriculum/analysis of the outcomes from solving the problem
   4. Applying the curriculum to "new" problems/application of the outcomes to other problems
2. What is(are) the learning objective(s)? What should students be able to do after successfully learning with the materials?  Students will analyze events and determine if one events causes a later event or preceded it.  They can also use the site to compare and contrast primary and secondary sources.  
3. What are the characteristics of the target learner(s) History Students and Teachers. 
4. Does the interactive/media-rich presentation of material improve faculty and students' abilities to teach and learn the materials? Yes 
5. Can the use of the software be readily integrated into current curriculum and pedagogy within the discipline? Yes 
6. Can the software be used in a variety of ways to achieve teaching and learning goals? Yes
7. Are the teaching-learning goals easy to identify? The goals can be identified by the teacher.  It would depend on the time period being studied and the goal of the teacher's instruction. 
8. Can good learning assignments for using the software application be written easily? Yes

Ease of Use:

1. Are the labels, buttons, menus, text, and general layout of the computer interface consistent and visually distinct? Yes 
2. Does the user get trapped in the material? No but the material is rather engaging. 
3. Can the user get lost easily in the material? It is possible to get lost if you get confused by the placement of advertisements. 
4. Does the module provide feedback about the system status and the user's responses? No 
5. Does the module provide appropriate flexibility in its use? Yes
6. Does the learning material require a lot of documentation, technical support, and/or instruction for most students to successfully use the software? No 
7. Does the material present information in ways that are familiar for students? It depends on what students are familiar with.  Information can be presented in a printer friendly format if the teacher wished to print out information rather than have the students access the site online.  
8. Does the material present information in ways that would be attractive to students? Somewhat.  They'd be more interested in the videos than most of the text.  

My Education

With the start of a new year came a new set of goals.  I am determined to enter into a master's program and graduate within the next year and a half.  I was fortunate enough to come across the MAET program at Michigan State University.  It is a fully online program and takes 5 semesters to complete and it begins with a certification program.  This gave me the chance to begin my goals of continuing education without having to wait until a program accepted me.

My first class was CEP 810 which is Teaching for Understanding with Technology.  This class truly ignited my passion for technology in education.  Confirming my path to pursue a Masters of Art in Educational Technology (MAET).  I was amazed at what I could learn and what I looked forward to trying.  The best part about learning new things in the spring is that you have the whole summer to plan how to use them for the fall.