Pat sez:
This is the best program I have -ever- seen for integrated web materials
into day-to-day education. Most times a free-wheeling web search is just
too time-consuming and unfocused for a 45 minute class. Worse, the amount
of actual learning that goes on is almost nil. A big a fan of the net as
I am, I had almost stopped using it until WebQuest.It's peer-to-peer at its purest (imho). Teachers design interesting,
involving units, they pre-screan web sites and plug them in, then send the
whole thing into the ether for other teachers. The quality varies a lot,
but, then so does the quality of all school materials.The beauty of Webquest is that everybody follows the same basic template,
lists specific learning objectives, evaluation rules etc. Most important,
each WebQuest lists the Learning Standard it addresses. Learning
Standards rule our lives these days as we try to justify what we're
teaching.That consistancy and those controls are what the web-based learning has
been missing up until now. I predict that WebQuest will cause a quiet
revolution in the way computers are used in the classroom.
I'm the only member of my immediate family who isn't a teacher — this stuff is endlessly fascinating to me.
(Thanks, Patty!)
