Educational Technology 11 – Educ 4039
October 13, 2009
Class 5 (3 Hours)
Dr. Diane P. Janes – Diane_Janes@cbu.ca – Office hours by appointment – Phone: 563-1236

Introduction to Webquests, I-search and project-based learning as a teaching tool

Project Based Learning

What is PBL?

Project-based learning is a comprehensive instructional approach to engage students in sustained, co-operative investigation. It has been called an innovative model for teaching and learning. PBL’s primary focus is on the central concepts and principles of a discipline. It involves students in problem-solving investigations and other meaningful tasks, and it allows students to work autonomously to construct their own knowledge. Authentic PBL should culminate in realistic products.

Proceed to the Project Based Learning space and read all sections under the Background Knowledge and Theory section. http://college.cengage.com/education/pbl/background.html

Review the George Lucas Foundation’s Topic on Project-based Learning under Innovative Classrooms. Also, watch the videos on project-based learning in action.
Click on the videos: Introduction to Project Based Learning (3/4/09); Project Learning: an Overview (1/1/01) at http://www.edutopia.org/

Post comments to your blog. What are your impressions of PBL? How could you use it in your classroom?

Read and post comments to your blog –
• Using Multiple Intelligences in Project-base learning. http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/intell.shtml
• Curtis, Diane (2002). The Power of Projects. Educational Leadership, Sep2002, Vol. 60 Issue 1. This paper is a PDF so I will hand out a copy in class.

Examples of PBL with Multimedia

Activity – pick any 2 websites and précis the work on the site. What would your classmates need to know to actively use these sites? What kind of information do they support?

Classrooms@Work/Tools@Hand, provided by the National Educational Technology Consortium, links to three technology-rich classroom projects for Grades 4/5, 8, and 9 designed to help teachers learn how to do PBL with technology. It is a good site for understanding what interdisciplinary projects look like. http://www.netc.org/classrooms@work/

Exemplary Projects is a resource page for middle school teachers, designed by DesignWorlds for Learning (with support from WestEd and the U.S. Department of Education Regional Technology in Education Consortium). The site includes 12 excellent project descriptions including standards, scenarios, tasks, and assessments. http://www.pblnet.org/

GLOBE is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school–based science and education program that trains teachers to help students improve their achievement in science and math and in the use of computer and network technology. http://www.globe.gov/

iEARN—International Education and Resource Network— enables young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects. http://iearn.org/

The Jason Project explores Earth and exposes students to leading scientists who work with them to examine its biological and geological development. http://www.jason.org/public/whatis/start.aspx

Project-Based Learning + Multimedia, by the San Mateo County (California) Office of Education, provides examples of projects for Grades 4, 7, and 12, including getting started, time lines, and assessments in three subject areas. http://web.archive.org/web/20060428144450/http://pblmm.k12.ca.us/examples_main.htm

Watch the following Videos – comment on your blog:

Picturing the Possibilities - Project-based Learning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFt6qW0Pb4c

Project-Based Learning – schools that work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HugSKISrqhQ&feature=related

A Day in the Life of PBL.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX1bv30rYIk&feature=PlayList&p=94C0104A7008C184&index=0

Consider WebQuests

A WebQuest is a learning environment supported by extensive Internet and other resources which prompts learners to inquire and construct meaning through collaborative research, critical thinking and decision making. Innovative educators are using information and communications technology (ICT) to support collaborative knowledge construction by students. Activities in a WebQuest mirror the analytic, interpretative, creative and expressive uses of ICT increasingly characteristic of sophisticated workplace settings.

WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

Research (Dede 1998) shows that ICT teaching models such as WebQuests result in at least four kinds of improvements in educational outcomes:
• guided inquiry, project-based collaboration and mentoring relationships have increased learner motivation
• technology-based instruction enables students to learn-how-to-learn and master advanced topics
• students in team environments are able to perform complex tasks and create intricate products by acting as experts do
• as teachers master these new models of learning, students have better outcomes on standardised tests

The WebQuest model assumes that using information is more important than merely having it and that using information is the most important component of intellectual activity. This philosophy of learning mirrors the philosophy of the process curriculum and the philosophy of authentic assessment.

WebQuests provide structure and guidance and make good use of computer access as well as recognising qualities unique to the Internet. Teaching for thinking means that we need to go beyond simply departing content knowledge on our students. We need to promote creative problem-solving, reflective engagement and rigorous inquiry. WebQuests are learning activities that involve practice in using critical thinking skills.

Read
Why WebQuests?, an introduction by Tom March (1998). Found online http://www.ozline.com/learning/

The WebQuest Model

Elements required for success include:
• principles of authentic assessment - the quest must go beyond knowledge
• acquisition requiring transformative thinking to construct new meaning
• development of realistic roles which underpin and authenticate quest
• quality of the narrative thread which establishes an engaging and informative
• opening (metaphors, anecdotes) and provides a background for everyone -
• constructing new meaning (learning) must start with a good foundation
• effective use of the WWW as an information source
• level of real world feedback, use of experts to test hypothesis
• scaffolds to assist stages of learning as appropriate
• product/outcome - email, web-page, ...
• reflection - thinking about their thinking

Look at one of the three items below…comment on your blog…

1. Review the Disney Learning Partnership Workshop (Month 8) on WebQuests http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/

Especially watch the video of David Thornburg, futurist and technology specialist, as he explains why technology requires more teacher-student interaction than ever before. Teachers need to show their students how to judge and evaluate the information they find. How accurate do you think Thornburg is in his comments on teacher/student interactions?

2. March, Tom (2001). Working the Web for Education: Theory and Practice on Integrating the Web for Learning. Online http://www.ozline.com/writings/theory.php

3. Dodge, B. J. (2002). The WebQuest Design Process. A series of web links and template of ideas for the design of a WebQuest. http://webquest.sdsu.edu/designsteps/index.html

You can also use the Process Checklist, found here to ensure your WebQuest is focused and appropriately thought through. http://webquest.sdsu.edu/processchecker.html

I-Search

Based on Ken Macrorie's 1988 book entitled, The I-Search Paper, I-Search research is designed to teach the writer and the reader something valuable about a chosen topic and about the nature of searching and discovery. As opposed to the standard research paper in which the writer usually takes a detached and objective stance, the I-Search paper allows the student to take an active role in their own search, to hunt for facts and truths firsthand, and to provide a step-by-step record of the discovery process.

The most important rule of the I-Search paper is for the student to choose a topic that genuinely interests him/her and that they really need and want to know more about that topic. The key is that they not choose something that is huge and complex, but choose something that they can investigate thoroughly in a fairly short period of time.

For the most part, the I-Search paper should be written in three sections: (1) What I know, assume, or imagine; (2) The search; (3) What I discovered. However, a paper need not be the only produced outcome by the student.

Read the article by Judith Zorfass and Harriet Copel (2000), entitled "The I-Search: Guiding Students Towards Relevant Research" which provides you with an overview of the I-Search Process. http://www2.edc.org/FSC/MIH/article.html

At http://www2.edc.org/FSC/MIH/i-search.html, you will find a more detailed explanation of the I-Search Process. Follow all of the links on this site so that you have a better appreciation for:
• what occurs within each phase of an I-Search Unit;
• where technology can fit in the process (http://www2.edc.org/FSC/MIH/integrate.html);
• the implementation process (http://www2.edc.org/FSC/MIH/process_descrip.html); and
• the role of the teacher, acting as a facilitator (http://www2.edc.org/FSC/MIH/facilitation.html).

Read the links on the following I Search page:

http://www.ncte.org/profdev/online/ideas/freq/114024.htm

which deals with all things I-Search. Specifically review I-Search Paper Format Guide — From the English Tutoring and Writing Center at Gallaudet University, here is an outline showing how to format an I-Search paper, with samples; and Where Do You Stand: A Research Module on Controversial Issues — here's a step-by-step unit on the research process, which culminates in an I-Search paper and a persuasive speech. http://www.ncte.org/search?q=I-search

Zorfass, J. (1994). Supporting students with learning disabilities: Integrating technology into an I-Search Unit. Technology and Disability, 3 (2), 129-136. http://www2.edc.org/NCIP/library/ot/zorfass.htm

Post a blog on the I-search process – what is an i-search? How would you use it in your classroom? In your teachable? Why would this work? What would you have to do to prepare your students?

Examples of I-Search Projects/Presentations (review and reflect on in your blog – are there ideas here you can use? What are they?)

Eisenhower Middle School, Wyckoff, New Jersey – Showcases both video and text-based projects. http://www.wyckoffschools.org/eisenhower/projects/isearch/default.html

Makah Research Page – 7th graders explore the Pacific Northwest.
http://web.archive.org/web/20040604130559/http://www.learningspace.org/instruct/jr_high/projects/bgilbert/makah.htm

Other I-Search Resources (pick one – précis it for you blog)

Guidelines for Drafting Your I-Search Reflection. http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/tips/i-search/reflguide.html

Rubric for the I-Search Research Process http://web.archive.org/web/20030428020508/http://home.scottsburg.com/trinkle/rubric.htm

What is I-Search? http://web.archive.org/web/20030219114914/http://stillwater.k12.mn.us/rf/56isear.htm

How to write an I-Search paper http://www.ehow.com/how_2107419_write-isearch-paper.html

The I-search Paper http://www3.delta.edu/sgrobins/I-search.html