2.2 Research-Based Learner-Centered Strategies
Candidates model and facilitate the use of research-based, learner-centered strategies addressing the diversity of all students. (PSC 2.2/ISTE 2b)
Artifact: Paul Revere WebQuest - ITEC 7445
Reflection:
The artifact that best represents standard 2.2 is a WebQuest that was created for ITEC 7445. This WebQuest was created for a third grade class focused on Paul Revere. The WebQuest was designed to address third grade social studies and ELA standards. In the introduction of the WebQuest, students meet a female historian from a museum in Boston, Massachusetts. She is asking the students to go on a special mission back in time to learn about a famous American, Paul Revere. The students are going to have the opportunity to experience the night of his famous ride and see first-hand what happened. They are given two tasks to complete on their mission. First, the students are asked to learn some important facts about Paul Revere. They use their classroom journal to record facts and information they learn along the way. Seven questions and links to resource pages are provided to help the students gather the information they will need for their next task. After gathering information, the student will be required to create a PowerPoint presentation to share with their classmates what they have learned about Paul Revere. Students are provided a rubric and checklist to help them organize and finalize their final product.
The WebQuest demonstrates mastery of standard 2.2 because many different research-based, learner-centered strategies were used to address the diverse needs of all students in the third grade class which is was designed for. To meet the diverse needs of the students, the students were observed to identify their individual needs. For students who need extra support, they will be paired to work with a partner or team. Student will be assigned to a partner or teams to complement the personalities of each member as well as academic strengths and weaknesses. The classroom teacher will also have assistance from the special education and ELL teachers in addressing the needs of students. Based on the students’ needs and their personal preference, they can work individually, with a partner, or in a small group. The WebQuest has been designed to be complete by individuals, partners, or teams.
To ensure the diverse needs of all students were addressed, a few Universal Design (UD) principles were incorporated into the WebQuest. For students who struggle with reading, a Voki was used to read the text. To assist students who may be hearing impaired, Closed Captioning was included for all YouTube videos. A Quizlet activity was included to help all students, especially ELL students, who may struggle with the vocabulary in the WebQuest. The Quizlet activity also reads the word and text to the student. Assistive technology tools such a joy stick could be used to help students with physical disabilities navigate through the WebQuest. Students with auditory needs, could still use this WebQuest because all text is provided and the videos have closed caption. Students who need assistive technology for visual purposes could use a program to enlarge the text or use the text-to-talk program to read all the material.
A variety of multimedia elements were also incorporated into this project. Videos, avatars, vocabulary drill and practice, and educational internet links to Paul Revere resources were all used to make this WebQuest engaging and an effective learning experience. All the resources included in this WebQuest are age appropriate and designed to address the task and learning objectives.
I have learned a lot as a result of planning and developing this project. I was not familiar with WebQuests prior to this class, so first I had to learn the different elements that make up a WebQuest. Weebly was a very easy developing tool to use to develop my WebQuest. It is user friendly and the tools made it easy to add videos, pictures, documents, and to link different sources to my site. Overall, the process was fairly simple but very time consuming. I must admit that the time consuming part was partially my fault. Not being familiar with the program, it took me twice as long to complete a task as it would for someone who was familiar with the program.
I used the basic WebQuest format to create my project: Introduction, task, process, evaluation, conclusion, teacher’s page, and credits. I do believe I would add more detail and wow factors if time was not a factor. I would also add more Universal Design principles. I am also interested in trying out new multimedia elements such as audio and animations that I did not use for this project. As my comfort level and my knowledge of additional multimedia tools increases, I will experiment and incorporate additional elements.
I learned a lot about myself during this project. I first learned that there are so many multimedia tools available that I did not know existed and I really did not know how to use them. While completing this project, I learned a good foundation of skills for incorporating and using basic multimedia tools such as visual design, Universal Design principles, audio, video, linking, and HTML coding. I also learned that I am doing my students a disservice by not exposing them to WebQuests. Overall, I feel more confident in planning and designing future products for my students and assisting fellow coworkers with projects as well.
Reflection:
The artifact that best represents standard 2.2 is a WebQuest that was created for ITEC 7445. This WebQuest was created for a third grade class focused on Paul Revere. The WebQuest was designed to address third grade social studies and ELA standards. In the introduction of the WebQuest, students meet a female historian from a museum in Boston, Massachusetts. She is asking the students to go on a special mission back in time to learn about a famous American, Paul Revere. The students are going to have the opportunity to experience the night of his famous ride and see first-hand what happened. They are given two tasks to complete on their mission. First, the students are asked to learn some important facts about Paul Revere. They use their classroom journal to record facts and information they learn along the way. Seven questions and links to resource pages are provided to help the students gather the information they will need for their next task. After gathering information, the student will be required to create a PowerPoint presentation to share with their classmates what they have learned about Paul Revere. Students are provided a rubric and checklist to help them organize and finalize their final product.
The WebQuest demonstrates mastery of standard 2.2 because many different research-based, learner-centered strategies were used to address the diverse needs of all students in the third grade class which is was designed for. To meet the diverse needs of the students, the students were observed to identify their individual needs. For students who need extra support, they will be paired to work with a partner or team. Student will be assigned to a partner or teams to complement the personalities of each member as well as academic strengths and weaknesses. The classroom teacher will also have assistance from the special education and ELL teachers in addressing the needs of students. Based on the students’ needs and their personal preference, they can work individually, with a partner, or in a small group. The WebQuest has been designed to be complete by individuals, partners, or teams.
To ensure the diverse needs of all students were addressed, a few Universal Design (UD) principles were incorporated into the WebQuest. For students who struggle with reading, a Voki was used to read the text. To assist students who may be hearing impaired, Closed Captioning was included for all YouTube videos. A Quizlet activity was included to help all students, especially ELL students, who may struggle with the vocabulary in the WebQuest. The Quizlet activity also reads the word and text to the student. Assistive technology tools such a joy stick could be used to help students with physical disabilities navigate through the WebQuest. Students with auditory needs, could still use this WebQuest because all text is provided and the videos have closed caption. Students who need assistive technology for visual purposes could use a program to enlarge the text or use the text-to-talk program to read all the material.
A variety of multimedia elements were also incorporated into this project. Videos, avatars, vocabulary drill and practice, and educational internet links to Paul Revere resources were all used to make this WebQuest engaging and an effective learning experience. All the resources included in this WebQuest are age appropriate and designed to address the task and learning objectives.
I have learned a lot as a result of planning and developing this project. I was not familiar with WebQuests prior to this class, so first I had to learn the different elements that make up a WebQuest. Weebly was a very easy developing tool to use to develop my WebQuest. It is user friendly and the tools made it easy to add videos, pictures, documents, and to link different sources to my site. Overall, the process was fairly simple but very time consuming. I must admit that the time consuming part was partially my fault. Not being familiar with the program, it took me twice as long to complete a task as it would for someone who was familiar with the program.
I used the basic WebQuest format to create my project: Introduction, task, process, evaluation, conclusion, teacher’s page, and credits. I do believe I would add more detail and wow factors if time was not a factor. I would also add more Universal Design principles. I am also interested in trying out new multimedia elements such as audio and animations that I did not use for this project. As my comfort level and my knowledge of additional multimedia tools increases, I will experiment and incorporate additional elements.
I learned a lot about myself during this project. I first learned that there are so many multimedia tools available that I did not know existed and I really did not know how to use them. While completing this project, I learned a good foundation of skills for incorporating and using basic multimedia tools such as visual design, Universal Design principles, audio, video, linking, and HTML coding. I also learned that I am doing my students a disservice by not exposing them to WebQuests. Overall, I feel more confident in planning and designing future products for my students and assisting fellow coworkers with projects as well.