Reflecting on Process

Beginning with defining inquiry, evaluating inquiry levels of various Web quests and the designing a task made moving toward a final product easier for me. The teaching guide and storyboard truly helped to fine tune the inquiry process and what students will being doing throughout this Web-based learning experience. The components also helped me to better understand what I was trying to create by having students learn about how information is controlled and why, as well as whether it is appropriate or not and in line with first amendment rights. I also think dividing up the project, in this case a Web quest, into 5 components helped to organize what, when and how things would happen. I like the organization of a Web quest because students can manipulate back and forth between pages as information is needed. I think doing things in this order helped me to amend my ideas so that there is more technology involved in students creating products and communicating ideas and opinions. I added the class Wiki as a forum for discussing experiences with how students access to information is monitored and/or controlled and Google docs to write and publish their persuasive essays for saving the book they chose to read as well as iMovie or Animoto to create and share their ads for saving a challenged or banned book.I feel like I will be going back to the storyboard and refining it even more as I work out some more kinks in my Web quest. I have amended the teaching guide a few times already, but all of this just makes me go back to another component and further define what students will experience and how. For example, I continue to edit the storyboard and will do so again as soon as I publish this post because I keep thinking of more things to add. It’s all been very cyclical, which I suppose is the point. Lessons and units can always be refined and tailored to meet the needs of whatever group you are teaching at the time. The point is to compare what’s been created to the initial inquiry rubric so that students are indeed engaging in an authentic inquiry-based learning experience that will in fact lead to an enduring understanding of the topic of focus.