Webquest!

I've never heard of webquest before we started learning about them. I learned that a webquest is a new way for teachers to present projects and information. The learning is left in the hands of the student which I think is a great idea because if they feel like they have worked to learn the knowledge, then they will make a point to remember it. Most of the times the kids are paired up in groups and they are assigned different roles.

 I think this is a great tool because the teachers can customize the information and the activities that the students are required to learn. Also, this is a new way for students to learn. If the kids feel like they are contributing to their own learning then I think that they will feel more capable and more confident with the information.

Wikis?

I think Wikis are a good idea and I think that they could be helpful for sure. Personally, I don't think I would use wikis that much in my classroom if I were to teach. This is mainly due to the face that every person has to request permission to look at the site and they have to set up a user name and password. I think it might be too much hassle to do. Especially if you weren't there to set up the account with them. I think this could be confusing for parents and students.

WEB 2.0

I had never heard of the term Web 2.0 before doing this project but I was familiar with some of the things that we did like Twitter, Picnik, and podcasts. There were several things that I learned about that were completely new to me, like Smilebox, Animoto, Voicethread, and Prezi. I think as a whole Web 2.0 tools are really helpful. I think using these things in the classroom is a really smart idea because not only will using them keep the children up to date with technology but I think that those tools could really cater to individual children's learning needs and also how they work best creating projects.
I'd have to say that Prezi was my favorite tools. I am so tired of using Powerpoint that Prezi offers a fun way to get the information across without being so monotonous with the presentation style. I really enjoy how the presentation spins and zooms in. I also think that with Prezi you would have to be very careful with the speed of motion because it could make people feel a little sick.

Too Legit? Website Evaluation

This activity was really helpful in learning how to know whether certain websites have credible information on them or not. I now know that it is important to look for anything from the author and their information to the design of the website. This website was talking specifically about educational interpreting and how to use it in the classroom. It has different sections that show teachers and parents how to use interpreters and explains how important they are. This website was informational and had very little political or bias influence. I would recommend this website with reserve because I couldn't locate the author's information or the date of publication. I still feel like this website it helpful and offers great resources.

http://www.classroominterpreting.org/About/index.asp

Don't Believe Everything You Read

 Often times the internet is used as a legitimate resource for research. Should we take everything we read on the internet to be true? Probably not. Don't get me wrong...there are plenty of websites that are solid and valid but there are also thousands that are not. The internet is not monitored therefore leaving it open for anyone to post anything. Website evaluation is a key investigation that will help you discover whether a website can be trusted. This link below is an excellent tool to help evaluate websites.

http://www.lesley.edu/library/guides/research/evaluating_web.html#purpose