|
WebQuest Evaluations on Multimedia
I looked through many, many WebQuests to find a few that I found used
multimedia in a significant way. Many had a PowerPoint presentation as an option
as a final product, but offered little or no structure around the production or
requirements of the presentation. I selected these two because they stood out as
having multimedia as a significant element of the way the WebQuest was
structured and the topics fit into our curriculum.
1. The Gilded Age WebQuest:
http://oswego.org/staff/tcaswell/wq/gildedage/student.htm
This was an excellent WebQuest – at least it looks like a great one. We’ll
see how it pans out when we use it! The web pages are very professional and
there’s a few extra screens of information. One defines “Segments” which is how
each team will create “their segment” of the final presentation and what
information is required in that segment. Since each team is creating a segment
of the final product, it is important for them to ensure they not only cover the
material but ensure that it fits into the final product. The final product is
described as a film documentary that the students will use PowerPoint to create
each segment, including images and voiceover narrations.
There were a few links that didn’t work. Most of the links did work and were
excellent resources. I would try to use this WebQuest as written initially. I’d
try it out first and only make changes if something didn’t work for me. It looks
to me like it was very well designed and fine-tuned over a few years.
2. Lightning…The Shocking Truth: http://www.derry.k12.nh.us/teachers/techintegration/lightning/lighthome.htm
(note - link no longer works (as of August 2007)
This is a pretty well-designed WebQuest that has students researching many
different aspects of Lightning. The webpage is interesting initially because of
the use of animated gifs and sound – they really do draw you in. It was nice to
have control of the sound on the page. The subject is not introduced very well –
there’s no “main question” that is necessary to maintain focus. This is an
interesting WebQuest that needs some fine-tuning but I liked the approach. It
clearly lays out the expectations for the multimedia presentation with research
links by slide topic and it offers links to multimedia resources like websites
that offer clipart and sound effects. The teacher resources focus on state
frameworks which is helpful for those of us in NH at least. There are also good
rubrics provided for the students and reminders from the start that they should
review them regularly.
|
