Integrating Computer Based Instructional Objects

Thus far, this course has taught me a great deal about computer based instructional strategies, such as Webquests and StAIR projects. Both certainly allow for differentiated instruction and both present alternative methods to engage students. However, computer based instructional strategies should not be utilized without careful consideration.

An educator must consider the availability of computers for the students to use. If the computer lab is unavailable for use during class, is there time after school for the students to use computers in the media center? As educators we are accustomed to available technology, yet we need to consider that students may not have access to computers at home. If this is the case, such computer based instruction may discriminate against certain students, rather than meeting the needs of all at all learning levels.

Additionally, an educator must reflect on if the computer based instruction is utilizing technology to foster greater understanding or if it is simply “change without difference”. Is the internet incorporated so that videos, sounds, images and web 2.0 applications are included in the lesson? Does the instructional method allow for students to learn the material in a number of different ways, and does it give feedback based upon individual inputs? It is pointless to use a webpage and/or PowerPoint to convey the information in the same manner as could be done on a white board. Teachers must use the rich features that the mediums possess.

I have found webquests to be great educational resources; however, I have found that high school web quests are rather scarce on the web. The webquest that I used for my evaluation is centered on the increasing awareness and prevention of genocide and largely employs scaffolding. The students are guided through the definition of genocide and led to Interactive Activism, a website that demonstrates the weight of genocide. Once the students have gained a basic understanding of genocide and the current climate of genocide activism, the author removes those supports and guides the student into the exploration one specific cases of genocide, the Rwanda genocide. Through examining this example, the students gain a better understanding of the motivations behind genocide and how the process takes place. After the students have gained this understanding, another support is removed. The students are then asked to take their evolving understanding of genocide and read about the eight stages of genocide and classify past and present crisis into different stages. After forging a deep understanding of the complex process of genocide, the author removes yet another support, and urges the student to blog about potential involvement in these crises, specifically weighing humanitarianism with national interests. Once the students have analyzed the pros and cons of involvement in these crises, the final support is removed. Students are required to write a persuasive letter to their representative or news station addressing the overarching theme of preventing genocide. The webquest is entitled Never Again! Again?

I was drawn to that webquest due to my major of Social Studies. However, I am currently teaching Mathematics. It was difficult locating a high school mathematics webquest; however I did manage to find one. I was impressed by a webquest, entitled Stock Webquest. The author leads the students in a stock simulation game over the course of several weeks. While variables are not necessarily employed in the process, there is a fair amount of graphing that the students are required to do in this webquest. More importantly, this webquest demonstrated to the students one application of math in the real world through the use of graphs and tables in Microsoft Excel. There is always a disconnect between what is being done in the classroom and how math is used in real life. This webquest aims at limiting the inevitable phrase heard in all math classrooms, “are we ever going to use this in the future?”