This week we talked about WebQuests and how they are used in the classroom. I have to say as an art educator there aren't as many resources for WebQuests as I would have hoped. Some of the WebQuests weren't relative to the core content I teach as well. Although there are many, I didn't feel like there were enough that fit my needs in the classroom. Knowing we were going to make our own, I decided to create one that directly addressed an art history style I teach my students each year.
When creating my own WebQuest, I was amazed at how long it seemed to take to make it. The Zunal.com website I used to create my WebQuest was extremely easy to navigate, however. It was just the process of creating the entire WebQuest that required so much time and planning.
I would definitely use a WebQuest in my classroom as an introduction to a new topic. This would allow students to research and gaini new information on a top so that it can be discussed in depth in the classroom. Also, if arranged as such, it can allow students to branch off into areas of discovery. I can see a WebQuest as a way to encourage students to learn together in groups by creating several tasks in one WebQuest and having students to present pieces of information to the whole class.
Although it was time consuming and there are changes I would make to mine (like better planning and more visually appealing format), I will definitely be revisiting zunal.com for some WebQuests to start out my classes next school year.
My WebQuest can be found here:
http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=154951
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Blog Assignment 5
This weeks lesson was about visual literacy and how the arts coincide with technology in this area. As an art educator this is very important to me because students often times don't stop to think about how elements are intentionally placed to add interest or get attention in ads, signs, or to draw a person to pockets of information.
I have briefly explored Glogster before and use Edmodo in the classroom frequently, but Prezi was something I have yet to use. I had heard reviews from other teachers about how good it was and how students loved to use it for their own presentations, but had never really tried it myself, assuming it was a flashy PowerPoint. I liked how you could really move in and around the Prezi and zoom into other areas of it rather than just click from slide to slide like PowerPoint. One of the things I really like about Edmodo is the ability to connect with parents. It has been my experience, however, that the parents you are able to connect with through such technologies are the parents that are already checking on their children frequently in school through other forms of communication anyway. Although Edmodo makes it more convenient to check in, I still wonder if it is convenient enough to get the parents who don't normally check in on what their children are doing to use.
In my classroom, we often work with the art elements and principles to create compositions, and I feel like I need to add a little more emphasis to technology and how these elements need to be considered to promote visual literacy on signs, web pages, ads, etc.
I have briefly explored Glogster before and use Edmodo in the classroom frequently, but Prezi was something I have yet to use. I had heard reviews from other teachers about how good it was and how students loved to use it for their own presentations, but had never really tried it myself, assuming it was a flashy PowerPoint. I liked how you could really move in and around the Prezi and zoom into other areas of it rather than just click from slide to slide like PowerPoint. One of the things I really like about Edmodo is the ability to connect with parents. It has been my experience, however, that the parents you are able to connect with through such technologies are the parents that are already checking on their children frequently in school through other forms of communication anyway. Although Edmodo makes it more convenient to check in, I still wonder if it is convenient enough to get the parents who don't normally check in on what their children are doing to use.
In my classroom, we often work with the art elements and principles to create compositions, and I feel like I need to add a little more emphasis to technology and how these elements need to be considered to promote visual literacy on signs, web pages, ads, etc.
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