The focus for today is to continue your research and to begin storing links for later usage. After opening the "my files" folder in mywebquest , you will see several choices. The ones we want to examine are "my topic", "my links", and "my junk drawer".
My Topic
The first decision you'll make in creating your WebQuest is that of your topic.
A good topic is one that fits these four criteria:
#It is clearly tied to the curriculum standards that govern your classroom.
#It's content you've taught before and have not been satisfied by the outcome.
#It makes good (though not necessarily exclusive) use of the Web, and could not be
taught as well without the Web.
#It requires a level of understanding that goes beyond mere comprehension.
Once you've identified a topic for which all four criteria are met, use this space as a way to
begin to nail down the boundaries of your topic. This page will not be seen by students or
by other teachers. It's primarily here for your own use and as a way to communicate with
peers and mentors who are helping you to give birth to your WebQuest.
My Links
Use this space to collect and organize the links you're finding. You may not use all of what
you find in the final product, but at least you won't lose track of the good ones.
Write a short sentence that includes the link for each resource. For example:
The Constructivist Project Design Guide maintained by Columbia University's Institute for
Learning Technologies is a treasure trove of ideas for teachers.
My Junk Drawer
Use this space to collect and organize information that you don't know where to put yet:
interesting facts, cool graphics. Some of these things will make it into your final project,
some wont.
This entire folder (myfiles), should be removed when your WebQuest is final and ready to
be opened to the public. While you're still developing, though, keep things in here instead
of scattered all over several hard drives.