Webquests can be made to help support productive struggle because it will challenge students to actually search for the results since it is not right in front of them. It could take students a lot of time and to go through a lot of readings and activities within the Webquest for them to get to the correct answer. 

Initially we were thinking about doing adding and subtracting numbers as our “lesson” but we discovered we needed to be able to make a design out of what we were going to be teaching. We decided to then go with geometric shapes and then have an assignment or lesson on building a playground with shapes that they’ve learned about with using Webquest. 

In order for our Webquest to build TPACK, it obviously has the technology part already because it is internet based, and with the extensive amount of research the students will have some sort of content knowledge once they are done with the lesson or assignment and while they are completing it. On page 47 of the VandeWalle book, he has a table of the Task Evaluation and Selection Guide to help identify if the task is considered worthwhile, so for now we are just going to look at the technology part of it until we have more of a lesson formed. So, the task is problematic because technology can be difficult to use, the math is interesting because you’re building a playground, they will be able to visualize what they want, they can predict what it would look like, they will need to make a chart of some kind, already having these checked off is a good start for our assignment. 

They will be using technology to access the web quest itself and navigate through it. Some of the actual links included is where the information of geometric shapes will be found. This will give them the opportunity to use technology to help them understand geometric shapes. As teachers, we will be there to “coach” them through it if problems arise. Everything they need is given to them to build problem solving skills and try to figure it out on their own as much as they can to get them in the habit of experiencing productive struggle.            

 Looking through the chart we have decided that our web quest requires them to look for patterns and be able to visualize their ideas since they will be building their own playground using geometric shapes. This goes along with the idea of problem solving strategies mentioned on pg 47 of the VandeWalle book.  It also gives them freedom on how they want to approach their building of the playground, which also connects to the worthwhile features on pg 47 of VandeWalle. 

            We have learned several things about WebQuest in our time playing with the ideas of it. We learned that it can be used to teach independence and computer skills while they do the lesson given by the teacher. By that I mean these are mostly done independently which allows the growth of autonomy and gives them possession and pride over their work. Especially if you make the project about something close to home like we did. Something else we learned is that you can make them as complicated or easy as you want. While we worked with it and messed around we realized we were doing it the “hard way” and making it much more interact than completely necessary. I think as teachers we need to simplify them or challenge them according to the group of students at hand. 

            I believe this builds technologically skills because they are forced to use the internet and strengthen their computer skills. Some teachers even develop a scavenger hunt with a WebQuest in order to get them familiar with the school’s website. It reaches our visual learners and physical learners because they can see and have physical control over how fast or slow they go. As far as my favorite thing about WebQuest, is the ability to bridge lessons into one project. In the one we made we could bridge Geometry and Social Studies into one! This allows us to get as much content knowledge into the students without them realizing they are doing it.  

            We believe it is a worthwhile task because it touches all of Van de Walle’s points. These start with the fact that a WebQuest has multiple entry points, meaning that students can be creative and go about the project in whatever way they wish. Then because it uses computers it gives the project a high cognitive demand as they navigate the web, in addition to the actual lesson at hand (P. 47). An example of the relevance of WeQuest is the lesson we created, it helps to bring their knowledge of geometric shapes into real application. We have then composing and decomposing shapes freely to explore how they fit together (p. 556). The goal being to make a playground to solve an “issue” their school is facing. The students are given the WebQuest and directions from the teacher then given free rein to explore and create, which also promotes the productive struggle as the face technological and geometric problems and are forced to solve them on their own.   

 

Van de Walle, J. (2016). Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally. 9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.