Title:

Wee Webbies: Web Quests for the Very Young 

Presenter:

Jennifer Sloan 

Short Description:

Even primary students can utilize Internet skills to enhance their learning. The key to success is to provide them with grade/age appropriate resources. 

Category:

Lab 

Length:

2 hour(s)

Skill Level:

Novice 

Long Description:

There are some excellent web quests available on the Internet for primary students. However, many exist that are definitely not age/grade appropriate for these young readers and researchers. Students retain more knowledge if they are actively involved in the learning process. However, students must be able to read and have an understanding of the goals if they are asked to take on a more active role. Research shows that effective web quests enhance learning, which result in long-term retention. After attending this session, teachers will be able to locate and identify suitable web quests for primary students. They will also learn how easy it is to create their own web quests for any subject/topic using Microsoft Front Page, Publisher or even Word! Teachers need to come to this session ready to work, as they will be developing a web quest relating to their desired subject/topic. Please bring materials you use when developing a unit. 

ISTE Standards:

Research:

The research for this presentation was gathered from an article titled “Comparison of Hypermedia Learning and Traditional Instruction on Knowledge Acquisition and Retention” found in The Journal of Educational Research, March/April 2001 [Vol. 94(No. 4)]. The results of this study revealed that long-term retention of knowledge was higher in the hypermedia computer lab. Retention test results in this study show that unlike participants in the control group, participants in the experimental group formed links between existing knowledge and knowledge presented by hypermedia in their long-term memory. As a result, students in the experimental group retained knowledge in the experimental units much better than did the control group.