New Deal Webquest
Published:
I chose the New Deal as part of a hypothetical class on U.S. Government, grades 11 and 12. My goal was to help prepare future voting citizens of the United States. The webquest works especially well for this subject, as the Internet contains ample historical and contemporary political resources.
I selected web resources that were well-suited to the webquest. Each resource meets at least one of the following criteria: 1) Sites that are real-world examples of government and academic-quality publications. For example, I point the students to specific locations within official Social Security web sites, using both text and charts to facilitate learning. I also direct students to materials produced by reputable “think tanks.” 2) Contemporary educational videos that use using multi-media style presentations to communicate information in visually interesting ways. 3) Sites that give students the ability to create their own material online. I chose Penzu for students to use as an online journaling tool. I chose Poll Everywhere to give students the means to produce and submit their final written work (a persuasive writing, similar to a blog entry) for evaluation.
I used the Wix website editor because it allowed me to create an attractive, dynamic web site with relative ease. I made an earlier version of this webquest in Livebinders, and found it to be perfectly functional, but a bit too austere. I re-created the webquest in Wix and achieved a much better result. I based my webquest on a Wix political template, which was well suited to the subject of my inquiry.
In conclusion, my webquest provides an especially good medium for integrating technology, pedagogy, and content for students. The technology helps an otherwise dry subject become enjoyable and easy to engage. The content is readily available through quality web sites and videos. And, the evaluation makes good use of Internet tools. I genuinely believe this webquest would engage students and promote learning.