ORTESOL Conference
Portland, Oregon, October 27, 2000
Michael Krauss
ISALC, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon

How can you take some of the terrific resources from the Web and integrate them into your curriculum? One way is to create Web-based activities, each designed with a specific student group and teaching goal in mind, using one of several online "click 'n build" tools. There is no need to learn HTML, and servers are provided to store the Web pages you create.

One of these "click 'n build" tools, Filamentality, guides you through the design of a learning activity, asking you to fill in blanks. Filamentality helps you pick a topic (if necessary), collect appropriate Web sites, choose from among five activity formats (depending on your teaching goal), and then produces for you a Web page on the Internet.

Today, we'll explore five types of Web-based learning activities and take a Filamentality Tour to see one way these online materials can be created.

A. What are the Web-based activity formats and how can I use them in class?

B. Where can I find Web-based activities created by others?

C. How can I create a Web-based learning activity?

1. Topic Selection
2. Finding Internet Sites
3. Making the Web Pages
4. Evaluating the Activity Design and Student Performance

D. Additional Resources

A. What are the Web-based activity formats and how can I use them in class?

1. Hotlist (Begin Exploration) - After finding and categorizing sites, the teacher publishes them on a Web page. The Hotlist is the basic building block for the other activity formats.
   • Supplements traditional teaching materials.
   • Avoids students wasting time surfing the Net
   • More efficient than handing out lists of sites or sharing bookmarks
   • Easily updated and can be modified to fit students' ability and interests
   • Eliminates unnecessary photocopying of materials
   • Example: Archaeological Field Work
     
     
2. Multimedia Scrapbook (Download Media) - Collect varied Internet sites and organize them into categories such as photos, maps, quotations, facts, stories, audio clips, video clips, etc. Useful when students already have acquired some knowledge on the topic being studied. Students then pick and choose from the resources, and incorporate them into a project such as a report, newsletter, Web page, slide presentation, etc.
   • Student centered activity
   • Students choose an aspect of the topic that personally interests them
   • Enables students to create more interesting reports and presentations
   • Students have the opportunity to make use of multimedia tools
   • Example: A Soccer Scrapbook
     
     
3. Subject Sampler (Connect Affectively) - Teacher finds five or six Web sites on the chosen topic that contain a hands-on element, something to do or listen to or look at. The sites are varied to appeal to a wide range of students. Students are asked to choose one or two sites that most interest them and to interact with them from a personal point of view. Useful to engage many different types of learners
   • Encourages students to "buy in" to the topic being studied.
   • Lets students choose resources depending on individual interests and learning style
   • Triggers an affective interest in the topic to be studied.
   • Example: My China; Facing Facts: Prejudice
     
     
4. Treasure Hunt (Build Knowledge) - Teacher selects ten to fifteen Web sites and designs a question to be answered from each site. The sites and questions guide students to study critical aspects of a topic. Students can then be asked to synthesize what they learn in order to answer a "big question" posed at the end of the Treasure Hunt. Useful to help students learn hard facts about a topic or area of study and to see a bigger picture.
   • Encourages reading for a specific purpose
   • Fosters sharing and consensus building among student groups
   • Asks students to infer and draw conclusions
   • Examples: Black History Past to Present
     
      
5. WebQuest (Problem Solve) - Using controversial, often current issues, students go beyond fact finding and get deeper into a problematic topic in order to analyze its components and suggest a solution. Prior to dividing into groups, students all learn basic background information about the topic. The teacher collects Web sites and categorizes them according to particular roles, tasks or perspectives. Within small groups, individuals or pairs of students are charged with becoming "experts" on one aspect of the problem by reading and understanding the Web resources for their particular role. When the students come together, they jigsaw in order to share, evaluate and synthesize the information they have read. After that, students complete a real-world activity such as e-mailing congressional representatives or presenting their interpretation to experts on the topic. Useful for helping students get beyond simplistic solutions to complex problems.
   • Provides up-to-date resources from a variety of perspectives on complex issues
   • Encourages reading for comprehension and evaluation (critical reading skills)
   • Requires sharing of information and synthesizing materials from divergent viewpoints
   • Helps students see that reasonable people differ over solutions to complex problems
   • Process encourages respect for others' viewpoints
   • Facilitates written work through which students take a stand and attempt to persuade with a real-world audience
   • Examples: Conflict Yellowstone; Tuskegee Tragedy
     
     
6. Additional Resources on Using Web-based Activity Formats
   • Working the Web for Education, Tom March
   • Kathy Schrock's WebQuest in our Future: The Teacher's Role in Cyberspace
   • Filamentality Activity Formats, San Diego State University Pacific Bell Fellows
   • Filamentality Posting Policy
     
     
7. Sample Course Making Use of Web-based Activity Formats: Diversity and Civil Rights in the U.S.

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 B. Where can I find Web-based activities created by others?

1. Blue Web'n Database - Searchable database of high-quality Internet learning sites categorized by subject area, audience, and type (lessons, activities, projects, resources, references, and tools). You can look under "Activities" or designate "Web-based Activities" or "Hotlist" in the search engine.
   
   
2. WebQuest Page - Bernie Dodge, originator of this activity format, maintains this page with over two hundred WebQuests organized according to grade level. Check the Portal for a matrix of Quests, organized by content and grade level, also rated: Top, Middling, New.
   
   
3. Search Engines - Entering the <name of an activity format> + <topic> in your favorite search engine can be productive. Example: "webquest U.S. culture" brought up a large number of relevant hits using Google.
   
   
4. Search Filamentality - Enter search terms in the box to find Filamentality pages created by others.

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C. How can I create a Web-based learning activity?

Once you become familiar with Web-based activity formats, you can create your own Web-based lessons. If you don't know how to make Web pages or you don't have access to a server to post Web pages, you can use a self-help resource such as Filamentality (free) or Web 'n Flow ($25 per year). Tom March authored both and describes Web n' Flow as Filamentality on "steroids."

1. Topic Selection - This will depend on your curriculum, course, age and language level of your students and particular teaching objective. If you need help thinking of topics that might lend themselves to Web-based learning activities, check out The Idea Machine. You can evaluate the potential of your topic using a rubric from the WebQuest page.
   
   
2. Finding Internet Sites - After deciding on a topic and choosing a type of learning activity, you will have to find engaging, high-quality Internet sites which support the learning task and are appropriate for the grade level and language ability of your students. This is the most difficult and time-consuming part of the process, but it is becoming easier as more specialized Web directories and more sophisticated search engines are developed. Here are activities that will help with your search skills.
   
   
   • Web directories (most also have search capability) : My favorite directories are located in the ESL-Independent Study Lab in the "Content-Rich Collection."
     
     
   • Search Engines: For general use, I always go first to Google. To find multimedia resources, I like Altavista. For very specific questions, check out Brainboost. If you'd like help choosing the best search engines based on a matrix of factors, try NoodleQuest. Bernie Dodge has created a page of Specialized Search Engines which would specifically help you in finding resources appropriate for WebQuests.
     
     
3. Making the Web Pages:
   • If you don't know how to (or don't want to) create the Web-based activities from scratch, or if you don't have a server to post Web pages, then try Filamentality or Web 'n Flow. Let's see how Filamentality works now, buy taking a Filamentality Tour to create a Treasure Hunt.
     
     
   • If you are interested in training other members of your staff to use Filamentality, check out the Trainer's Guide. From here, you can download a Fact Sheet, a Flow Chart (see last page of your handout) and a Guided Tour handout.
     
     
   • If you are specifically interested in creating a WebQuest and want to write the pages yourself, you may want to use a template. There are frame and no-frame versions, which are available to download from the WebQuest Page. Or if you know the design pattern you want to use for your WebQuest, these design pattern templates will really cut your development time down.
     
     
   • Whether you make the Web pages yourself or use a click 'n build interface, be sure and first look at the Reading and Training Materials at the WebQuest Page. They cover all of the pedagogical underpinnings and practical aspects for designing, creating and implementing WebQuest projects. The guidance you receive will help, regardless of which activity format you choose.
     
     
4. Evaluation of the Web Activity and of Student Performance

   How do you know your Web activity is the best it can be? Check this rubric before giving starting students on their work. How can you effectively evaluate what students have learned with a Web-based activity? Here is another rubric that will help.

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D. Additional Resources

1. Integrating the Internet into the Classroom: An Online Course
2. Information and Communications Technology for Language Teachers
3. Internet Projects Registry (Global Schoolnet Foundation)
4. ESL Independent Study Lab
   

1. A Hotlist is a) your 10 year olds' homework assignments found in his jeans after the drying cycle is done b) a flyer with the best new restaurants in town c) a Web page containing relevant, categorized Web sites prepared by a teacher for her students; a building block for many activities d) I am clueless.

2. A Multimedia Scrapbook is a) a book containing top tunes and lyrics from the 60's b) a novel which has been panned by critics from a variety of media c) a teacher-created Web page containing a variety of resources (audio, video, images, maps, charts, etc.) which students use to create reports, Web pages, slide presentations and more d) I am clueless.

3. A Subject Sampler - a) the newest assortment of candies at See's b) a category of questions on "Who wants to be a millionaire?" c) Teacher prepares a Web page with numerous resources on a topic; students choose the one or two sites that most interest them and interact with them from a personal point of view d) I am clueless.

4. A Treasure Hunt is a) what garage sale fanatics think they are on b) a Costco trip to some and a Saks Fifth Avenue to others c) a Web page of related sites which a teacher collects, accompanied by questions for each, leading to a more general question for students to explore d) I am clueless.

5. A WebQuest involves a) looking through one's files for a Qwest phone bill b) chasing a spider with a rolled up magazine to appease a mortified arachnophobe c) a Web-based activity which requires students to synthesize information and suggest solutions to real-life problems d) I am clueless.

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Created by: krauss@lclark.edu
Updated: 11/4/04