To Quest or not to Quest?

     Webquests are a tool utilized by many teachers in order for their students to have an 
interactive, hands on session with a given topic. While I haven't created a webquest before, I have completed one and found it to be quite entertaining. Webquests are relavent to students and educators for many reasons. They can be a fun way to learn and students will more than likely engage at a higher level. Educators will be appealing to a wide variety of learners while keeping students engaged in both hands on and cognative ways.
     I know there are some educators out there who do not like to use technology in the classroom. They are stuck in their "old school" ways.  Creating a webquest can be time consuming and if a teacher already has a set plan for a unit, they may not want to change it. 
     Personally, I think webquests are worth the work. Webquests can provide for an interesting lesson with the power of the Web behind it. Once completed, the webquest can be utilized over and over. We have to keep checking our sources to make sure they are up-to-date, but that can be done quickly. I look forward to creating my first one soon!

     
    

Social Media and Technology in the Classroom

     Social media and technology have become an important and controversial part of the education world. Students today come into the classroom with more knowledge of technology as well as more physical technology than at any time before. Some in the world of education are completely against the use of technology and/or social media. Others have no problem with it whatsoever. 

     In my school, almost all of the students have a smart phone, a Facebook account, a twitter account and/or an Instagram account. They Snapchat and they text.  They text A LOT. Their knowledge of technology at 15 years old is double that of mine at 37. 

    I firmly believe technology should be used in the classroom. It will be a vital part of our students lives for years to come and we need to embrace it as well teach them how to use it properly. The same goes for social media. It's not going anywhere and our students must learn to be respectful of their peers. They must learn to think before they hit that post button. It is an essential skill to think before we speak, or in this case, post. They need to learn to re-read and edit before they send an email. Students need to have an appreciation of how their words will affect the recipient of those words. It is our job as educators to teach these skills.