'Endangered Species' Webquest

Artifacts created April 2001.
Reflection written February 2002.

Artifacts

Unit outline and lesson plans
'Endangered Species' Webquest

Reflection: Endangered Species WebQuest

Standard:

• British National Curriculum, Key Stage 2.
• Based on QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) - Scheme of Work for Information and Communication Technology, Year 6.
• Unit 6D: Using the Internet to search large databases and to interpret information.
• Description of unit (from the scheme of work): In this unit children learn to use large sources of information, such as those found on the Internet. They will use, skim read and take in information to be able to own it for themselves and interpret it with others. At times they will be critical of content and may be able to check for different viewpoints. Children will present the researched information in a form suitable to the needs of their audience. It is important that teachers search the Internet first for suitable sites. Without this, children can spend many hours in fruitless searching, without any reward.

Describe:

This artifact developed from a desire on my part to satisfy two requirements:
• Create a unit of work that was usable for Unit 6D of the Key Stage 2 ICT (British) curriculum
• To develop an integrated curriculum in conjunction with Year 6 teachers in order to make the ICT lesson less of a separate entity.
As the ICT teacher in the school, and in conjunction with the aims of the school administration, I was undertaking a restructure and refocus of ICT classes at the Key Stage 2 level (Years 3 - 6). ICT was not to be seen as a separate subject, although it was held in a computer laboratory. Class teacher involvement was to be instigated as well as links with other curriculum areas.
The Year 6 classes were studying habitats, biomes and endangered species. After consultation with the class teachers I created a web site entitled 'Endangered Species'. The aim was for students to become familiar with the plight of endangered species in general and also with one species, chosen from a list of six, in particular. They would use ICT resources to collect information and present it in an organised, acceptable and easy to follow format. They would also become aware of the usefulness of web pages to provide information, but at the same time be aware of the need to filter through information and be selective as to what was to be used.
The website I created was based loosely on the WebQuest model with the task and process clearly outlined and required students to work in groups of two. The main web sites I wanted the students to investigate were set up and available offline. From each offline website, online links were possible and students were free to investigate relevant sites further with teacher supervision. Selected information, text and images, was copied into a Word file.

Analyze:

This artifact is important as it demonstrates my ability to develop curriculum within a framework and to incorporate technology as a tool to be used along with the goals of the classroom curriculum so that an integrated approach with ICT is achieved. The development of the unit of work shows my ability to work closely with other educators as part of a team but also to take a leadership role during implementation. The decision to provide a collection of offline web sites for the students to access shows that I am aware of the nature of the available resources (a slow and unreliable Internet connection at this particular school) and can be flexible when constructing and adapting a unit of work.

Appraise:

By providing a structured set of information with clear tasks and goals the students could efficiently complete the work and I was satisfied with the outcomes of this unit of work. The web site gave students of the 10-12 age range the experience of searching for and evaluating information on chosen sites without the need to develop or refine search engine skills. Most students were able to make decisions as to the information appropriate for them and to answer questions and create their presentation in an effective and organised manner. By team teaching with the classroom teacher, class size of about 20, students were given the benefit of curriculum and technical support, as they needed it. The classroom teacher was able to guide the student to find and appraise information while my main role was as a resource for software and computer related issues.

Transform:

The position of ICT in the Primary curriculum (up to Year 6) does need to evolve to a point where the computer and associated technologies become tools, become invisible even, in the broader curriculum aims which are to discover and then communicate that discovery. Having a computer laboratory as a tool in the school means that it should not be a separate subject isolated and irrelevant to anything taught in the real classroom. From the experience of developing and teaching the unit on endangered species I am more aware now of the need for all teachers to be computer literate and able to integrate the technology into the curriculum. It is not just a specialist area anymore, though the ICT specialist can be there as a support in a number of areas such as imparting software skills knowledge and preparing 'launching pads' such as WebQuests to facilitate the learning process.

Julie Lindsay, February 2002

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