Google:   www.act.org/ ; www.kaptest.com/college ;   www.princetonreview.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ASSIGNMENT #5 - WEB QUEST

 

 

1)     How to Stop Bullying  The webquest has a very structured lay out beginning with an introduction to the topic at hand.  In this case "How to Stop Bullying", takes the issue of bullying in schools and creates a task for students to synthesize several established bullying programs and make a case for which program is the best for their purposes.  The "teams" of students can take what they think is the best of different programs and integrate them into their own.  The student teams are given specific questions that they must analyze and answer in a effort to determine the best approach.  They will then provide their results in five minute presentations to the class.  The class will then vote as to which program was the most effective.  The webquest provides a rubric evaluative tool that the instructor uses to determine the effectiveness of each groups presentation, followed by a conclusion and credits.  An interesting section is the teacher portion of the webquest, which discusses standards including disciplines covered in the program.  It also goes into a history of how the program was developed and why in the introduction.  In this case a survey was conducted in a K-8 school that uncovered startling results regarding the level of bullying that actually takes place there.

 

2)    Zero Tolerance  This program takes an advertising approach to raise the level of awareness regarding the topic of bullying.  "Zero Tolerance" is geared to the middle school aged student in grades 6 to 8.  The task for the student (actually students are again broken into groups with specific duties) is to develop a one minute public service announcement geared at reducing the incidence of bullying in their school.  Part of the process involves studying the incidence and history of bullying.  This program also includes a survey of bullying in the school population.  Students don roles as producer/director, script writer, A/V technician and costuming coordinator for their presentation.  There are numerous resources available on this site making it an outstanding resource for someone interested in developing this topic.  An interesting feature of the site is also that each process is set up as an audio presentation.

 

3)   Bullying   This program based in New Zealand (I guess bullying is a world-wide problem) emphasizes a presentation type approach to the topic.  This program appears to be a "bullying basics" webquest.  The presentors (pairs of students) are tasked with defining bullying, and answering the core questions of why does it happen, who does it happen to, why is it harmful and tips on how to deal with bullies and what to do when you witness bullying taking place.  Approximately 20 websites are provided to students as research resources for finding the answers to their topic.  Students are also directed specifically to review the evaluation page of the webquest to see how they will be evaluated.

 

4)     The "No Bullying" Proposal  This program emphasizes getting students to look at the characters involved in the bullying process and tries to get them to be active partcipants in resolving bullying problems in the school.  Students are tasked to develop a ten minute presentation using templates to make their presentations attractive.  Students are required to research the characters involved in bullying:  the person bullying, the person being bullied, the "disinterested bystander" and the "mediator", or the person who takes action to stop the improper behaviors.  Again, there are several website resources available to assist the student in carrying out their designated task. 

 

5)    Bye Bye Bully  This program geared to 4th grade students, introduces the topic of bullying by first providing a true-false quiz on the truths and myths about bullying.  Once the student has a basic idea about the topic, they are prompted to read fiction and non-fiction stories about bullying.  The students are divided in to groups of four and they are directed to note behaviors of bullies.  With each behavior, the students are tasked with creating a response to the action.  With the information they develop, the students are assigned to create a brochure that could be published and distributed at their school.  The theme of the brochure is up to the group.  They can create a fictional story and take the reader through an incident of bullying, or the brochure can be more news article-like emphasizing the clinical apspects of bullying, a story of one person's experience, or the advice column - a how to approach.  Each brohure must have some bullying defining basics, descriptions of some common bullying tactics and some advice for dealing with the problem.

 

 

 

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1)  A Guide of College Podcasts http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2125/audio-a-guide-to-college-poscasts One of the things that I have begun to feel obsolete about in my job is relaying what is really going on at college these days.  The evolution of the internet as a research tool made libraries change almost completely.  This audio podcast is a 10 and a half brief on how podcasts are beginning to revolutionize teaching on college campuses.  Daniel Coleman of Stanford University discusses through an interview format how use of podcasts in classroom lecture settings have created an interesting dilemma.  Is it appropriate for a student to simply access a podcast lecture and not bother to attend classes, or not?  An argument for using podcasting in lecture settings is that it allows the student to access what was taught in the class over again to enhance an individuals learning.  Coleman goes on to talk about some of the extensive podcast "libraries" that exist at many college campuses and how many of them seem to have a focus in the areas in which the university has a reputation for excellence. Coleman was asked if podcasting might just be a fad.  His answer was that it may stick at some campuses but budget constaints will be the biggest determining factor for how and whether or not it becomes institutionalized at a particular college.

 

2)  Financial Aid Q & A www.peterson's.com/podcasts/  Peterson's has a terrific amount of applicable podcasts providing a variety of help in all college prep areas including admissions, college selection and financial aid.  The podcast that I listened (audio obviously) to (Financial Aid Q & A) dealt with the issue of getting the "appropriate" amount of aid based on what one rightfully has coming to them through the traditional process.  There were staged questions that asked things like "how do I know that my EFC is appropriate for my family" and how can I suppliment what I have been offered.  The host, Michael Harrison, had some creative answers such as contacting faculty in the department they are working in, to access monies in their discretionary funds, and also contacting the Financial Aid Office during mid-semester to see if funds may be available based on attrition.  The podcast was fast paced and lasted only about 5 minutes.  I'm constantly being asked questions regarding the FA process at school and the more resources I can access or relay to parents, the better off I am!

 

3)  Best 366 Colleges www.robinraskin.com/tprpodcasts/Episode13-TheBest366Colleges2008Edition.mp3  This one came with even a little advertising!  Jen Adams of The Princeton Review interviews Robin Raskin, who edits the yearly edition of PR's The Best 366 Colleges the 2008 edition.  I have purchased a couple of these books and they are very informative catelogs that provide some cool insights on some of the top colleges and universities in the US.  The podcast, about 7 minutes long described the usual items that the book has to offer.  What I found to be interesting is how they access the insights that they use for the book.  The author contacts the Dean's of all 366 universities and gets them to allow PR to email all their students to get insights about their school.  They get feedback about how exciting the faculty are, how much studying really takes place, how many kids stay on campus on weekends, what the night life is like and how good the food is.  For the 2008 edition, they received 120,000 responses.  One of the items that they added to review for each campus is how their career services program rate, which is something every parent would want to know.  PR's 366 Best Colleges is a neat resource and one that is particularly useful for that student who is looking for the right fit, or the school that might just be a notch above some of the typical schools Wyalusing kids often seek out.