WebQuest winner now hooked on classroom potential
Published on 26 March, 2009
Student teacher Heidi James admits struggling to stay a step ahead of her 4 primary school age children, when it comes to IT skills and know-how...
However, she recently put in the hard yards and was thrilled to be acknowledged as national winner of the WebQuest Direct competition, in the primary category.
Heidi with 2 of her children, Meg and Ned.
[*Teachers use WebQuests as building blocks to support pupils' internet exploration.]
Heidi James' "To Dam or Not to Dam" WebQuest was among several CQUniversity student teacher and graduate entries to win national awards.
The former Canadian, now a Yeppoon resident, is currently completing a professional attachment with Taranganba Primary as part of the Graduate Diploma of Learning and Teaching (GDLT) at CQUniversity.
Heidi gains a small cash award and a boost to her CV and her school gains a subscription to WebQuest Direct, which should benefit the teachers and students.
She was pleased to win with the first WebQuest she had ever created.
"I put a bit of work into it (which has obviously paid off) and hope other teachers and students will adapt it for their own use. I quite fancy a job being paid to create webquests!" she said.
"Doing the WebQuest was a chance to familiarise myself with the power and possibilities of the web in the classroom - and I'm hooked and so are the students.
"And I'm proud that my WebQuest focused on the issue of water management and tough ecological and economic questions that are facing our community today and seemingly in the years to come."