Introduction|Learners|Curriculum|Process|Resources|Evaluation|Credits
Introduction
This webquest was developed as an assessment item for
- FET5621 Introduction to Web Production
and contributes towards my Masters in Education Technology, USQ,Toowoomba,Qld.
I was inspired to develop a webquest around the tourism industry after a short weekend stay at O'Reilly's Guest House, Lamington National Park, SE Queensland. For anyone who is not familiar with this beautiful area of the world click on the image and it will take you to O'Reilly's Guest House - a truly magnificent "getaway in the treetops".
The webquest is designed as an Integrated project for Year 12 Business, Information Communications students. I teach a combined Certificate II in Business Services and Certificate II in Information Technology over a period of two years. Most students choose a Vocational Education Course in preference to studying for an OP.
On completion of the webquest I want all students to
- exit the course with a portfolio of items that showcase their skills
- build on previously studied units
- gain new competencies
- improve individual organisational skills
- develop group workskills
- critically evaluate their own work in relation to acceptable industry standards
- gain confidence needed to enter the workforce.
NEWSFLASH 31st July, 2007
During my communications with Mr Shane O'Reilly, owner of O'Reilly's Mountain Retreat, I received an email from one of his managers offering the students in my class the opportunity to work during the vacation period at the retreat. His idea being the students could have the opportunity of the "real" experience. This offer has made the experience of the whole unit so authentic. Students have an incredible goal; to work their way towards "on the job" experience - an experience at the real "Lorikeet Lodge". I am so grateful to his hospitality and also his offer for students to write to his manager Kim Chesswas with any questions about the business.
For my Vocational Education and Training students finishing school in November, this whole unit has become REAL.
Learners
This webquest specifically covers four units of competency from the two training 
packages ICA05 and BSB01. It revises and builds upon skills learnt during the previous 18 months. The webquest can easily be extended to cover other units of competency in both these training packages.
The learners may include students of all ages at secondary school and TAFE colleges studying units from these VET training packages. Students prior learning should include some knowledge and skills in the following software programs:
- word processing software (Microsoft Word)
- spreadsheet software (Microsoft Excel)
- database software (Microsoft Access)
- web browser (Internet Explorer)
- publishing software (Microsoft Publisher)
- notepad (text editor)
- photo editing software
The webquest offers a mix of learning activities:
- tasks that must be performed as to the organisation's OPPM
- tasks that must be performed but using their own creative design ideas
- independant tasks that reflect their own interpretation, level of skills and understanding of creative design
Students will have a valuable opportunity to produce and display a portfolio of their skills to potential employees.
Curriculum
Activities included in this integrated project expand upon previous skills explored in earlier studied units. Strategies have been previously modelled and students have been assisted in learning and practicing these strategies with familiar activities. In this unit the student is allowed to use their own creative design skills to individualize their portfolio.
Units of competency addressed.
- ICAU2012B Design organisational documents using computing packages
- ICAU2013B Integrate commercial computing packages
- BSBCMN202A Organise And complete daily work activities
- ICPMM263Access and Use the Internet
The four units of competency being addressed in this webquest build on competencies attained in previous units of study. The above diagram lists these units and codes.
The teaching and learning principles that underpin the design of this course include:
Constructivism
Focuses on the learner and the knowledge that they build internally. Based on active engagement with ideas and materials,
Views learning as a process in which the learner activiely constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge.
eg: The student is building on the knowledge and skills already gained throught units previously studied. Each individual has different entry skills and through active participationof set tasks will process this information and build new ideas
The webquest was designed to:-
- encourage students to be actively engaged in the learning process where they are responsible for the depth and complexity of the skills they develop. The open-ended activities cater for individual learning styles and support different levels of student abilities. Students are encouraged to evaluate their skill development and reflect on the learning process.
- be constructive by integrating new ideas with prior knowledge
- be collaborative by working together in small groups, exploiting each others skills while receiving support from each member of the group
- encourage an attitude of intentional learning
Intentional Learning
The intention is for the students to invest extra mental effort, beyond what is required just to complete a task, with the intention of achieving personal goals for learning. In doing this they actively think and learn more.
eg.The student's personal goal being a portfolio of exemplary workpieces displayed in hardcopy format as well as an e-portfolio.
Mr Shane O'Reilly's offer to students to work at the resort will encourage students to be more involved in the learning.
- be complex by offering students real life problems with multiple components, different perspectives and different solutions that will effect individuals in complex ways. Students will be required to engage in higher order thinking so as not to develop oversimiplified views of the world.
- be contextual by providing a real life simulated case-based learning environment where the knowledge and skills gained can directly influence the outcome of their future employment.
- be conversational by providing the opportunity for group collaboration to seek out opinions and ideas to solve problems, to optimize outcomes and for formal presentation.
An important part of the webquest is not just to teach a block of content but implicitly help students think more productively by combining:
- creative thinking (to generate creative ideas for their group portfolio)
- critical thinking (to evaluate group ideas and come up with a plan)
The tasks for each job role uses the following levels of thinking:
Knowledge: observation and recall of previously learnt knowledge in units of communication, computing packages, occupational health and safety.
Comprehension: read, recall, grasp meaning, translate knowledge, interpret, order, group, discuss, predict consequences in all individual and group activities.
Application: use methods, concepts and theories from previous units of study to solve problems in new situations
Analysis: order, explain, connect, classify, arrange, compare, select, explain, infer in individual and group tasks.
Synthesis: combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute, plan, create, design, invent, compose, formulate and prepare in all group negotiations.
Evaluation : compare and discriminate between ideas, assess value of group items, compromise, self evaluate and make choices based on reasoning issues.
By using the wiki area in Blackboard, higher level thinking skills using Edward de Bono's "Six Thinking Hats" will be used. After researching the region and studying the concept of "ecotourism", the groups will look at the following newspaper story:
Newspaper Article
"Lorikeet Lodge ecotourism retreat has undergone multi-million dollar refurbishments and will stage a Grand Opening on 15th December 2007. Over 500 visitors are expected to join in the celebrations with the Thompson Family who have owned the lodge for more than 100 years. Tourists from all over the world are expected to flock to the area to enjoy the beauty of the Lamington National Park region."
"Local residents are divided in their opinions as to the future success of the project. Those is favour of ecotourism believe it to be just what Australia needs. However there are many critics among them"
They will be asked to comment on the article and improve their knowledge about the industry in which they will be working, by contributing to group discussions using the six hats:
The Black Hat is gloomy and negative. Students will be asked to think of all the negative, bad aspects of the development.
Process
The process begins with students establishing groups of three. I will allow students to form their own groups however this will depend on individual classes and teacher preferences. The tasks may be adjusted for groups of four if needed by creating two assistants in one of the areas and slightly changing the wording of some of the tasks.
- All students contribute to the portfolio by designing a logo and selecting what they feel is the best logo to be used.
- This will be the beginning of group collaboration and decision making.
- Some groups will need the supervisor to help define which qualities create a good design.
- I prefer this to be a group decision.
At this point I will establish the first group discussion wiki in The Learning Place. Hopefully this will clarify group goals. All students will be invited to contribute to the question:
" How did you choose the right logo for your group"
"Why did your group choose the logo?"
Students will need to choose a role:
The webquest will be completed over a period of 8 weeks with 3x70min periods per week. The final week will include the group presentation to the class and the principal.
Students will use the planning sheets provided to distribute tasks over the time frame. They will need to fill out daily time sheets and work plans, as these will contribute to evidence for how they organise and plan daily work activities.
Some of the tasks are very specific and must be completed as stated in the question. Some tasks allow the student scope for their own interpretation and creative flair. Their own contribution to the portfolio is open ended. This may be a stumbling block for some groups and will need input from the teacher to lead discussion. I encourage the use of wiki's on The Learning Place for all groups to share ideas and for the teacher to direct debates. These wiki's will be designed by the teacher and will depend on the information flow within the class.
Variations
It is up to the teacher how long this group based webquest will continue. In some schools there will be a need to be flexible with end of year activities sometimes taking precedence over classtime. There is tremedous scope with the group contribution activities which may include making radio advertisements, travel brochures, newsletters, videos, webpages etc. As this is to be used as a culminating project, if students have completed all competencies for their certificates and are enjoying the challenge, then the webquest may continue for longer.
During this time period I will also be assessing one on one, students practical skills for another three units of competency:
- ICAU2231A "Use computer operating system"
- ICAI2015A "Install software applications"
- ICAS2014A "Connect hardware peripherals"
Resources Needed
The following resources are needed to use the webquest :
- E-mail accounts for all students
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Publisher
- Microsoft Outlook or Express
- Internet Explorer
- Paint
- Photostory
- Notepad or web editor
- PC for each student
- printer
- scanner (optional)
- video (optional)
- sound recorder (optional)
- Blackboard course setup through The Learning Place
- Course enrolment for each student through The Leaning Place
All web resources are listed in the student resources page
Human Resources
The learning program can be operated under the direct supervision of one classroom teacher. During the webquest activities I will contact Mr Tim O'Reilly, owner/manager of O'Reilly's Guesthouse to participate in a phone conference with students.
Evaluation
All evaluation for ICA05 and BSB01 training packages is competency based. If students produce evidence to show they have the required elements of competency equal to industry standards, then they are evaluated as being competent in the unit.
I have provided a matrix showing the type of evidence needed to gain competency. You can access this matrix from the Evaluation/Assessment Criteria or through the menu at the top of page. Teacher may use this page to enter the Student's name, tick the radio boxes and print out an evaluation page at the end for each student.
Credits & References
I would like to thank all my lecturers Kaye Cleary and Peter Evans as well as fellow students in FET5621 for their help and support in the discussion topic areas. Creating this webquest using my new web production skills has been challenging. I have a special thank you to my nephew Daniel de Byl who has been encouraging and a great support when needed.
For my class of Year 12 students who I thoroughly enjoy teaching, I hope this webquest provides you will valuable skills and materials to find the job you are looking for and successfully enter the workforce.
The following resources were extremely helpful in understanding the format of a webquest and the educational pedagogy behind it:
The Webquest Page http://webquest.sdsu.edu/
Website101 http://foxweb.marist.edu/users/kbyfp/evaluation.htm
Creating a rubric for a given task http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss99/rubrics/rubrics.html
On the cutting edge webquest: David Young
http://ouray.cudenver.edu/%7Edl0young/cutting_edge/files/index.html
The Six Thinking Hats - Bono de, Edward
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_bono_six_thinking_hats.html
Building Brands
http://www.buildingbrands.com/goodthinking/08_six_thinking_hats.php
- Weblinks for related activities can be found throughout the webquest and also listed on the resources pages.
- The images in the photo album were taken during our stay at O'Reilly's Guest House and during our visit to Binna Burra Mountain Retreat.
I have learnt so much by using activites provided by other teachers. Our students can all benefit through sharing of learning resources. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL."
