November 10th Question 3

When discussing Internet Project, Internet Workshop, Internet Inquiry and WebQuest there are several similarities and differences between them.  All of these instructional models of Internet use involve helping students utilize the Internet and become better at navigating through the Internet.  They also all ask students to take ownership of their own learning as none of these models occurs in a teacher-centered or directed lesson.  Students utilize the Internet to learn more about a topic or topics.

There are also several differences between these instructional models.  As Dr. Leu discussed in his video, Internet Projects involve collaborative skill development in children because students work with others (often from a different classroom or location) to research and study a topic or information.  Internet Workshops are often used within a classroom only.  They still utilize collaborative skills as students often reflect on, and share their work with others.  Workshops are aimed at the development of critical literacy skills and skills for examining and evaluating new content.  WebQuests are another way that students learn about a topic or topics using the Internet.  However, in WebQuests, the sites where students go to investigate are provided to them by an instructor.  The instructors often provide students several sites that teach students about a topic in order to give students background.  In a Quest, students are more focused on learning from the information provided and learning how to pull information from a source rather than focusing on how to find a source in the first place.

It seems to me that Internet Workshops and WebQuests are intended to help give students the skills they need in order to participate in Internet Projects and Inquiries.  Internet Inquiry is basically a cap stone project in which students select or identify a problem they wish to research or student and then they use the Internet to help them study and try to find a solution to their problem or an answer to their question.  In order for students to complete and Internet Inquiry, they must have the necessary skills often established during WebQuests of Internet Workshops.