Abstract:

This presentation describes the development and use of WebQuest technology ( www.webquest.org) with secondary level students in alternative school settings with the goals of building career and technical education skills, building academic content skills, and differentiating instruction in multi level classrooms. The presentations describes the WebQuest, provides information on developing WebQUests, and shares the results on student achievement and engagement as well as the positive effects on teachers as a result of the integration of this technology.

Using technology in education can no longer be thought of as a choice to be made on the part of teachers nor can it be considered an add-on to the curriculum or reserved for special occasions in the classroom. It has been argued that there is a gap that continues to widen between the types of knowledge and skills students learn in US schools and the actual types of knowledge and skills they need to be successful in the 21st century workforce and global economy (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2005b). The US federal government has made attempts to address this gap.The Enhancing Education Through Technology Act of 2001 requires that states provide evidence that "every student is technologically literate by the time the student finishes the eighth grade, regardless of the student's race, ethnicity, gender, family income, geographic location, or disability" (U.S. Department of Education, 2001, 247).
Frequently, students who are in alternative educational settings such as alternative high schools or correctional facilities are left behind in terms of developing academic, career, and technological literacy skills for use in 21st century technologies and upon completion of their programs are far at the bottom of the digital divide. This decreases their chances of exploring career and post-secondary educational options that call for technological skills, and these are the very careers that are experiencing global growth on a large scale. When students have access to a variety of technologies in school they experience gains on all assessment measures including state and national standardized assessments (Schacter, 1999). When teachers develop collaborative learning environments using technology, students’ outcomes are enhanced and learning becomes more interactive (Perez-Prado & Thirunarayanan 2002). Researchers have identified four ways in which technology can enhance content and process for students: first, technology can enhance students’ active engagement in the learning process. Second, technology can enhance students’ collaboration and participation in group activities. Third, technology provides contexts for feedback and interaction between both teachers and students and between peers. Finally, connections to the real world can be meaningfully developed through the use of technology in the classroom (Roschelle, Pea, Hoadley, Gordin, & Means, 2000).
Through the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data our integration of Webquest technology provides evidence for gains on standardized assessments, increased technology skills, and a change in beliefs about the students’ potential ( through narrative inquiry) in terms of using advanced technologies and options for career and post secondary education as well as increased collaboration among teachers and teachers and students co-constructing meaning and acting as co-learners in the classroom .

Keywords:

Secondary education, technology.