Reflection of Walden Course 6712

Throughout this course the most striking revelation I have had about the teaching of new literacy skills is having students use multiple modalities in their creation of products. I often use multiple modalities when I present information to students; however I have not given much thought to asking students to. Eagleton & Dobler state the QUEST Inquiry Model: Questioning, Understanding Resources, Evaluating, Synthesizing, and Transforming. Within this transforming stage is using the information found and presenting it in text and visually. I plan to utilize this amazing tool in future inquiry projects.

In additional to use multiple modalities in inquiry projects I also plan to ask students to evaluate websites to a further degree than I do now. I will give students a handout each time internet research is completed. This handout will be a graphic organizer for easy visualization. Each row will have a place for the websites’ URL, author of website, date created and or date last updated, the governing body (university of government association), URL backtracking, and lastly does the information seem reliable. These steps will insist that students take the time to decide off the website is reliable. After a couple projects are completed in this way, these steps will become second nature to students.

Although inquiry projects at first glance may seem to take a lot of class time, I strongly believe that students learn a great deal more content and process skills than the typically class instruction, activity, and test. Student’s ability to make decisions for themselves and evaluate sources is a step in the right direction for preparing students for the 21st century globally competitive workforce. I would really like to pursue professional development about creating and sharing effective inquiry projects. In order to accomplish this goal I will find the companies that provide professional development within this state and look for development of inquiry science projects. I will also utilize Discovery Educators Network and online resources.

Resources
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.