Recently I assessed a group of WebQuests that were created by students from the Australian Catholic University (Canberra Campus) and the following 9 were considered outstanding!

Joelle Arguta - "Little Works"

Valen Dyson - "Should children with lymphoedema attend special needs preschools over mainstream preschools?"

Ann Jenvey - Dysgraphia and NAPLAN

Chris Nairn - Food for Thought: How far should a child-care centre go to cater for the needs of one child? 

Lauren Parker - Can a Nurse with Narcolepsy function safely at work? 

Elizabeth Wilson - ABIlity to Play ...the Journey beyond RehABIlitation 

Tanya de Gier  - Disabilities or Differences?

Amanda Rombouts - Tourette Syndrome - Can't you just stop!? 

Melanie Lee  - I am not like the other kids. I have cerebral palsy... 

At the moment, I'm working on discovering WebQuests for students in middle School (Years 5 - 8) that are about the following careers - for On the Job

Work around the House:

*Architect
*Electrician
*Painter

Community & Health
*Veterinarian
*Fire Fighter
*Garbage Collector
*Parking Inspector
*Paramedic
*Real Estate Agent 
*Postal Worker
*Police Worker
*Physiotherapist 
*Teacher
*Dentist
*Chaplain
*Social Worker
*Nurse

Retail & Hospitality
*Butcher
*Jeweller
*Waiter
*Florist
*Hairdresser
*Sales Person
*Chef
*Pharmacist
*Green Grocer
*Video Store Attendant
*Beautician
*Newsagent
*Baker

Transport & Travel
*Mechanic
*Taxi Driver
*Auto Electrician
*Truck Driver
*Travel Agent
*Flight Attendant

Environments
*Builder
*Farmer
*Gardener 
*Zoo Keeper
*Construction Worker

Leisure & Entertainment
*Artist
*Aerobics Instructor
*Journalist 
*Dancer
*Fitness Instructor
*Photographer
*Coach
*Karate Instructor
*Director
*Fisherman

Office & Administration
*Secretary/PA 
*Judge
*Accountant 
*IT Professional
*Management Consultant 
*Corporate Trainer 

Research & Development
*Archaeologist
*Mathematician
*Scientist 

ANY HELP WOULD BE GRATEFULLY RECEIVED!
Do you know of any real WebQuests around these careers or related careers?

Killer cholera begins where other diseases end and Choleric waters still run deep with disease by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki (ABC Science), are two articles describing the history of this disease and the number of people who are infected with Cholera each year as a result of lack of clean water! War plays a significant role in the development of oral rehydration therapy (ORT)!

Cholera's prevention preferable to its cure could be a perfect WebQuest to develop especially for University and upper high school students studying International Development Studies; Economics or Biology.

Dr. Ken Henry's Call to Arms was reported in Peter Martin's Blog yesterday. It is a wonderfully crafted speech with challenges to our new graduates that they make a difference in their lives and ultimately, our lives.

The end of his speech, Dr. Ken Henry stated: "Climate change adaptation and the response to mitigation strategies will also have profound implications for the pattern of human settlement on this continent.

Taken together, these forces could produce the largest structural adjustment in our economic history.

And the emergence of China and India, especially because of its implications for global commodities demand, has conferred on Australia a large boost to its real wealth; but, at the same time, has set up a set of structural adjustments that will challenge policy makers for decades.

Challenges of these dimensions confront countries all over the world today. In all countries there are immense challenges that will test the limits of sustainability; economic, social and environmental.

Of course, they also offer unprecedented opportunity. This really could be a golden age for much of the world's population.

But here's the thing: the way this plays out is up to you. It is not something you should be leaving to governments. The question for you is whether you want to be able to say to your children, and their children, that you did everything you could to ensure that their generation would also enjoy the freedom to choose lives they would have reason to value."

It is truly wonderful to have a person in charge of Australian Government's Treasury Department with such views.

Last year, July 2008, there was a report in the Daily Telegraph with the heading: "Treasury boss Ken Henry leaves post to look after wombats".

At the moment, we are awaiting the final submissions for WebQuests for this year 2009!

If you have created an excellent WebQuest this year, please submit it to our competition!

All you need do is register and submit a short summary of your WebQuest!

Yesterday I conducted two workshops on WebQuests: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) at Merimbula on the beautiful south coast of New South Wales. It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm of dedicated teachers from K - 12 (from 11 different schools) interested in using and creating WebQuests. After using our Library of rated WebQuests, these teachers were able to see how they could adapt other WebQuests to suit their own classrooms using SWAT (http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/swat ) which is a free Web 2.0 Tool to create or adapt a WebQuest.

We look forward to seeing the WebQuests created or adapted! Special thanks to Jenne Gardner and Paul Morris for asking me (Frances Moore) to conduct these workshops!

As reported in the Courier Mail, "EVERY state school in Queensland will teach indigenous culture in a radical plan to reduce the education gap with their fellow Australians. State school residential colleges where indigenous children board, but are close enough to their community to go home on the weekend, are also being proposed. Indigenous educators say the plan represents ''a seismic shift'' within the Queensland Education Department and offers new hope for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Presented in the report, Closing the Gap Education Strategy, schools are told they need to halve the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Year 3 numeracy and literacy levels by 2012. By 2013, schools are expected to lift indigenous retention and attendance rates to that of their non-indigenous students."

If you go to Scot Aldred's Blog [see side panel for Educational blogs], you will see numerous occasions where Scot (an Australian guru on Problem-Based Learning @ Central Queensland University) has recommended that PBL is taught in Australian schools as this approach to learning engages and motivates ALL students!

Let's hope that the "seismic shift" occurs! All the best Queenlander Teachers - this should be a wonderful thing to happen!

Last night I went to see "State of Play" with Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, and, Helen Mirren. It has been given rave reviews (ABC, At the Movies) and is based on the BBC mini-series (2003) of the same name (although the BBC version is about the UK government and Oil Companies). I saw the mini-series and loved it! The film, I think, enhanced the mini-series due mainly to the well-crafted and fast action of this thriller. Russell Crowe is outstanding in the lead role. I liked Bill Nighly as the Herald's Editor (in the mini-series) but Helen Mirren is just as good, if not better!

To base a WebQuest around this movie and mini-series, Media Teachers, could use this material as stimulus material and then give the students the following problem: Spooks, another outstanding BBC mini-series, has been proposed as a Hollywood film......

Students, in teams [of course!] would need to come up with a proposal that differentiates from the BBC mini-series but still has the essence of that production. Students would need to work out casting, script, and, technology (updates) to convert this to a movie.

I came across Kerrie Smith's (Education.au) blog today with the title: Just sprinkling technology on the top?

She is reporting on another blog but in essence there is real substance to this question!

More and more, I'm coming across "WebQuests" that are NOT real WebQuests but Web-Based Activities disguised as WebQuests. They have been created by teachers to provide busy work, or, are teacher directed activities to provide students with more knowledge content rather than getting the students to use the content in a transformational way. These web-based activities have little in the way of higher order thinking, or collaborative practices; or, present the students with a messy problem to solve. They do however require the students to go to the Internet and scavenger hunt information.  

It's almost a way of saying "Well, I got them to use the computers"!
  
It's not embedding ICTs into the Curriculum though! It's not even using these expensive resources wisely. While sprinking technology on the top looks attractive - there is no real substance to these measures. And the thing is, that if teachers used WebQuests - they would embed ICTs into the curriculum; they would excite and engage students to solve messy real life problems, AND still learn heaps while they are doing it!

Go on have a try! We provide mentoring help to those teachers who are using our FREE Short-cut WebQuest Authoring Tool!!! Just register and get going!

Students will delve into them and absorb more than the icing and sprinkles on the top!