Claire Mracek

3.2 Managing Digital Tools and Resources

Candidates effectively manage digital tools and resources within the context of student
learning experiences. (PSC 3.2/ISTE 3b)
Reflection
The Early Exploration WebQuest was developed to provide fourth grade students with an
engaging social studies project. I created this WebQuest using my schools social studies
standards and student technology standards. WebQuests provide students with interactive
learning experiences that offer a clear level of structure and allow students to create
individual showcase of their learning. This WebQuest allowed students to become an
expert on an explorer of their choice and develop a digital storybook to teach others about
the explorer.
Standard 3.2 states that candidates effectively manage digital tools and resources
within the context of student learning experiences. When I decided to create a digital
learning experience for my fourth grade students, I wanted to choose a tool that would be
organized and easy to navigate. I decided to create a WebQuest using the Weebly
platform because it is a simple tool to manage. Students can progress through this
exploration at their own speed, utilize individual resources, and create their own digital
storybook. I was focused on keeping my WebQuest as organized as possible in order to
effectively manage the tools and resources for students. This WebQuest is divided into
steps to help keep students focused and organized: Introduction, Task, Process,
Evaluation, and Conclusion. Because this project offers fourth grade students various
options and information sources, it was important that the design was eye- catching and
logical for viewers. I included various forms of representation, expression, and
engagement by including maps, audio recording, hyperlinks, and digital handouts. It was
also important to include safe research links for students to use to collect information.
This project is an individual project and allows students to chose an early explorer that
they would like to investigate. Based on their selection, they are to compose research on
their explorer, using some guiding questions. Students are given options as to where to
collect their research. Depending on their explorer, students will individually create a
plan (storyboard) for their final presentation. This storyboard will include a general
outline of their presentation, along with the image included in their presentation. Students
will then draft their scene scripts using a prompter tool of their choice, and create their
digital storybook using a web 2.0 tool called Narrable. To meet needs of students with
disabilities, assistive technology may be used. Some helpful forms would be the laptop
computer while drafting storyboard and scripts, and an audio reader and recorder for
reading and writing text.
I enjoyed designing this WebQuest because it was an engaging and content rich
experience for students. This project was not designed to work in isolation, by required
students to call on skills from many subject areas to research and create a digital
storybook. This WebQuest provided a common digital space for students to access tools,
resources, and rubrics for their projects at anytime. The implementation of this WebQuest

could be used through the schools laptop program, iPad carts, or desktop computer lab.
This WebQuest project impacts school improvement and student learning directly. The
content in this WebQuest is delivered in an engaging ways that meets multiple design
principles. It follows content standards and provided students with opportunities to make
choices about their learning. Students are required to design a digital storybook to
showcase their content learning and their digital skills. This learning can be assessed
through the use of provided formative and summative assessments and rubrics.