Communication Webquest

by Pam Albrecht, CIT
Frances M. Rhodes Elementary
Northside ISD
San Antonio, Texas

Introduction:

Have you ever seen an LP? Do you know what a party line is? Have you ever used a typewriter? These are just a few of the communication devices that have become obsolete with the coming of the digital age. These changes have occurred due to the work of a few far sighted people who have invented ways to communicate more easily. To find out more about these inventors, you will be doing a webquest. You will discover the many changes that have speeded our communication in recent years. Your task will be to decide who and what invention, in your opinion, has changed our communication habits the most???

PLAN What am I supposed to do? What will the result look like if I do a really good job? What do I need to make to show what I Learned? What do I need to find out in order to do the job?

You will investigate the following ideas:

• What inventions have helped us communicate with each other?
• Who are some of the inventors that have developed those devices and what are some of the specifics about that inventor?
• How has communication changed over the last 100 years?

You will also be:

• Brainstorming a list of communication inventions and inventors to research.
• Making a list of needed information for each inventor/invention.
• Making a product to show what you have learned. You may:

  • Individually design a Publisher webpage to show what you learned about your chosen inventor (Visual/Spatial, Verbal/Linguistic, Intrapersonal)with addition of appropriate sound file (Musical, Rhythmic)
  • Do the above as a group (Visual/Spatial, Verbal/Linguistic, Interpersonal)
  • Use Timeliner to present your learned information (with text box addition of contribution question) (Logical/Mathematical, Verbal/Linguistic, Visual/Spatial)
  • Conducting one or more interviews with grandparents or older persons to see how communication has changed in their lifetime.(Interpersonal)
  • Present your information to your class, so that the class can make an informed decision when they vote for the "Communication Inventor/Invention of the Year" (Interpersonal)
  • Based on your research and the presentation of your peers, you must look at communication advances over time and vote as if all the inventors were living today. Who, in your opinion, is the greatest communication inventor of the centuries and what is the greatest invention- the invention that has changed communication the most and why? (Existentialist)

   

  DO How can I do the job? What can I use to find what I need? Now I need to make something to show what I learned!

  
  

The Process (including resources:)

1. After brainstorming a list of inventors, choose an inventor and his/her invention to research.
2. Using the questions that our librarian helped you brainstorm (print the
   research organizer here) and the following list of hotlinks, do your research.
   
   

   John Logie Baird	Alexander Graham Bell	George Eastman	Thomas Edison
   Philo Farnsworth	William H. Gates, III	Johannes Gutenberg	Steven P. Jobs
   	Guglielmo Marconi	Motorola/Dr. Martin Cooper

3. Make your Publisher webpage or Timeliner page. Use the template for the webpage found here or use the file with backgrounds to make your own.
4. Share your information with your class in a presentation.
5. (Optional) Put your inventor on the following timeline. (Your teacher will call you one by one to do this!)
6. Do an interview with a grandparent or older person. Use the attached interview sheet to record their answers.
7. Vote using the desktop shortcut for your favorite inventor and invention after the class presentations. See the results on our internet timeline.

REVIEW Is my job done? Did I do what I was supposed to do? Did I do my very best work? Shoud I do something before I turn it in?

To check and see if you have done everything you were required to do, use the following:

• Checklist

To see how well you did use the following rubric to grade yourself:

• Rubric

To help your peers, use the following peer evaluation during the share sessions:

• Peer Evaluation

Now go back and make changes before printing and turning in your webpage and interview to your teacher!

Conclusion

WOW! You have just helped other Rhodes second graders developed one of the only interactive communication timelines found anywhere on the internet. You've learned a lot about inventors and inventions and how communication has changed in the last century. See the winners of the Inventor and Invention of the Century vote here. Your work is done, but you can continue your investigations if you choose by going to the following related links:

Credits:

Thanks to the following sites, who so generously allowed us to use their clip art for this webquest:

Last Updated: January 6, 2003.
Copyright © 2003, Pam Albrecht, CIT
Frances M. Rhodes Elementary
Northside ISD
San Antonio, Texas 78240
All rights reserved.

pamalbrecht@nisd.net
Rhodes Elementary Homepage
Northside ISD Homepage