computer challenge

After reading Oversold and Underused I decided to write down when my students use technology in the classroom.  I found that I use the promethean board a lot and the four personal computers barely at all! EK!!!  Besides during literacy centers the computers are hardly used.

I am challenging myself to use the computers more.

The first thing I did was look at my schedule.  I noticed that there is a 20 minute gap from when students can arrive to school and when the bell rings.  I thought this would be a great time to incorporate the computers.  When I told the students that four students would get to go on the computers for morning work they were thrilled! I created a poster that tells the students which day is their computer morning work day.  I have students do an activity or visit a website that they have already done because I am busy greeting students and checking folders. The students love starting their day on the computers!

I would love to hear how others use their computers on a daily basis.

Webquests

I had my students use the webquest I built during our computer lab time last week.  It was the first time the students had completed a webques. I found a lot of the time was spent teaching the students the software skills they would need to navigate through the sites. After we spent time doing that we didn't have much time to actually do the webquest.  I extended the time and used the next computer lab time to finish it up.

I am wondering if there is already a simple webquest made that helps the students learn how to complete a webquest.  I think this would be a good way to introduce the concept of webquests to the students.