A Webquest, Huzzah! (Or Week 3 Part 2, cause I am a rebel and go out of order!)

For class this term, the big final project-type thing is a webquest. You are either thinking two things when you hear that: Oh boy, let's go slay some dragons! OR, oh boy....here comes another brochure. To clarify, my mind first goes to the dragons and then to the brochure. 

You wouldn't want to slay this cutie though!

So, needless to say, when I heard this was the assignment, I was both excited and apprehensive. For those of you that know me at all, you know I love history. I ESPECIALLY love Ancient History. I have been sitting here for the last few days, trying to decide what topic to write on, fluctuating between something related to Ancient Greece or Byzantium. My passion is Ancient Greece, without question. But, I could think of many things, especially related to the Fall of the Byzantine Empire....the options are really limitless. So, on Thursday night, as I was still thinking, and watching the sky shoot lightning like Emperor Palpatine, I realized, I should just stick with what I am most passionate about, because I am going to be more driven if I do. Thus, Ancient Greece was decided upon!

Come to the Dark Side, we have ice cream!

You are probably wondering what aspect of Ancient Greece I am thinking. It isn't even a question for me. I am going to do my webquest on Ancient Greek mythology and their "religion". The targeted audience will be Middle School students, if I pull it off correctly! I found quite a few great webquests on-line. Some of them too great because I want to use a LOT of stuff from them! My favorite, which is exactly how I would want to model mine, with a few tweeks, is found here! I love how the end result is to create their own god or goddess based off of modern-day concepts. I also strongly support the use of "games" in the classroom, and I LOVE trivia games, so, a group trivia-esque assessment seems wonderfully fun to me. In this webquest, I really liked one aspect she implements where the students have to find examples in modern-day life where Greek mythology is referenced. I like the idea of connecting their lives to the history in any way possible. I would also want to implement more of the cultural implications of the Greeks mythology, like how their gods directly influenced their lives, not just the stories behind them. I found this webquest with some great topics in the "Greek Religion" section. 

I have all these ideas for a webquest, now I need to figure out exactly what technology I would want them to utilize to accomplish it. I like the idea of this being a group project, so I think teaching them to utilize Google Drive would be essential for it, and it is something they can use for any number of other classes. I am not honestly sure what other Web2.0 programs I would want them to use yet. I will have to keep thinking on that one!