Week Four

After viewing the clip – Virtual Chemistry Labs, we can really see that there are at least three advantages of using simulations in a chemistry lab. The first advantage is the safety issue. We all know that doing chemical experiments is quite a dangerous thing. If the students are experimenting in the real lab, they are exposed to various dangers like exploding, because it is hard to imagine what will happen during the process. The second advantage is that the simulation offers convenience to both teachers. With simulation, teachers can save their time by giving fewer instructions. The virtual experiment saves a lot of time and there is almost no cost in the equipment. The third advantage is that the simulations simplify the experiment for them. They can just click a button and then they will see what is happening so that they can easily apply what they have learned in the virtual experiment.

Simulations in other fields will also offer people a lot of benefits and advantages. The first advantage for the use is that simulations can greatly save budget. Some experiments or tests need to be carried out in remote places or in another country or they need a lot of expensive materials to make it through. With simulation, students and teachers don’t have to go to other places or buy the expensive raw materials, they can just carry it out in front of the computers by clicking and this is definitely a great save of money. Like what is mentioned above, simulations can greatly reduce the risks of making dangerous experiments. Students don’t have to carry it out in persons and they can just do the experiment and see the results in front of the computers. Next advantage is that students can get the instant result from the simulations. For example, in some certain experiments like the growing of buds, it will take several months to know the result, but in simulation, students can get the result immediately. The last advantage is that simulations can also greatly arouse students’ interest. Doing some kinds of experiments can be dangerous or impossible, but with simulation, they can take the experiment and feel almost the same as what is going on, which would certainly open students’ minds and greatly increase their interest in it.

Many academic fields can take advantage of computer simulations to facilitate their teaching and learning. In scientific research and study, they can use the simulations to speed up their experiment, get a fasters result, save budget, etc. In some other fields like historical event, which can not be replayed, and study on this field can use simulations to unscramble history. Another field which I see great feasibility in computer simulations is the language study. Not all the language students can find the native speakers to practice their language. If they can be offered the intelligent simulation in which conversations can be made, they would greatly improve their language skills.


In the video clip – A Dinosaur WebQuest, several advantages were mentioned in using WebQuest in teaching. The first advantage is that students learned how to use computers. To use WebQuest, they first have to get familiar with the computers so that they can freely use the computers to find the resources. They also learned how to use the internet and they could freely surf the internet to find what they need. The second advantage is that students enhanced their communication and cooperation. In order to get the detailed information, they have to share their information with each other and this greatly increases class communication and collaboration. The third advantage from using the WebQuest is that students improved their oral communication skills. They were asked to make presentation after the WebQuest and this would get the chances to practice their oral skills. The last advantage of using WebQuest is that students can save a lot of time because most of the web sites are pre-selected so that they don’t need to explore the whole internet to find the information.

If a WebQuest is not used in learning, students might meet with some problems. The first is that they may not gather enough information and materials on the topics they are discussing. If they can not use the WebQuest, they have to use what they have at hand and they may have insufficient resources to carry on. The next problem is that they may waste a lot of time. If they don’t use the WebQuest, some of them may choose to search and explore the whole internet, which is filled with so many information and it is hard to find the right one within a short time. The last problem is that they might have too many distractions while searching. WebQuest is usually a collection of pre-selected websites and students can easily find the materials there. But if they are searching on the whole internet, they are too many excessive links on various subjects, and sometimes it might take students a long time to get back.

WebQuest is a good way to make effective use of the vast information resources available on the Web. It can help students to engage in a wide range of activities that make good use of Internet-based resources. It can offer students a problem-solving way of study and they can know how to solve problems after using the WebQuest. Students also get a chance to improve their computer skills like computer manipulation, word processing, etc. Students can also improve their collaboration while using WebQuest to collect and share different materials and resources.

If I were to design a WebQuest in my teaching, I will find the most suitable developing tools to make the design easier. If there are some good templates available, I may also try to choose from the templates to save some time and efforts. I will also provide clear and specific topics for students and I will also offer the best quality resources. I will also design the clear rubrics and requirements for them to follow.