A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Work with a small group to complete one of the following WebQuests.

WebQuest Mission: Computer History
http://www.berksiu.k12.pa.us/webquest/mccaffrey/default.htm

The Evolution of Computers
http://htschool.alexssa.net/webquest/html/default.htm

A Computer History WebQuest
http://www.nova.edu/~drewesj/EDL550/historyquest.html

Directions: Find the answers to the questions when you visit the computer history Websites listed here.

Computer History Museum
What was happening with computers during the year of your birth, and the year you entered high school? Use the timeline at the Computer History museum to find out.
http://www.computerhistory.org/

Smithsonian Computer History Collection
Which one of the objects pictured in the Smithsonian Computer History Collection looks most interesting to you? Click on the object to find out the details.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/csr/comphist/

Historic Computer Images
Examine four images at this Website. What is interesting about them? Pick one of the objects and use the Internet to find out more about it. What did you find out?
http://ftp.arl.mil/ftp/historic-computers/

Apple Online Museum
Visit the Apple Online Museum. Select a product that you would like to know more about. What did you find out?
http://www.theapplemuseum.com/

Directions: Choose any one of these fifth-generation technologies. Use your favorite search engines to research one technology. Use a word processor to write a one-page introduction to the technology, including how you as a teacher might find it useful. Include in your paper at least three URLs from Websites where you find your information.

Voice recognition
Touch screens
Electronic organizers
Artificial intelligence
Fiber optics
Wireless networks
Flat-panel displays Virtual reality
Optical discs
Handwriting recognition

Directions: Pick a famous person from the history of computers. Use the Internet to find out about the life of the person you pick. Write a paragraph that describes something significant about the person. Some of the people you might select are:

Charles Babbage
Augusta Ada Byron
Herman Hollerith
Joseph Marie Jacquard
Gottfried Leibniz
John Napier
Blaise Pascal
Howard Aiken
John Atanasoff
John Mauchly
J. Presper Eckert
John Von Neumann
Steve Wozniak
Steve Jobs
Grace Hopper
Seymour Papert