Q: What is a WebQuest?
A: A WebQuest is a FUN and ENGAGING inquiry oriented project that is set in the web. Students can go out and answer important questions about your content area by using the internet as a resource of information and knowledge.
Q: What is the biggest challenge of creating a WebQuest for my students?
A: The biggest challenge is providing your students with the right resources they will need to go out and successfully answer the deep, meaningful questions about your content area. The great thing is, YOU know what you want your student to discover! Find it, then provide it as a link on the WebQuest page for them.
A: Exactly, that is the beauty of using a WebQuest. You, as the teacher, have full control of what links your students are exploring. This is much safer than students surfing the web and finding inappropriate sites - yikes!
Q: Is a WebQuest an individual activity or a collaborative one?
A: It can be either of the two. WebQuests are great for individualizing instruction, allowing the teacher to individually guide students through a lesson. A WebQuests can also allow group collaboration, where each student becomes an expert on a topic and delivers that knowledge back to the group in order for the team to complete a given task.
Q: Why should I use a WebQuest in my classroom?
A:
Instructional Model "family tree"
A WebQuest falls under the Instructional Model of Constructivism/Interpretivism. Harasim (2012) indicates that the four key principles of constructivism are:
- Active Learning
- Learning-by-doing
- Scaffolded learning, and
- Collaborative learning
A WebQuest provides all of these values! It encourages students to participate and act, rather than passively learning by listening to a lecture or reading a book and answering review questions. A WebQuest will make STUDENTS WANT TO LEARN! They are innately curious and will enjoy having the ability to search, discover and learn; all while using your parameters and guidelines.
AWebQuest falls further under the umbrella of Constructivism by being categorized as a part of the Social-Cultural Learning theory. According to Instructional Design Knowledge Base, "Vygotsky thought that the development of intelligence was a function of the internalization of the tools found in one's culture. As cultures grow, new tools emerge" (2014). The Internet and technology tools of today are ubiquitous; touching every part of our daily life. Using a WebQuest in the classroom will use the tools of today's culture to help create 21st century thinkers!
Practical Example of Instructional Model
EVERY TEACHER can use this model instruction whenever there is any content to be learned...which is EVERY DAY! Let's say you are teaching a history lesson about the Civil War and you want your students to be able to understand the major aspects of the war. Instead of lecturing or having your students read from a dense text book, you can create an interactive WebQuest that will allow students to take a virtual field trip; navigating through the infromation. What's great is that there are plenty of WebQuests already created that you can search for and use. Here is an example of a WebQuest on the aspects of the Civil War.
Within a typical WebQuest, students will find:
References:
Harasim, Linda. 2012. Learning Theory and Online Technologies. New York, NY. Routledge.
National University. EDT605. 2014. Instructional Design Knowledge Base. Retrieved from http://myonlinelogin.com
AWebQuest falls further under the umbrella of Constructivism by being categorized as a part of the Social-Cultural Learning theory. According to Instructional Design Knowledge Base, "Vygotsky thought that the development of intelligence was a function of the internalization of the tools found in one's culture. As cultures grow, new tools emerge" (2014). The Internet and technology tools of today are ubiquitous; touching every part of our daily life. Using a WebQuest in the classroom will use the tools of today's culture to help create 21st century thinkers!
Practical Example of Instructional Model
EVERY TEACHER can use this model instruction whenever there is any content to be learned...which is EVERY DAY! Let's say you are teaching a history lesson about the Civil War and you want your students to be able to understand the major aspects of the war. Instead of lecturing or having your students read from a dense text book, you can create an interactive WebQuest that will allow students to take a virtual field trip; navigating through the infromation. What's great is that there are plenty of WebQuests already created that you can search for and use. Here is an example of a WebQuest on the aspects of the Civil War.
- an Introduction about the topic
- the Task that is to be completed
- the Process for completion, including worksheets, guides, instructions and links
- an Evaluation for assessment (rubric showing how the task will be graded)
- a Conclusion to extend upon or learn more about the content area
Summary
- Click here to learn more about WebQuests
- To find or create a WebQuest, you can use WebQuest , TeacherWeb, or Zunal
- To see a full description of the 5 parts of a WebQuest, as listed above, click here
Happy WebQuesting!!
Harasim, Linda. 2012. Learning Theory and Online Technologies. New York, NY. Routledge.
National University. EDT605. 2014. Instructional Design Knowledge Base. Retrieved from http://myonlinelogin.com
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