Creating a Webquest

Creating a Webquest

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Creating a Webquest: It's Easier than You Think!

Webquest are probably the most talked-about and widely used Web-based activities in today's classrooms. What are Webquest? What accounts for their popularity? And how can you use -- and create -- Webquest in your own classroom? This week, Education World explores those questions and more.

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." -- Confucius

"A Webquest," according to Bernie Dodge, the originator of the Webquest concept, "is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. Webquest are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than on looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation."

Two educators who have created their own Webquest to share with us the benefits they bring to their classroom.

WHY WEBQUEST?

Webquest, which use the constructivist approach to learning, are a super learning tool, said Kenton Letkeman, creator of a number of excellent Webquest.

"With many research projects," Letkeman told Education World, "students feel that they are sucking up information and regurgitating it onto paper for no other reason than to get a good grade. Webquest give students a task that allows them to use their imagination and problem-solving skills. The answers are not predefined and therefore must be discovered or created. Students must use their own creative-thinking and problem-solving skills to find solutions to problems.

"Webquest are also a wonderful way of capturing students' imagination and allowing them to explore in a guided, meaningful manner," added Letkeman, a resource-based learning consultant for the Tisdale School Division in Saskatchewan, Canada. "Communication, group work, problem solving, and critical and creative thinking skills are becoming far more important in today's world than having students memorize predetermined content."

"Webquest allow students to explore issues and find their own answers," he added. "Particularly with controversial issues -- such as pollution, gambling, and nuclear waste disposal -- students must do more than memorize information. They must process the information in meaningful ways and reach moral and ethical decisions guided by facts."

The adaptive dimension, the ability to make adjustments in educational programs to accommodate students' diverse learning needs, is also an important characteristic of Webquest, according to Letkeman. "With Webquest, special needs students can be given predetermined roles that are very important and make them feel part of the group," he said. "Advanced students can explore further and do more than is required. The interest this type of project generates makes that a reality, rather than a fantasy!"

THE WELL-PLANNED WEBQUEST

Mim Faro, a gifted and talented enrichment teacher at Mt. Penn Elementary Center in Pennsylvania, recently created her first Webquest. She agrees that Webquest are an exciting and valuable teaching tool. "Of course, some Webquest are better than others," she noted.

"A well-planned Webquest," Faro told Education World, "has guidance for students, a creative end project with room for flexibility, and links that help answer questions and positively add to the project. A strong Webquest is designed for students to work independently, allowing the teacher to be a facilitator in students' learning rather than the sole dispenser of knowledge."

Faro offered this advice for teachers who are considering using Webquest in the classroom. "Always thoroughly check any Webquest you have not created to make sure the information is relevant and the links work."

Of course, the best Webquest ensure relevance because they are specifically tailored to your curriculum and your students.

"If you are going to create a Webquest," Faro said, "search through some existing Webquest first. Make note of what you like and what you don't like. And above all, dare to be creative!"

Looking for Webquest to check out? You might start with the Education World Lesson Planning article Women of the Century: An Education World Webquest.

THE WEBQUEST FORMULA

Webquest, say the teachers who use them, promote high-level thinking, develop problem-solving skills, and provide an avenue for seamlessly integrating technology into the curriculum. And creating one is easier than you might think! Many sites are available to walk you through the process.

One of the most thorough is Bernie Dodge's Webquest Page. According to Dodge, the six building blocks of a Webquest are:

The Introduction orients students and captures their interest.
The Task describes the activity's end product.
The Process explains strategies students should use to complete the task.
The Resources are the Web sites students will use to complete the task.
The Evaluation measures the results of the activity.
The Conclusion sums up the activity and encourages students to reflect on its process and results.

HELP! WHERE DO I BEGIN?

Before designing a Webquest, you'll want to have an outline handy to guide you through the process. A number of excellent Webquest outlines, including South Carolina's Spartanburg District 3 County Schools' Sample Webquest Development and Tom March's Prewriting Your Webquest will help. Templates such as Dodge's Webquest Templates and Spartanburg's Webquest Template are also available online.

THE DESIGN PROCESS

Once you have your outline or template in hand, Spartanburg's site also provides an excellent flowchart for Creating a Webquest. The main points include:

The Topic. You may have already decided on a topic related to current events or to an area of the curriculum that's inadequately covered in available texts. If you're still searching for a topic, however, Tom March, who developed the first Webquest with Bernie Dodge, suggests starting "where you're at." "If you have an area that's your specialty, something that thrills you to teach, that you know inside and out, up and down, begin there," March says. You can also explore March's Idea Machine, which provides 50 prompts designed to help begin the brainstorming process.
The Task. "The task," says Dodge, "is the single most important part of a Webquest." His Webquest Taskonomy: A Taxonomy of Tasks provides eleven different types of tasks, including journalistic, mystery, persuasion, and judgment tasks. If you can't find it here, you can't find it anywhere!
The Process. In this section, you'll include the roles students will assume and the steps they'll follow to complete the activity. March's Designing for Success provides not only a Designer's Checklist, but also some clickable "friendly advice" for the creatively challenged!
The Resources. Identify the online resources available on your topic by brainstorming a list of related words and using the list to search for relevant sites. As you search, create a hot list of current, accurate, and age-appropriate sites that will engage your students' interest. Education World's Searching With Savvy: The Best Search Engines for Teachers and Students is an excellent source of search engines that provides easy access to educationally valuable kid-friendly sites.
The Evaluation. As Kenton Letkeman points out, "Traditional evaluation techniques are not the best means for evaluating the results of Webquest, since all students may not learn the same content. Individual evaluation rubrics should be developed that follow curriculum objectives and are easy for students to understand." Dodge's Rubric for Evaluating Webquest also provides a number of criteria for evaluating students' Webquest success. Spartanburg's Webquest Evaluation Form, on the other hand, allows you to assess the value of your Webquest before students use it.

SHARE IT!

Finally, your Webquest is finished -- and you're pretty proud of it! Why not use the New Webquest Submission Form to share it with other budding technology developers?

By the way, we'd love to see it too!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Trackstar Search the keyword Webquest for several collections of online resources about Webquest.
Filamentality This site guides visitors through the process of creating interactive, Web-based activities, including Webquest.
Webquest in Our Future: The Teacher's Role in Cyberspace Kathy Schrock provides information about Webquest and links to additional resources.
LSU Webquest These 20 Webquest were created by students at the College of Education at Louisiana State University for students from elementary through high school.