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In Activity 2 you will have seen a few examples
of WebQuests, but you may not have known that at the time. A WebQuest
is an inquiry-oriented, student-focused activity. The quest generally
requires students to collect and synthesize information often solving
a problem. Some or all of the information/resources that students
use comes from the web. To learn more about WebQuests, and create
one yourself, follow these steps.
- For a brief summary, read WebQuests
in the Middle School Curriculum: Promoting Technological Literacy
in the Classroom, written by Kenneth Lee Watson of the University
of Virginia.
- Click
here to look at examples of WebQuests
- Read WebQuest articles and see resources online:
The WebQuest Page (optional)
- While looking at the examples you will have
noticed that WebQuests are suited to particular types of activity.
Check this list to ensure that you understand the model:
- Learners should be studying a topic that allows
for one or more of the following:
- learners are exposed to different points
of view;
- learners engage in thinking about a relevant
issue;
- requires learners to make a decision after
considering information;
- requires some final plan of action or recommendations.
- WebQuests involve learners playing different
roles, usually simulating a real life situation.
- Using roles means that different members of
the group research different specialist viewpoints and bring these
back to the group towards the end of the process stage. This is
a good opportunity for synthesis.
- The educator provides the main set of resources,
and most of these are web resources (hence the name, WebQuest)
- A WebQuest is a creative way of engaging learners
in higher order thinking skills about topical issues.
- In most cases it is the educator who designs
the entire WebQuest.
- How
to create a WebQuest
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