WebQuests

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WebQuests
EDFD125Lecture 8

• Donna Gronn

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WebQuests began

• In 1995 Professor Bernie Dodge began developing
  the WebQuest Strategy at San Diego State
  University to help teachers integrate the power
  of the web with student learning.
• He wanted to give his students a format for
  online lessons that would make the best use of
  student time while fostering higher-level
  thinking skills.
• Tom March (ozline.com) joined him in this pursuit
  and together they began creating sample WebQuests
  and putting them online for teachers around the
  world to use.

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WebQuests

• Based on the ideas of
• inquiry
• constructivism
• Incorporate cooperative and collaborative
  learning, as students are encouraged to work on
  projects in groups.

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What are WebQuests?

• A guided exploration of the Internet to solve a
  student centred problem
• An inquiry-oriented online tool for learning

• In other words
• Classroom based lessons in which most or all of
  the information that students explore and
  evaluate come from the World Wide Web.

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By using multimedia WebQuests help cater for
multiple intelligences.
WebQuests are tools, not educational theories, so
they can be used in any classroom with
appropriate computer access.
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WebQuests

• Can be as short as a single period or as long as
  a month long unit
• Usually, though not always, involve group work
  with division of labour among students who take
  on specific roles or perspectives
• Are built around resources that are preselected
  by the teacher.

• Students spend their time using information not
  looking for it!

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Building Blocks for WebQuests

• Introduction
• The purpose of this section is to both prepare
  and hook the reader. The student is the intended
  audience.
• Tasks
• The task focuses learners on what they are going
  to do - specifically, the culminating performance
  or product that drives all of the learning
  activities.
• Process
• This section outlines how the learners will
  accomplish the task. Scaffolding includes clear
  steps, resources, and tools for organizing
  information.
• Evaluation
• This section describes the evaluation criteria
  needed to meet performance and content standards.
• Conclusion
• The conclusion brings closure and encourages
  reflection.
• Teacher Page
• The teacher page includes information to help
  other teachers implement the Webquest, including
  target learners, standards, notes for teaching
  the unit, and, in some cases, examples of student
  work.

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A WebQuest about WebQuests

• Focus - Years 3-4
• Ideally, this exercise will provide you with a
  larger pool of ideas to work with as you develop
  your WebQuest-making skills. The best WebQuest is
  yet to be written. It might be yours!
• 4 groups in the room

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Roles

• The Efficiency Expert You value time a great
  deal. You believe that too much time is wasted in
  today's classrooms on unfocused activity and
  learners not knowing what they should be doing at
  a given moment. To you, a good WebQuest is one
  that delivers the most learning bang for the
  buck. If it's a short, unambitious activity that
  teaches a small thing well, then you like it. If
  it's a long term activity, it had better deliver
  a deep understanding of the topic it covers, in
  your view.
• The Affiliator To you, the best learning
  activities are those in which students learn to
  work together. WebQuests that force collaboration
  and create a need for discussion and consensus
  are the best in your view. If a WebQuest could be
  done by a student working alone, it leaves you
  cold.
• The Altitudinist Higher level thinking is
  everything to you. There's too much emphasis on
  factual recall in schools today. The only
  justification for bringing technology into
  schools is if it opens up the possibility that
  students will have to analyze information,
  synthesize multiple perspectives, and take a
  stance on the merits of something. You also value
  sites that allow for some creative expression on
  the part of the learner.
• The Technophile You love this internet thing. To
  you, the best WebQuest is one that makes the best
  use of the technology of the Web. If a WebQuest
  has attractive colors, animated gifs, and lots of
  links to interesting sites, you love it. If it
  makes minimal use of the Web, you'd rather use a
  worksheet.

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Activity

• As a group, we'll examine each of the sites.
• Jot down some notes of your opinions of each
  (from the perspective of your role).
• We will examine each site fairly quickly. We
  won't spend more than 5 minutes on any one site.

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The sites we'll be analyzing

• Stitch in TimeCreate a cultural quilt patch
• Our Sun-Sational StarLearn about the Sun
• Journey Back in TimePortray colonial life
• Tempests of Fiction and FactWrite up an account
  of a shipwreck
• PenguinsLearn about these funny birds

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Sharing evaluations

• Individually order the five sites from best to
  worst
• Do you think the other groups will agree with
  your conclusions?
• Vote

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Results
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Sites to visit

• Bernie Dodges Webquest site
• http//webquest.sdsu.edu
• Tom Marchs oz site
• http//www.ozline.com/learning/