A Beginners Guide to Using WebQuests
For Technology Integration in the Classroom
Jan Parrott March 2004 jparrott@sti.net If you would like to open up this paper online, to use the links to find the WebPages suggested, you can find this paper online at: http://wwwstatic.kern.org/caliente_static/gems/Parrott/ABeginnersGuide.doc
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What is a WebQuest? Bernie Dodge and Tom March designed the WebQuest in March of 1995 at San Diego State University. “ It 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 use learners’ time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners’ thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis an evaluation”.(Dodge,1997) WebQuests are designed by educators and put online to facilitate lessons. The teachers selects a topic, finds the resources on the web for the students to use and creates the project or lesson and then places it online. The students then use these online resources to complete the projects. All the online resources that the students need are linked and the students do not need to search the web. This is a big time saver and the students are not “free surfing”. The wonderful thing about placing a WebQuest on the web, is that other teachers can then use it. There are currently thousands of WebQuests on the Internet. Teachers and educators do not need to create their own to incorporate them into the classroom. There are lists of WebQuests on the Internet and many of them have even been evaluated by other teachers. More and more teachers are using WebQuests in the classroom today. According to Bernie Dodge’s WebQuest website in 1998 his resource site had 200 hits a day. Currently the same site gets over 1,700 hits a day from teachers searching for WebQuests and information pertaining to this valuable online resource. Its[the web] barely out of toddler hood and yet it’s shown a terrific responsiveness. Search engines have become more powerful and easier to use, many meta sites filter through the millions of Web pages and link to those of value to a particular community, and more schools, teacher and students are coming online daily which will help shape the direction of our Web and post the pages we seek. (March, 1998) The WebQuest Design There are two types of WebQuests, a short term and a longer Term WebQuest. The short term is designed for students to gain knowledge acquisition and integration, and can be completed in one to three class periods. The long term WebQuest extends and refines knowledge and can take from one week to a month of class periods. In the longer term WebQuests, a student analyses the information more in dept and creates something to show this understanding. Others can then respond to the project on or off line. (Dodge, 1997) All WebQuests, short or longer, have critical attributes that are deliberately designed to utilize the learners’ time efficiently. (Dodge, 1997) The learner does not have to surf the web. The WebQuest is set up so that the student uses the Web page as the main resource, using the instructions and links to find the information the teachers has pre-selected. By creating WebQuests and experimenting with them Bernie Dodge and Tom March came up with the essential parts to a WebQuest. (March, 1998)
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The Parts of the WebQuest
The Introduction The introduction sets the stage and gives some background information. It is this introduction that grabs the student’s interest and motivates them to continue on with the WebQuest. The Task This is the part where the student learns what the outcome or project will be when the WebQuest is completed. The task must be appropriate for the age level the WebQuest is designed for and must be doable. The Information Sources This part is where the students go to get the information they need to complete the task. The sources could be links to web documents, experts available through e-mail, real-time conferencing or books and other documents physically available to the learner. The Process The processes are the steps that the student must go through to accomplish the task. Then there must be some type of guidance to help the student organize the information acquired. It can be concept maps, questions or questioners or diagrams that the student completes while the information is gathered. The Conclusion This brings closure reminding students what they have learned and could extend the students to learn more. WebQuests could contain other attributes. They are most likely to be group activities that require groups of students to complete the project together giving students different jobs or roles to play. In distance learning situations or library settings where there is only one learner, solo quest could be set up. WebQuest could also be designed interdisciplinary. Setting up a quest covering more than one subject is more challenging to do but is often done. Most WebQuests also contain a rubric to evaluate the task.
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Using a WebQuest for the First Time In Your Classroom The first step is to become familiar with the WebQuest concept. In order to use a WebQuest in your classroom you must first become familiar with the concept of WebQuests and feel comfortable using the Web yourself. A good place to start is at Bernie Dodges WebQuest website http://webquest.sdsu.edu/ . Here you will find information all about WebQuests. At this site you can find anything and everything you want to know about the subject. Do a WebQuest for teachers. There is even a several WebQuests for different grade level teachers called “ A WebQuest about WebQuests”. This is also on Bernie’s site and at this link: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest-es.html I suggest getting a group of teachers together and going on one of these quests specifically designed for you to get the feel of what its all about. Find a good WebQuest that will suit your needs. The best way to do this is go online and find a WebQuest that will suit your needs and try it. The WebQuest you chose should be appropriate for your grade level you teach, and should meet the appropriate grade level standards. You should also consider the technology use level of yourself and your students. Some Quests are easier to do than others and your first Quest should reflect your students’ skill level. A good place to start to look for well-developed WebQuests is at Bernie Dodges WebQuest Matrix http://webquest.org/ and click on the link that says “top” “middling” or “new”. This will take you to a matrix that has good WebQuests listed in grade levels and subject areas. You can also try http://www.bestwebquests.com/ You don’t need a special site to search for WebQuests. If you are good at using a search engine you can go ahead and do a search on any engine putting in your subject and the word “WebQuest”. Keep on searching until you find one that meets your needs. As you are searching don’t forget to bookmark potential WebQuests, you can set up a folder in favorites just for your WebQuests. Try it in your classroom or computer lab. Plan out your time wisely giving your students time in cooperative groups to work on their Quests. Computer time needs to be managed in most classrooms or labs. Don’t forget to plan for group sharing and grading at the end of the project time.
Create your own WebQuest. If you cannot find a WebQuest that will meet your needs you can always create your own. I do not suggest this for beginning or level 1 computer user, but it is not as hard as you may think. A WebQuest can easily be created in Microsoft word and put online using a free site such as http://geocities.yahoo.com/ . You do not even have to put a WebQuest online. You can create it, place it on the desktop of any computer that is connected to the Internet and use it from there. This WebQuest will not shared with the world but your students will have access to it from that computer and when clicking on the links it will work just like one online. There are many resources on the Web that can help you create your own Quests. On http://webquest.sdsu.edu/ you can find templates and ask for help. There is training materials on that site that anyone can use to teach others to learn how to use and create WebQuests. You can even put your ideas online and find someone else to create a WebQuest for you. I suggest you take a class to learn how to create your own. I created my first WebQuest using Microsoft Word and placed it online. I can be found at: http://wwwstatic.kern.org/caliente_static/gems/Parrott/EarthquakesParrott.doc I am developing my own Web Page to use as a professional development tool to teach others about WebQuests. It is still in under construction but can be found at: http://www.calienteschooldistrict.org/Parrott/about
References Dodge, B. (1997,May) Some Thoughts About WebQuests. Retrieved June 17, 2003, from http//edweb.sdsu.edu/course/edtec596/about_webquests.html March, T (1998,April). WebQuests for Learning. Retrieved September 21, 2003, from http:www.ozline.com/webquests/intro.html Web Sites used: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/ http://geocities.yahoo.com/ http://www.bestwebquests.com/ http://www.calienteschooldistrict.org
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