WEBQUESTS

What is a WebQuest?

Search for the word "WebQuest" in any search engine, and you soon discover thousands of online lessons created by teachers around the world. What is a WebQuest? A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented online tool for learning, says workshop expert Bernie Dodge 1. This means it is a classroom-based lesson in which most or all of the information that students explore and evaluate comes from the World Wide Web. Beyond that, WebQuests:

* can be as short as a single class period or as long as a month-long unit;

* usually (though not always) involve group work, with division of labor 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.

How to create a Webquest?

Creating a WebQuest can be very simple. As long as you can create a document with hyperlinks, you can create a WebQuest. That means that a WebQuest can be created in Word, Powerpoint, and even Excel! If you're going to call it a WebQuest, though, be sure that it has all the critical attributes.

A real WebQuest....

* is wrapped around a doable and interesting task that is ideally a scaled down version of things that adults do as citizens or workers.
* requires higher level thinking, not simply summarizing. This includes synthesis, analysis, problem-solving, creativity and judgment.
* makes good use of the web. A WebQuest that isn't based on real resources from the web is probably just a traditional lesson in disguise. (Of course, books and other media can be used within a WebQuest, but if the web isn't at the heart of the lesson, it's not a WebQuest.)
* isn't a research report or a step-by-step science or math procedure. Having learners simply distilling web sites and making a presentation about them isn't enough.
* isn't just a series of web-based experiences. Having learners go look at this page, then go play this game, then go here and turn your name into hieroglyphs doesn't require higher level thinking skills and so, by definition, isn't a WebQuest.