WebQuest

WebQuest

The originator of this format for web based lessons, Dr. Bernie Dodge, says that a WebQuest is .".. an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet..." (Dodge, 1995). 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 and evaluation. The model was developed in early 1995 at San Diego State University by Bernie Dodge with Tom March. (1)

Dodge (1995) describes the scaffold of a Webquest to include:

- Introduction
- Task
- Information sources
- Process
- Guidance/Assessment (including a rubric)
- Conclusion

The introduction should be motivating give good attention to students to solve the problem mentioned through the task.
The task is to solve the problem raised through an assignment,  it may include defining, creating, analyzing or designing.
The process part describes how to solve the tasks that should be followed by the students.
The resources are pre-selected and not restirected to the web, it can be textbooks, projects, people or any useful resource.
The evaluation is related to the assessment part of the whole work, can use an evaluation rubric.
The conclusion is the summary of the knowledge learned by the students through this WebQuest the experience and reflection of the process.


In first place through applying WebQuest, students can gain a more ‘higher-order thinking’, which basically allows them to think intensively, increasing their brain activity which could initially enhance their skills in literacy as well as become able to extract important information related to the tasks prepared, and to get rid of unrelated confusing knowledge.
Cooperative learning can be also applied very well while applying WebQuest, and help the lower learners to catch up.

WebQuest Templates

 
 (1) http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/webquests/wq/writing.html#A


Related Videoes:
http://www.slideshare.net/yvette21/creating-a-web-quest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnJ2moNmbdk&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yfo8B3PdmI&feature=player_embedded