Home Page Exploring WebQuests WebQuests Templates and Planning Guides
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Creating WebQuests Tips and Links for Creating Your Own WebQuests for the Classroom |
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So you want to design a WebQuest? |
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Topic Outcomes Question/Task Evaluation Design Process Resource |
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Here are some links that might be helpful in getting started:
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The
Basic Parts of a WebQuest |
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| 1. Introduction | 2.
Task |
3.
Process |
| 4.
Evaluation |
5.
Conclusion |
6.
Resources (this
may be included as a separate section or included in another section) |
| Additional
options to improve your WebQuest |
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| 1. Credits (resources, photo credits, permissions) | 2.
Teacher pages (explain the nuts and bolts, target audience, etc.) |
3. Include your e-mail (so that you can be notified of broken links and can repair them if needed |
| Now, the steps to developing a WebQuest may not be in the same order as the finished product! You may also find that you’ll need to move around the steps as they are listed here – and that’s fine. For example, you may want to look at some Web resources before you finally select your final topic. | ||
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| This should be a rich topic, with resources easily located on the Internet. You may want to be sure you can find the kinds of resources you want before going any further. A good Webquest demands that the learner be engaged in higher-level thinking. Use something from your curriculum that requires a variety of resources, could be controversial, or may require information that changes rapidly. Bernie Dodge suggests these possible categories: |
| Bringing contemporary world problems into the classroom. The problems may defy easy solution, but challenge students to engage in debate, reach consensus and formulate a plan. |
| Evaluating history: Allow student a close look at wars, major tragedies, disasters or periods of exploration. Students imagine themselves as researchers or eyewitnesses at the scene. |
| Creating a product: Some WebQuests end with the creation of concrete items such as murals, flower beds, multimedia productions, or menus. Students may use both traditional and Web resources. |
| Dealing with life’s realities: the task is something a student might actually encounter: finding a job, taking a vacation, making a purchase. Students can use online resources such as flight schedules, ticket or product prices, employment ads. |
| Sparking the imagination: take a journey to a place we’re not likely to go anytime soon – into space, to the center of the earth, deep-sea exploration diving. Provide students with superpowers – use time machines or imaginary vehicles. |
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To read more: Building
Blocks of a WebQuest |
| What is it that you want the
learner to know, understand and be able to do at the end of this WebQuest?
What concepts should they understand? What skills should they have? What
essential things should they know? Just as with all good curriculum, you should start with the end in mind. Align with local, state or national standards in the curriculum area or areas you’ll be using. |
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What will the students: KNOW |
| You may want to
look NOW for Webquests that already exist. If they do, you may want to use an
already existing one, or modify one that comes close to doing the job.
Go to Exploring WebQuests and browse some of the collections or search on your own. Found a WebQuest that ALMOST works, but needs updating or revision. Take a look at these helpful hints! Adapting and Enhancing Existing WebQuests |
| This question will guide your WebQuest. It should demand higher-level thinking. It should be the type of question that real working people might ask. “How can we solve the problem of abandoned pets?” “Could an asteroid really end life as we know it on Earth?” “What was life like as an immigrant from Ireland in the 1800’s.” |
| Look at examples from quality WebQuests to see how these questions are structured. This part of the WebQuest will become your TASK |
| You not only want a quality question, but you want to “hook” the student by creating motivation and excitement. |
| Take
a look at the "Taskonomy"
for ideas about structuring tasks, or look at the Taskonomy Web. http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss99/tasksimap/ |
| Before
you go farther, answer the 10 "Go/NoGo" Questions by Tom
March http://www.ozline.com/webquests/prewrite.html Decision:
Uncover the Question
The single most important
aspect of a WebQuest is its Question. Unless answering the question
demands higher order thinking, you don't have a WebQuest. Another way
to say this is: if there's a clear and easy or factually known answer
to the question, this isn't a WebQuest. You can explore Uncovering
the Question / Task to get an idea for the kinds of questions that
have been successful. The decision is, "Do you
have what it takes to make a WebQuest?" Posing these questions
will help you to elicit a positive response: I have answered yes to all these questions or else my questions / comments are listed below:1. Is the topic worth the time and effort needed to build this
Webquest? (think about curriculum objectives, course requirement,
etc.) 2.
Is
the level of potential student cognition/learning worth your and their
effort to do this Webquest? 3.
Are you excited by the activity?
4.
Does the Web offer so much that its use is warranted?
5.
Does the Question ask something that people in the real world
find important? (i.e., this isn’t just school work, it it?)
6. Is the answer to the question open to interpretation/argument/hypothesis?7. Have
you specifically identified the kind of higher level,
transformative thinking that will transpire in the mind of the
learners?
8. Would
most teacher (students) have the right technology, time, and
comfort level to support the Task you’ve identified?
9. Do
you believe there’s enough on the Web to support the roles?
(What in-class supplements might be needed?
10.Is
this a Webquest or really another format? (last chance for an
easier way out, such as a Treasure Hunt, Subject Sampler, Concept
Builder, etc.)
If
you've answered yes to all the questions above,
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| This section defines the quality, quantity and learning outcomes expected of the students. It should be available for students before they begin their WebQuest work. Many WebQuests use rubrics as evaluation tools. You can create your own at Rubistar, or use your own criteria. If you need to assign a grade to a final learning or product, values can be assigned to different criteria or tasks. Just make sure that the evaluation tool reflects what you want the students to know, understand and be able to do; and that it reflects the tasks included in the WebQuest. (Good, Better, Best . . . ) |
| More samples of Rubrics |
| Select a type of
design that will best fit your topic. Look at examples and templates
to ways in which you could organize your WebQuest.
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/Process/WebQuestDesignProcess.html Templates http://webquest.sdsu.edu/LessonTemplate.html http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss99/upgrades/index.htm |
| Part of this decision may be based on what type of technology/software is available for you and your students to use. Do you have the skills and software to create a web page? Will you be using Word in ‘html’ style? Could you use PowerPoint? How are the students going to access the WebQuest? Will all students need access at the same time such as in a lab setting, or will only a few need access at a time? |
| Once you have answered the basic questions, you might want to design a flowchart, outline, or a paper copy to see how the end result will work. You could use a program like Inspiration to create an idea web. Do you want or need to place all of the steps of the WebQuest on one page? Each on a separate page? How will students navigate from one part of the WebQuest to another? |
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| What do the student need to do in order to accomplish the Task and answer the big question(s)? Here the teacher may number steps to be taken, assign roles, provide scaffolding assistance (worksheets, data gathering tools, special reference resources such as dictionaries, etc.) |
| You can provide help or provide links with process strategies (group decision making), skills (how to ‘read’ an historical photograph) or other necessary problem solving strategies. |
| This is the HOW of your lesson. How do students arrive at the final product or process? This part may require off-line explanations and assistance from the teacher! |
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Scaffolding/Assists |
| Big 6, reference
resources, process guides and more http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Lincoln_HS/Burleson/workshops/WQ_Workshop/ (click on Resources and Guides) |
| Process Checker
for your WebQuest http://webquest.sdsu.edu/processchecker.html |
| Working
Ideas:
I often have my students open two windows on their computer at the same time for paperless note-taking. They can copy and paste into a Word document any pictures, quotes, and bibliography information. They can also type notes as they toggle back and forth between the Web text and their Word document. |
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| You must identify the resources that your students will be using, whether online or offline. Web sites will form the core resources. At this time, my favorite search engine is Google. I’ve had very good luck in finding the types of resources that I’m looking for without too much effort. I always set up a new folder on my “favorites” in Explorer and save every site that looks interesting or usable. |
| When looking for sites, you really need to keep in mind the reading ability and comprehension ability of your students. There are some wonderful content rich sites that may be too difficult for students to sift through in order to find pertinent data. Be sure to check the validity of the sources. I always tell my students to beware of Web pages posted by other students who were doing a Web page project! |
| And after you have collected your resources and organized them on your WebQuest, be sure to check back frequently for broken links. Things change rapidly on the Web. Sometimes, the pages get moved to a slightly different address on the same site. Sometimes they disappear completely and will need to be replaced. |
| Looking for pictures or background images? Try Google Images |
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| WebQuest Design Process http://webquest.sdsu.edu/designsteps/index.html Assessing your own or
another WebQuest Look at Templates and Planning Guides |
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