WebQuest

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__** WebQuest **__ 1. unit of study that is inquiry-based and includes activities that extend student learning beyond the classroom experience. 2. first developed at the San Diego State University in February, 1995 by Bernie Dodge. 3. WebQuests infuse both technology and traditional learning into class activities. 4. WebQuests are created by teachers to match the needs of the curriculum that is taught. 5. Successful WebQuests function as another learning strategy to achieve course objectives. __** WebQuests **__ ** WebQuests ** use all levels of **Blooms Taxonomy**. In creating a WebQuest, students use lower to higher order thinking skills. []
 * 1) Encourage children to work cooperatively in groups.
 * 2) Use critical thinking skills
 * 3) Forces students to take the information they acquire and use it in another way such as maps, comparisons, hypotheses, solutions etc.
 * 4) Use a method of scaffolding that breaks the assignment into more manageable sub-tasks
 * 5) Incorporate authentic learning tasks
 * 6) Use many different resources
 * 7) Use various strategies to increase student engagement
 * 8) Include activities that use safe surfing on the Internet
 * 9) Utilize authentic assessment



** Parts of a WebQuest ** ** Introduction ** o Introduces the student to what will happen in the course of the WebQuest o Connects prior knowledgemedia type="youtube" key="yuZ949Zi0TY?version=3" height="190" width="230" align="right" o Captures learner’s attention and motivates them ** Task ** o Explains assignment for the WebQuest o Defines the specific product (task) that will be created o Designs tasks that are non-traditional to learning assignments (non-written) ** Process ** ** Information Resources ** ** Evaluation ** ** Conclusion ** ** Teacher Pages ** ** Beginning to Make your own WebQuest ** ** Have your students make them ** ** Helpful Hints ** 1. Know your course content 2. Know your students a. Know what motivates them b. Know what they like c. Build on their prior knowledge and experiences 3. Become familiar with online resources in your subject area 4. Classify your resources into categories such as diagrams, databases, reference materials, etc. 5. Find themes that fit with your curriculum and that have online resources 6. WebQuests can be made to fit any topic of study at any grade level
 * Promotes resourcefulness
 * Uses creative product tasks
 * Include persuasion
 * Self-knowledge
 * Analytical tasks
 * May contain elements of scientific discovery: make and test hypotheses
 * Steps are plainly detailed
 * Describes the process to accomplish the end result
 * Provides help, notes, and information for learners
 * Describes the roles of each member of the group
 * A list of websites selected and researched by the teacher for the learner
 * Resources can use both external and internal links
 * Resources may include resources other than websites, ie. Books, worksheets, videos, magazines, etc.
 * Necessary to measure success of WebQuest
 * Consist of criteria used to grade
 * Meets objectives and goals
 * Often uses evaluation rubrics for authentic assessment
 * May include noncritical attributes
 * Individual or group activities
 * Role-playing
 * Single subject or interdisciplinary
 * Concludes WebQuest and its activities
 * Reviews what the student has learned
 * Requires students to reflect, rethink, review and use his knowledge
 * Gives ideas and resources for future exploration of learning
 * May include rhetorical questions
 * Usually a separate page available for the teacher only
 * Includes items such as:
 * Intended audience
 * Problems that may have occurred
 * Questions
 * Examples of student work
 * Start small
 * Brainstorm ideas
 * Research appropriate content material
 * Locate appropriate websites for students to link to
 * Create achievable tasks for yourself and your students
 * Be sure you have the necessary equipment
 * Research websites for your own expertise
 * Have students help create them
 * Use diagram sites such as Inspiration if available
 * Don’t procrastinate!
 * Have students work in groups
 * Show examples of a good WebQuest
 * Have students use templates
 * Be sure to give students in depth directions
 * If school does not filter websites, give students a list of appropriate sites

** Some Useful Websites ** ** These Websites explain WebQuests and give you some ideas for making one. ** The original website for WebQuests – [|http://www.webquest.org] [|http://eduscapes.com/sessions/travel/index.htm] [] [] [] [] [] [] [|http://www.mtwp.net/~jane_glass/wqsmore.html] Excellent information about everything WebQuest ** Useful Resources ** [] [|http://eduscapes.com/tap/tap2.htm] *** for virtual field trips and libraries** WebQuests by topic []
 * [|http://www.mtwp.net/~jane_glass/wqsmore.html] *** includes examples of various
 * Remember to look at some of the other websites that were used throughout the Wiki. **

To create your own WebQuest go to Google Sites located in your Google account login page for mail ( [] ) and create a Web Page or go to a pre-made template on Google sites choose Education and scroll down to find the WebQuest. This WebQuest will be set up and ready to go with all of the necessary requirements for the WebQuest. If you wish to change the template design, you must do that before the templae or site is created.