1) General Introduction to WebQuests a) What is a WebQuest? A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used.

1) General Introduction to WebQuests

a) What is a WebQuest?

A WebQuest 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 and evaluation.

The model was developed in early 1995 at San Diego State University by Bernie Dodge with Tom March."

b) The Pro’s and Cons of Webquests

Effective & structured use of Internet time.

Capture student’s imagination.

Accommodate students' diverse learning needs.

Allows students to explore in a guided, meaningful manner.

Individual and group work.

Pro’s:

b) The Pro’s and Cons of Webquests

Pro’s:

Many to chose from. Variety of curriculum areas.

Free.

Great links and lists of resources.

You can create your own WebQuest or use existing ones.

b) The Pro’s and Cons of Webquests

Pro’s:

Fun and motivating for students.

Can be done as home assignment.

Similar structure in all WebQuests. Ease of use.

b) The Pro’s and Cons of Webquests

Con’s:

Link rot – dead end links. Web sites not available

Content is predominately American.

Takes lots of time to create one.

Tend to use only Web as a resource, not other library resources.

c) Examples:

Check these out:

Note the structure – Introduction, Task, etc.

Example #1:

The American Revolution

Explore the American Revolution from various viewpoints (Patriot/Loyalist/British Government), conduct "interviews", develop your own viewpoint.

http://teacherweb.com/NY/NiagaraFallsHighSchool/MsFortin'sWebquest/

Example#2:

Lord of the Flies

Design a survival strategy and bill of rights.

http://www.longwood.k12.ny.us/lhs/teach/webq/lmasterjohnlord/

Example#3:

Earthquake!

Learn more about earthquakes and where they are most likely to happen. Find a “safe zone” for some earthquake refugees.

http://sd67.bc.ca/schools/sss/Science/webquest/index.htm

d) The Structure of WebQuests

Most webquests follow this structure:

2. Introduction: To prepare and hook the student. Introduce the activity or lesson.

1. Top (Overview or Home): Title, designers name, e-mail address, etc.

3. Task (Quest or Quest[ion]): End result of student’s activity.

4. Procedure (Process): The steps to accomplish the task.

5. Evaluation: How student’s performance will be evaluated.

6. Conclusion: What student will have accomplished.

7. Teacher Page: Information to help teachers understand the WebQuest.

8. Credits: List of sources and their links. Thank-you’s.

(Note: some WebQuests include a Resources page too)

Here are some links to find out more details:

WebQuest Template

http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss99/mywebquest/index.htm

Building Blocks for WebQuests

http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/buildingblocks/p-index.htm

A variety of WebQuest Templates

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/LessonTemplate.html

2) WebQuests Available as a Resource to Teachers

a) Looking for a WebQuest that you can use in your classes?

 Whatever your subject area, there’s probably one out there you can use.Here’s some ways you can find out what’s available:

i) Try a WebQuest Matrix:

Most subject areas covered.Grade levels: K to adult.

The WebQuest Page, Matrix of Examples

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/matrix.html

(Danger! You can explore for hours in these sites.)

These are lists of WebQuests created in various settings, mostly University courses and workshops.

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest_collections.htm

Matrix of Examples

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/matrix-old.html

More WebQuests

http://www.plainfield.k12.in.us/hschool/webquest.htm

ii) Use a WebQuest “search engine” and type in your search topic:

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/wqSearch.html

Note: Another way to get to the search engine above ….. it is linked to the WebQuest Page.

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest.html

Click on the site directly above, then click on the word “Search”

III) You may use search engines such as Metacrawler, Alta Vista or Google. Type in the subject followed by the word WebQuest.

Exploration #1

#1 My Network Places#2 Schools on Entire Network#3 SSS#4 Staff Data#5 Department Data#6 Student Services#7 Library#8 Salter WebQuest#9 WebQuest Workshop #10 Go to slide 15 (left hand column).#11 Click on the “Slide Show” button (bottom left hand corner).

Double click on:

b) Teacher-Librarians Role:

The Teacher-Librarian can be of help in several ways:

i) Searching for specific WebQuest subjects for classroom teachers.

ii) Bookmarking WebQuests that look useful. This could be done by grade level and subject. Let your T-L know if you have found a great site. It can be “bookmarked” in a collection for others to use.

iii) Helping teachers to develop their own WebQuests. Pointing teachers in the right direction for resources on how to create a WebQuest and where to go for technical assistance.

iv) Helping teachers and students to find non-print and print resources that will help with WebQuests.

3) Developing WebQuests

a) Importance of Content/Design:

i) Here are some of the steps you will use to create a WebQuest:

1) Choose a topic or goal.

2) Brainstorm ideas about the topic.

3) Develop a task that you would like students to accomplish. This task should fit a curriculum standard and engage students in a higher level of thinking. (More about this later)

4) Assign roles to students who will be doing the WebQuest.

5) Create a persona that will grab students’ interests.

6) Search out, evaluate, bookmark, and organize websites and other resources.

7) Describe the steps students will go through in order to complete the task.

9) Develop a Credits page to acknowledge sources and helpers.

10) Provide students with a clear understanding of the grading criteria which will be used to evaluate their efforts.

8) Develop a teacher page that will give extra instructions to teachers as needed.

ii) One of the best ways to start the process of creating a WebQuest is to work through a presentation by one of their originators, Bernie Dodge. He calls his presentation “A Road Map for Designing WebQuests.” Each design step has links to further information or templates you can download and use free. Just remember to give Bernie recognition on your “Credits” page.

iii) Another helpful resource is the link to Spartanburg, District 3, County Schools. At the end of this site’s first paragraph are some links that you may find helpful. Look for the following:

Diagram that is an introductory overview of a WebQuest

A WebQuest development guide

View a sample diagram on brainstorming ideas

An example concept map WebQuest Word document

Here are some further links to Readings and Training Materials for creating WebQuests:

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/materials.htm

#1 Go to slide 22.

#2 Click on “A Road Map for Designing WebQuests.

#3 Explore Bernie Dodge’s steps for creating a WebQuest.

#4 Go to slide 24.

#5 Click on the link above the picture.

#6 Explore “Reading and Training Materials”.

Exploration #2

b) Templates:

When you create your own WebQuest you can either begin by opening a new Word document (eg. Microsoft Word) or use a template that tells you what information to include and where to put it. Here are some links to Templates.

Again use the link to Spartanburg, District 3, County Schools and then in the second paragraph use the link called:

a template to assist teachers

Here are some other links to templates:

WebQuest Template

http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss99/mywebquest/index.htm

Building Blocks for WebQuests

http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/buildingblocks/p-index.htm

A variety of WebQuest Templates

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/LessonTemplate.html

c) Higher Level of Thinking:

It is important that your WebQuest engages students in a higher level of thinking, not just collecting data from the Web. The WebQuest should require students to solve a problem, form an opinion, analyze, persuade, etc.

Here are some links to help you choose a higher level of thinking:

WebQuest Taskonomy: A Taxonomy of Tasks

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/taskonomy.html

A WebQuest Taxonomy Cluster

http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss99/tasksimap/

WebQuests: A Strategy for Scaffolding Higher Level Learning

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/necc98.htm

Exploration #3

#1 Go to slide 28.

#2 Explore any of the links to help you choose a higher level of thinking to use in a WebQuest.

d) Background and Rationale:

If you want to read about the background and rationale for WebQuests from their originators, Bernie Dodge and Tom March, here are some links:

"Some Thoughts about WebQuests" articles and links by Bernie Dodge, San Diego State University.

new article on WebQuests “WebQuests for Learning” by Tom March, San Diego State University.

e) “Information for Teachers” Section:

Not all Webquests include this section, but it is very useful when they do. It usually includes instructions and suggestions that might help teachers as they plan to use the WebQuest. It can be added into the text of the WebQuest, but on a different page than the students will read. Here is the way I included it in my own WebQuest called “Earthquake!”. Note that you may need to change your screen resolution size to 1024x768

before you will see the Teacher Page link on the bottom left side.

http://sd67.bc.ca/schools/sss/Science/webquest/index.htm Earthquake!

Exploration #4

#1 Go to slide #31.

#2 Click on the link at the bottom of the slide for earthquake WebQuest.

#3 Under “Teacher Page” click on “Tasks”.

#4 Choose “Task 5”, note “Information for Teachers” (in green).

#5 Compare to same task in Student Page. Note Information for Teachers is omitted.

#6 Take a few minutes to read over some of the “Information for Teachers” sections in some of the tasks.

f) Tech Support:

Unless you are a wizard at making webpages, you will need lots of help (like I did) to get your WebQuest from the word document stage to the “ready for the Internet stage”. This requires someone who is very familiar and practiced with Flash, Front Page, or similar HTML based programs that turn word documents into Web documents.

Your tech support person will find and install an appropriate background for you, change your word document into active Web text, create and organize all the links you need, and get your WebQuest connected to the World Wide Web. It is very helpful if your tech person knows how to use HTML because this can speed up the process. You will need to work closely with this person, and perhaps leave printed instructions, to let him or her know exactly what you want.

Saundra Priester and her work experience students were an invaluable tech support for me when I did the Earthquake WebQuest. Saundra spent about 4 hours and one of her work experience students, Riley Yeoman, spent about 15 hours helping me. Saundra says she, and her students, are willing to help other SSS teachers who need tech support for creating WebQuests, as long as she has plenty of advance notice.

If you have the time and are the type of person who likes do-it-yourself challenges, then you might find this link useful for getting your WebQuest on the web:

http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil Filamentality: helping you add your own Filament to the web of learning.

4) Evaluation Criteria for students:

You may want to include some evaluation criteria in your WebQuest so students (and you) have a good idea of how to be successful in their quest.

You can make up your own criteria or use the rubrics available from the link below.

I used this site. I found it pretty easy to use and was able to customise the rubrics to fit the tasks in my WebQuest.

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ Rubistar: Create Rubrics for Project Based Learning Activities.

Here are some other rubrics links:

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/rubrics/weblessons.htm Rubrics for Web Lessons

http://www.theeducatorsnetwork.com/utt/rubricsgeneral.htm Rona’s Ultimate Teaching Tools

http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-4521.htmlhttp://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-4521.html Rubrics: Inspire your Students and Foster Critical Thinking

Exploration #5

#1 Go to slide #39.

#2 Explore the links to evaluation rubrics.

#3 If you find one you like, for practice, cut and paste it to a word document.

5) Evaluating your own WebQuest:

If you would like to evaluate your own WebQuest, or someone else’s, or have students or colleagues evaluate it, this link might be useful:

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/webquestrubric.html Rubrics for evaluating webquests.

THE ENDOf the Quest