Web Quests

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Taking Education Online WebQuests: Option A Skipton T. Mckenzie EDU 616 Dr. Jamie Sullivan June 8, 2008

Today’s teachers are faced with the challenges of heterogeneous classrooms, technology integration, and massive amounts of information. Solomon, Allen, & Resta (2003) indicate that our nation is facing a significantly “. . . increasing dependence on technology and increasing diversification of the population”(p. xvii) and, “This proliferation of information resources is forcing us to face massive amounts of information

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transmitted at accelerating speeds” (Norton & Sprague, 2001, p. 140). Consequently, teachers must effectively utilize the resources and information technology provides, to meet the needs of their diverse learners and prepare them for tomorrow. “The most familiar form for accessing information is the World Wide Web” (Norton & Sprague, p. 141), and WebQuests is one strategy teachers can use to meet their teaching needs and their student’s learning needs (Norton & Sprague, p. 155). This paper addresses how WebQuests can provide an enhanced and engaging means for teaching, how learners can benefit from this approach, and critical skills that WebQuests can provide. WebQuests provide enhanced and engaging means for teaching because they are more than just surfing the net for information and websites to answer questions; they present students with challenging tasks, scenarios, or problems to solve (www.kn.pacebell.com). Bernie Dodge, creator of the WebQuest model for technology integration, indicated that WebQuests are different from other Web-based experiences because, “A WebQuest is built around an engaging and doable task that elicits higher order thinking of some kind. It’s about doing something with information. The thinking can be creative or critical, and involve problem solving, analysis, or synthesis” (Starr, 2007, p. 2). Incorporating WebQuests enables teachers to utilize a multimedia rich teaching and learning approach. Supporting documents such as Inspiration, Word, and PowerPoint can be attached to a WebQuest (Dodge, 2007, p. 2).

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The most important benefit for learners using WebQuests is the connection to the “real world” and future employment. “Communication, group work, problem solving, and critical and creative thinking skills are becoming far more important in today’s world than having students memorize predetermined content” (Starr, 2006, p. 1). Dodge (cited in Starr, 2007) indicates that WebQuests should be a “. . . scaled down version of something that adults do on the job, outside school walls” (p. 2), and provides an example of students who used a WebQuest to create radio plays that are broadcast on their local radio station (p. 4). WebQuests allow students to study an issue they find meaningful (http://eduscapes.com), such as pollution, gambling, and nuclear waste disposal (Starr, 2006, p. 1), and discuss very real and relevant issues (Dodge, cited in Starr, 2007, p. 4). “The experience of seeing the complexity of the issue and honoring the strongly expressed views of classmates seems like terrific practice for tomorrow’s voters” (Dodge, cited in Starr, 2007, p. 4). Incorporating programs such as Excel, and PowerPoint into WebQuests develops student’s skills with these tools and also prepares for the working world. Excel is, “. . . seen by many as the industry standard for data analysis . . .” (www.teach-nology.com), and, “Most of the companies now a day are using PowerPoint presentation to show their reports, proposals and case studies” (Brothers, 2008, p. 1). Critical skills that WeQuests provide to learners can also relate to the “real world.” E-mailing congressional representatives or presenting their interpretation to the world in some form can be part of a WebQuest

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(www.kn.pacbell.com). Marzano (1992, cited in Dodge, 1997. p. 2) provides the following thinking skills that WebQuest activities might include: comparing; classifying; inducing; deducing; analyzing errors; constructing support; abstraction; and analyzing perspectives. “. . . simple data collection is not a viable life skill without the ability to analyze the data,” and Excel helps students to do this (www.teach-nology.com). WebQuests teach students to think in a constructivist manner, and work in a cooperative manner (Dodge, cited in Starr, 2007, p. 3). “ WebQuests give students a task that allows them to use their imagination and problem-solving skills. The answers are not predetermined and therefore must be discovered or created. Students must use their own creative-thinking and problem-solving skills to find solutions to problems” (Letkeman, cited in Starr, 2006, p. 1). Students working in a cooperative manner on a WebQuest “. . . effectively become experts on that one aspect of a topic” (www.kn.pacbell.com). Critical thinking skills should be grounded in facts and lead to useful results. In discussing students using WebQuests, Letkeman (cited in Starr, 2006), explains that, “They must process the information in meaningful ways and reach moral and ethical decisions guided by facts” (p. 1). “Involve me and I understand” (http://educscapes.com) sums up the capacity of WebQuests to provide enhanced and engaging means of teaching, how learners can benefit from them, and critical thinking skills they can provide. WebQuests is a multimedia rich toolfor teachers that challenge students thinking skills. As critical thinking skills are developed using this

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tool, students are deepening their understanding of important and relevant topics, and developing “real world” skills for future employment and life.

References Brothers, J.J. (2008). Helium. Tips for integrating PowerPoint into the classroom. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from http://www.helim.com Dodge, B. (1997). Some Thoughts About WebQuests. Retrieved June 5, 2008, from http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html Dodge, B. (2007). Creating WebQuests. Retrieved June 5, 2008, from http://webquest.org/index-create.php Solomon, G., Allen, N.J., & Resta, P. (2003). TOWARD DIGITAL EQUITY: BRIDGING THE DIVIDE IN EDUCATION. Boston: Pearson Education Group, Inc. Starr, L. (2006). Creating a WebQuest: It’s Easier than You Think! Retrieved June 5, 2008, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech011.shtml Starr, L. (2007). Meet Bernie Dodge – the Frank Lloyd Wright of Learning Environments. Retrieved June 5, 2008, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat015.shtml

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Norton, P., & Sprague, D. (2001). TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

References AT&T Knowledge Network Explorer: WebQuests. Retrieved June 4, 2008, from http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/webquests.html Excel in the Classroom. Retrieved June 1, 2008, from http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/excel/print.htm teacher tap. Project, Problem, and Inquiry-based Learning. Retrieved June 5, 2008 from http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic43.htm