Developing A WebQuest For Your Classroom

Definition | Basic Form | Evaluation |Collections | Choosing a Topic
Locating Resources | Constructing A WebQuest | Rubrics
Using Your WebQuest

Definition

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.

There are five basic components of an average WebQuest

	set the stage for the activity catch the reader's attention to draw them into the quest provide background information
	state what the students will be required to do avoid surprises down the road detail what products will be expected and the tools that are to be used to produce them.
	give a step-by-step description, concise and clearly laid out provide links to Internet sites interwoven within the steps.
	display a rubric to measure the product as objectively as possible leave little room for question
	summarize the experience allow reflection about the process. add higher level questions that may be researched at another time. give food for thought as to where they can go with the info they have learned, using it in a different situation.

For a more complete description of each component go to Building Blocks of a WebQuest by Bernie Dodge and Building Blocks of a WebQuest by San Diego City Schools Ed Tech Dept. For another way to see each component, look at a template for constructing your own WebQuest.

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If you have not had experience designing your own Internet based lessons before, it would be helpful for you to see a sample of webquests currently available on the Internet. To accomplish this, you will go on a WebQuest about WebQuests. In this activity you will be asked to determine the best two webquests and the worst two.

• WebQuest about WebQuests for Elementary teachers
• WebQuest about WebQuests for Middle Years and Secondary Teachers
  

You should also look critically at the WebQuests. To evaluate webquests already out on the Internet, use A Rubric for Evaluating WebQuests or the WebQuest Rubric to see if that webquest is as good as it could be.

• Matrix of Examples - Maintained and updated by Bernie Dodge from San Diego State University
• Inquiry-based WebQuest Projects - Webquests created by Ottawa-Carleton teachers. Sorted by grade and subject
• Saskatchewan Developed WebQuests - WebQuests developed by Saskatchewan teachers
  
• List of WebQuests - A list organized by subject and grade level
• Dr. Alice Christie's Matrix of WebQuests - Almost 200 webquests organized by subject and grade level
• College of Education, Louisiana State University WebQuests - Sorted by level
• WebQuests Sorted by Grade Level - WebQuests created by graduate students.Organized by subject or grade level
• WebQuests - Created by college students from Indiana University, School of Education Grade level and subject given
• A Matrix of WebQuests - Created by college students from University of Nevada. Organized by grade level and subject
• K-2 Projects - Organized by subject for Grades K-2
• 3-5 Projects - Organized by subject for Grades 3 - 5
• 6-8 Projects - Organized by subject for Grades 6 - 8
• WebQuests written by Memphis City Schools teachers - 80 webquests created by teachers and sorted by grade level
• WebQuests - Grade-Level Projects - Sorted by grade level and subjects
• WebQuests - created by teachers from San Bernardino County.

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Dr. Dodge says, "Well begun is more than half done. It's critical in the early stages of WebQuest development that you stack the decks in favor of your own success. You need to identify a topic that is worth your spending time on and one that takes advantage of the Web and the WebQuest format." To that end, he has provided an evaluation rubric for you to grade your topic. Look at the rubric and judge your tentative topic. Topics which make the best WebQuests generally fall into one of two patterns; difficult problems which call for creative solutions, and subjects about which there is genuine disagreement.

Learn search rules at a limited number of search engines and do most of your searching from those sites.

Bookmark liberally. Set up a "webquest" folder in your Favorite or Bookmarks list, and drag bookmarks to that list. Before you actually start writing your WebQuest, it is far better to have too many book marked sites than not enough. For example, a WebQuest on tropical rain forests had more than four dozen sites book marked, but only ten were incorporated into the WebQuest.

For more about searching see Search Techniques from The WebQuest Page:

• Before you Search
• Four Nets for Better Searching
• Specialized Search Engines

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Dr. Dodge has provided templates for you to modify. Many WebQuests you see around the Internet have a similar look because most people use his template. Let's look at some templates:

• Template #1 - Traditional, No-Frame Version
• Template #2 - Traditional, No-Frame Version
• Template #3 - Framed Versions with Text Links
• Template #4 - Framed Versions with Text Rollovers

Tom March, with Ozline, has designed a page to help designers of WebQuests quickly think through some key elements before they invest lots of time designing their WebQuest. At this page you would fill in all the input and text fields. You don't have to go in the order they are listed. Since curriculum is a creative process it's likely you will go back and forth between sections as your ideas clarify and the sparks fly. When you are satisfied with everything, click the "How 'bout that?" button. A working page will be generated for you. This page is run by a JavaScript, so none of your work is saved unless you do so.

If you wish to write a WebQuest in the form of a Word document, a Word template is available for download.

Microsoft's web page editor, FrontPage, Macromedia's Dreamweaver and/or Netscape's built-in web page editor, Composer, can also be used to modify the template. To download the template of your choice, go to WebQuest Templates. Six different versions are available to download in a zipped format. Directions about downloading and editing are available at the bottom of the WebQuest Template page.

Rubrics

What is the best way to measure student learning and results in the webquest model? Rubrics are often used as they can focus on the process in terms of teamwork and evaluation. Evaluation rubrics can take a different form depending on the kind of task given to the learner. Below is a list of sites related to developing rubrics and rubric examples.

• Rubrics for Web Lessons
• Creating A Rubric for a Given Task
• Rubric Building Ontario's Teachers Rubric page has examples of almost every kind of rubric imaginable.
• Creating Rubrics - A five-part series that explores how to design, refine, and implement rubrics in a variety of subject areas.
• RubiStar - This site is a tool to help teachers create rubrics for project-based learning.
• Rubric and Rubrics Makers Generators - A list of rubric generators that will allow teachers to make rubrics by filling out a simple form. The site is in the process of adding high quality rubrics.
• Ready-Made Rubrics - This site contains links to scores of example rubrics in a wide range of content areas.
  

As you can imagine, having the students complete a WebQuest can be a wonderful experience. Here are some tips to help you start and succeed with your first few.

1. Preview your WebQuest before you use it.
2. Change the WebQuest so that it will meet the needs of your class. Sometimes you may have to alter the procedure to suit the one-computer classroom or break up the steps.
3. It is helpful to perform the initial WebQuest as a group so that the students may become familiar with the process and ask any questions as you proceed.
4. Remember to let the students explore and have fun. There will be times when the WebQuest does not proceed the way you intended, but learning is still taking place.

WebQuests can be easily adapted for your classroom setting.

• WebQuests are most likely to be group activities, although one could imagine solo quests that might be applicable in distance education or library settings.
• They can be designed within a single discipline or they can be interdisciplinary.
• A single computer can be used to drive whole-class discussion and exploration with the teacher, not the students, controlling the pace.
• One to 10 computers can be used as learning stations for students to cycle through while others work offline.
• If the only access to the Internet students have is by a scheduled (and limited) set of lab periods, then a well-orchestrated lesson proceeds that lab visit with offline activities so students are prepared to use lab time well.
• If all computers don’t have Internet access, then students can access Web archives created on another computer and saved on their hard drives.
  

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