What Can WebQuest Do For You?

WebQuests are used in a variety of areas of education. Teachers in elementary schools use them, as well as teachers in college. WebQuests are a different and interesting way for students to complete assignments. The first question on a lot of people's minds though probably is what exactly is a WebQuest?

What is a WebQuest?
According to the two men who came up with the idea for WebQuests, Bernie Dodge and Tom March, 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." In layman's terms, a WebQuest is an activity that teachers can post online, or print out for the class, that students must complete online. The students use various websites to find information about whatever the teacher wants them to do, and complete the activity using these resources. A WebQuest is an easier way to incorporate technology into the classroom. The next question on everyone's mind is probably going to be how can WebQuests be used?

How can WebQuests be used?
A WebQuest can be used in any classroom for any subject area. It is fairly easy thing that a teacher can set up for the students to complete using online resources. WebQuests can be used to complete papers, do an online scavenger hunt, find information about famous people, etc. A WebQuest is an organized way to allow students to complete an assignment without help from the teacher. It can be used as a group activity, where the teacher can display the WebQuest on a projection screen, and the students can work as a class to complete the activity. It also can be used as an assessment tool to see what students know about using the internet. I think WebQuests have an endless amount of possibilities they can be used for. Now, to get into the advantages and disadvantages for this tool.

Advantages
One advantage of a WebQuest is the fact that if a teacher realizes that she has not hit on a certain point in one of the Standards, she can allow the students to find the information on their own at home without taking up more class time. It also allows students a different way to learn. It allows the students to find the information for themselves instead of the teachers spoon feeding them all of the information. WebQuests are also helpful in the fact that they can be used in all subject areas, be it Social Studies, Math, or PE. There are so many websites on the internet about so many different topics, a teacher would be hard pressed to find a subject WebQuests could not work for.


Disadvantages
One disadvantage of a WebQuest is there is no student/teacher interaction. There is in the fact that the teacher made up the WebQuest and will be grading the final project, but the student will not be learning the information directly from a teacher. It might also be hard for a younger student to be able to complete a WebQuest because a student needs the prior knowledge of knowing how to work around the internet. They would also need to be able to pick the helpful information from the useless information. The last disadvantage that I can see is that when posting URLs to a WebQuest, pictures and/or videos might pop up on a new screen, or there might be an ad, that is inappropriate for students to see. This can pose a major problem in whether students complete the WebQuest because if they are working with help from their parents, and their parents see the pop-up or ad, the parents will probably get upset and tell them to stop. Teachers need to be aware of what websites they use before they publish their WebQuest for students to see.


Audience
I think the audience for this tool is all ages. Yes, it might be harder for younger students to complete a WebQuest, but if a parent helps them, I believe they would be able to do it. Teachers are definitely also an audience for this tool because they will be the ones to create the WebQuest. To go along with that, I think all teachers in all grade levels in all subject areas can find this tool helpful. If a teacher is new to using a WebQuest, there are numerous websites on the internet that have templates for how to complete and post a WebQuest.


More Information
You can find more information about what a WebQuest is at Tom March's very own website. You can also find templates for creating a WebQuest at this WebQuest internet site. Kathy Schrock's website also has good information about WebQuests that teachers might find useful. You can find PowerPoint slides, templates, and more links to good websites about WebQuests at her site.


My overall opinion
I believe that WebQuests can be extremely useful in a classroom. I have had to create a WebQuest before for another college course that I am taking and it is fairly easy to put together. I think WebQuests would be good to use in a classroom because they can incorporate any subject, as well as more than just one subject. WebQuests are a good way to incorporate technology into the classroom and teaching because they are not hard to create, nor are they hard for students to understand. I believe that once I get my own classroom, I will be using WebQuests to touch on subjects that I won't be able to cover in a classroom.