Introducing WebQuests

A Complete Overview – The 5W’s and 1H

What

A WebQuest (WQ) is drawn from the internet, which is designed by teachers before a lesson, and it asks students to show high level thinking, progress their understanding and transform ideas in order to complete a task. They’re created using a number of different programmes such as Microsoft office which includes links to various websites online.

The structure of a WQ can differ due to time constraints, teaching context, culture, or one’s own individualism, yet the general consensus on QuestGarden seems to imply that a WQ contains 6 essential stages:

• Introduction – A brief presentation of the focus/task

• Task – A full and formal outline of what the students will be doing

• Process – A step by step break down of what the students are expected to perform, with examples and demonstrations, if necessary, to consolidate or clarify understanding

• Evaluation – A systematic model of assessment criteria

• Conclusion – Reflection, and possibly further discussion of extension activities

• Credits – Acknowledgements, author biography and permissions

A task focus can range from writing persuasive messages to policy briefings, or from creating travel plans to implementing genre analysis. Therefore the teacher can be as zany or wacky as they wish, but like any other task, they should always keep in mind lesson objectives and student goals.

An Example

There is already a wealth of resources on the web for teachers to use and modify. It's fine to adapt WQ's, but you should always recognise the original author/creator at the top of the page.

In terms of making WQ's, become a member and follow the on screen instructions. There is a really useful rubric which tells you exactly what you have to do, every step of the way. And it even stops you at different intervals in the creation process by asking if you're sticking to your aims and objectives...

Where

This a classroom-based concept, which is carried out online. However, as it's all online you could encourage students to proceed with their WQ at home, or during their own time for homework.

Who

Students are expected to show high order thinking when faced with WQ’s. Bloom's taxonomy (Krathwohl,2002,p.212) probably best describes who such a task is aimed at and what it requires – the upper levels (analysis, synthesis and evaluation) should all be shown – therefore huge emphasis is put on students being critical, analytical and hopefully creative! Most tasks predominantly involve group work, with various roles being split between members. If you have multi-levelled classes then it is probably best to team up the weaker students with stronger students to encourage peer learning, and collaboration.

Why

There are many reasons why teachers should incorporate WQ’s into their classrooms:

• It gets students engaged in notions and concepts which require higher level thinking. This criticality and analytical cognitive processing helps progress language learning.

• The resources are given to students therefore this avoids them searching for information online; where they could quite easily copy and paste useless information and not internalise the required aims.

• Authentic, genuine, and every day topics of focus are usually designed by teachers to avoid tasks being artificial, like so many mundane classroom activities…

• Giving students roles will help them to personalise and really embrace the activity. If there were weaker students in the class, you could assign the less taxing roles to those students. 

• Can be used to introduce, conclude or consolidate a topic/unit.

• Motivation tool to encourage independent reasoning and autonomy.

• Makes students more aware of, and to intensify their use of, technology in the classroom. Ultimately this will give them a very real and practical advantage over others.

• Encourages cooperative and collaborative learning through group projects. Getting students to co-construct knowledge and negotiate meaning are key pillars of language learning.

• Once groups have finished their WQ's you could get them to present what they've discovered to the group. Not only does this build confidence, but reflects everyday authenticity which is linked to the outside world.

• Offers students inspiration to go and create their own WQ’s, and be autonomous.

Why not?

• Clearly WQ's rely on the internet so make sure you have a secure connection.

• Not everyone is ICT savvy so training and patience is required.

• They’re not appropriate for every learning aim, so they could potentially be used sparingly to keep it fresh and novel.

• They necessitate competent reading skills so possibly not suitable for young/lower level learners, but teachers can simplify concepts and grade language to fit their students’ needs

How?

Get yourself to QuestGarden!

Check out the resources, examples and tutorials on their website. They offer a free 30-day trial, and once you're hooked you can sign up to a 2-year subscription for only $20. Watch the first video here, and the proceeding three for further information.

When?

Now! Create a WQ and send your students on a quest of the web that they’ll never forget.