WebQuests 1

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

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).

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

(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
 WebQuests 5

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