WEBQUEST

1) What is Web Quest? An educational model for the use of Internet based on cooperative learning. A research model that gets information from Internet and ends up with a final product. A learning method based on internet resources for fostering creativity, critical thinking and decision-making, thus contributing to the development of abilities for transforming the adquired knowledge.

2) Origin: Created by Bernie Dodge, professor in San Diego State University, in 1995. More than 20.000 web pages from several countries and different languages. It stands out for being an extremely simple model and a rich method for the educational uses of the Web.

3) Educational goals : Updating educational strategies; Warranting access to genuine information; Stimulating cooperative learning; Unwraping/developing cognitive skills; Transforming and reproducing information Encouraging creativity; Favouring teachers authorship work.

4) Features Activities mainly created for the students to work in groups. Motivation elements can be added to the structure by assigning roles, simulated characters, and a working stage to the students. Useful for an only subject or for interdisciplinar subjects.

5) Thinking skills: Comparing, identifying, pointing out differences and similarities Classifying Inducing Deducing Analyzing errors Constructing Support Abstraction Analyzing perspectives

6) WQ levels: Related to the project length: Short Term WebQuest The goal is to adquire and integrate knowledge in one or several areas. Between 1 and 3 sessions are required. Longer Term WebQuest With a larger number of tasks, being them more complicated and elaborated, it usually ends up carrying out a presentation by means of a software tool. A longer term WebQuest will take between one week an a month.

7) Components and structure of a WQ: Introduction (to the subject); Task (for the student to carry out); Resources (available); Process (a pre-defined sequence); Evaluation (Rubric evaluation); Conclusion; Hints and directions; Credits and references.

7.1)Introduction : It has two aims: A- To give the student an overview about what she/he will find in a WQ B- To increase the students interest in the activity

7.2)Task : The task is a formal description of what students will have accomplished by the end of the WebQuest Students can be asked to publish their findings on a Web Site, a Word document, a Power Point presentation, a speech or a debate.

7.3)Process : The steps needed to carry out the task are described. Some guidance on learning, and on how to divide tasks into sub-tasks can also be added. The descriptions given here must be clear and brief.

7.4)Resources : This section of the Web Quest consists of a list of the resources (Web sites, printed resources, etc...) selected by the teacher for the students to carry out the task. This pre-selection keep students from losing in the Web. Resources are not only found in internet.

7.5)Evaluation : This step gives a guidance on how the final product will be evaluated. This evaluation can be done by means of the Rubric, so that the very studens evaluate themselves.

7.6)Conclusion : To summarize the experience, promote reflection and make an overwiev of the things learned. Far from being a criticism, it usually creates a debate due to the adquired knowledge during the activity.

Information Transformation 8) Active learning: According to Bernie Dodge’s diagram: Incoming Information Final Product Information Transformation Figure 01: Active learning diagram by Dodge

9) Recalling... : Motivation; Authenticity (diversifies strategies and genuine contents); Cooperative learning; Development of a high level thought ( knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation). Standing also by: New technologies The Web (in particular).

10) Considerations and statements: According to March (1999) “ ... A WebQuest is by choice a richer Web activity from the point of view of reason, for it differs from other activities in: Students get involved in problem resolution; It creates a cooperative working environment to solve a real task playing real roles. It uses Internet both as a resource and as way to share knowledge.

According to Seabra (2001) “The WebQuest great advantage is offering a new approach to Internet search. Students are to search the Net in order to look for well-defined subjects by means of specific tasks. It breaks with the copy-paste system.“. He states also that: “The aim of this methodology is not forbid the students the access to certain sites, but to save them from getting lost in the Web”...“It’s a directed approach, but it creates a good dynamic. It places the teacher as a mediator, to make things easier“.  

¿What about analyzing a WQ?