By: Rheanna Painter Plemons

The WebQuest: What is it and Where did it come from? Bernie Dodge’s Definition: "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet” Created to encourage critical thinking among student teachers

WebQuest Advantages in the Classroom: Provides Creative Use of Computer Technology Promotes Critical Reading Promotes Authentic Communication Increases Student Motivation (Brozo & Simpson, 2003)

Parts of the WebQuest: Introduction Tasks Resources Process Evaluation Conclusion

The Introduction: Set the stage for the Quest Provide background information Motivate the student

The Tasks: Doable and Interesting! Higher-Order Thinking Engage Students

The Resources: Web Documents s Hard Copies of Text Real-time conferencing Searchable databases

The Process: How am I supposed to do that? Now what?

The Evaluation: Rubrics, Rubrics, Rubrics

The Conclusion: Summarize Tell them their achievement Encourage to extend (Lockard & Abrams, 2003)

Examples of WebQuests: The Modern Period and Ernest Hemingway webquesthttp:// webquest/ Learning about Photography photography/ A Legendary Superhero: Beowulf beowulf/ Which Road Did You Take, Robert Frost? index.htm

Templates and Other Helpful Links: mp.htm mp.htm

Do students enjoy WebQuests? Quotes from Cannons Elementary 5 th Graders, Spartanburg, SC Daniel: I liked the WebQuest very much. It was way more fun then textbooks. Quatez: WebQuest(s) are fun to do. You should try it yourself. Lacie: I loved the WebQuest. I would love to do many more. Thank you for letting us do WebQuest.

The Evolving Classroom: Plemons’ Hypothesis: If more students are allowed to communicate and learn through a computer, then we have greater chance of establishing a Global Society in the classroom.

Sources: Brozo, W.G. & Simpson, M.L. (2003). Readers, Teachers, Learners: Expanding Literacy Across the Content Areas (4 th ed.). New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall. Lockard, J. & Abrams, P.D. (2004). Computers For Twenty-First Century Educators (6 th ed.). Boston: Pearson. What Do Students Say About WebQuests. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2, 2004, from Meet Bernie Dodge -- the Frank Lloyd Wright of Learning Environments! (2000). Retrieved February 2, 2004, from world.com/a_tech/tech020.shtmlhttp:// world.com/a_tech/tech020.shtml