You Say WebQuest -- I Say Web Quest.

So, exactly what is a WebQuest?

It is ...

an inquiry-oriented activity in which some of all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet or an intranet.

A WebQuest may be short-term (one or two short sessions) or long-term (multiple sessions over a longer period of time). The goal of a Webquest is knowledge acquisition and intergration.

During a short-term Webquest, the learner is required to acquire a significant amount of new information and make sense of it.

The goal of a long-term Webquest is for the learner to extend and refine their understanding of a subject. A learner satisfactorily completes a long-term Webquest when she is able to analyze a body of knowledge, transform it, and demonstrate an increased understanding in some way.

Various thinking skills are used during a Webquest:

• Comparing
• Classifying
• Deducing
• Inducing
• Analyzing errors
• Constructing support
• Abstraction
• Analyzing perspectives

The critical attributes of a WebQuest include:

1. Introduction – should orient the learner as to what is coming and raise interest

2. Defined task – a description of what the learner will do during the Webquest and of a final deliverable (presentation or product)

3. Defined process – clearly defined steps learners should use and appropriate learning advice

4. Resource list / information resources – a list of web pages and other resources the learner is expected to use (the learner may also be required to locate additional resources on their own)

5. Evaluation methodology – how the Webquest will be evaluated or results measured

6. Conclusion – to bring the Webquest to an end, remind learners of what has been learned, and encourage learners to extend methodology for learning to other domains

[Adapted from WebQuests in our Future, the Teacher’s Role in Cyberspace by Kathleen Schrock. Accessed on July 20, 2006.]

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