Transcript Designing WebQuests - Klein Independent School District

TCEA State Conference, February 6, 2002
Designing Great WebQuests
Higher Level Learning for GT Students
(and ALL students) on the World Wide Web
Based on:
FOCUS: Five Rules for Writing Great WebQuests by Bernie Dodge
Learning & Leading with Technology, May, 2001.
Ann McMullan
Instructional Technology Officer
Klein Independent School District
[email protected]
What is a WebQuest?





An Inquiry-oriented activity
Most or all of the information used by
learners is drawn from the Web
Designed to use learners’ time well
Focus on using information rather than
looking for it
Support learners thinking at the levels of
analysis, synthesis and evaluation
What’s the Appeal of WebQuests?



Provide structure and guidance for both
students and teachers
Engage higher level thinking skills
Make good use of limited computer access
How do WebQuests differ from each other?


Thousands of WebQuests can be found on the
World Wide Web
Quality ranges widely



Some created hurriedly to complete a class
assignment
Others developed over a longer time – thoughtfully
refined
Some not WebQuests at all – merely worksheets with
URLs (Internet Scavenger Hunts)
Johnny Appleseed
5 Principles for Creating Great WebQuests
Find great sites.
Orchestrate your learners and resources.
Challenge your learners to think.
Use the medium.
Scaffold high expectations.
FOCUS
FOCUS – Find Great Sites

Master a Search Engine



Probe the Deep Web




Seven Steps Toward Better Searching
Google; AltaVista; Vivisimo
Thomas – a tool to search U.S. legislative information on the Internet
Library of Congress American Memory Collection
Bernie Dodge’s Specialized Search Engines and Directories
Don’t Lose What You Find


My Bookmarks
Backflip
FOCUS – Orchestrate Learners and Resources
“A great WebQuest is one in
which every computer is being
used well and everyone has
something meaningful to do at
every moment.”
FOCUS – Orchestrate Learners and Resources
Organizing Resources




A single computer can be used to drive whole-class
discussion and exploration.
One to 10 computers can be used as learning stations.
If the only Internet access is in the lab – frontload the lab
visit with offline activities to prepare students for online
lab time.
If all computers don’t have Internet access, create Web
archives and save to hard drives. (WebWhacker;
WebBuddy)
FOCUS – Orchestrate Learners and Resources
Organizing People – Use Cooperative Learning Strategies

Positive interdependence: Learners perceive that they cannot
succeed without each other

Promotive interaction (preferably face-to-face): Students help
teach and applaud each other as they wrestle with authentic work

Individual and group accountability: The group is held
accountable for completing the task, and each individual is held
accountable for his or her part in the process

Interpersonal and small group skills: Most children (and
many adults) need to be taught how to work together.

Group processing: Conversation about how to improve the
group's effectiveness is deliberately built into the process
Process Guides
FOCUS – Orchestrate Learners and Resources
Organizing People – Create Separate Responsibilities



Have learners read different web pages
Have them read the same web pages from differing
perspectives
Divide production responsibilities in ways that parallel
production crews in real life (e.g. scriptwriter, graphic
artist, producer)
“The trap to avoid is creating separate roles that do not
result in information all members of the team will need
to accomplish the end goal.”
FOCUS – Challenge Your Learners to Think

Take Your Learners to Task

Focus not on the information, but what you
ask the learners to do with the information:
Problem Solve
 Create
 Design
 Judge


WebQuest Taskonomy
FOCUS – Challenge Your Learners to Think

Types of Tasks:

Design
Have students design a WebQuest
Museum of Egyptian Antiques


Journalistic
Learners take on a persona and create a news
account
Witchcraft or Witch hunt

FOCUS – Challenge Your Learners to Think

Types of Tasks:
Persuasion Amid Controversy
Look for authentic controversies in the world
as a vehicle around which to organize the
study of a topic.
A Forest Forever

FOCUS – Use the Medium
“A WebQuest that’s fully flexing the model is one
that could not be accomplished on paper.”

People

Line up humans with expertise to share


Ask an Expert; ePals
Conversation

Allow students to post their opinions; invite
others to participate

QuickTopic
FOCUS – Use the Medium

Selective Glitz
“Though it’s critically important to avoid distracting your
learners with dazzle and noise that serves no instructional
purpose, it’s also important to take advantage of audio,
video and images on the Web when appropriate.”

FindSounds; Earthcam
FOCUS – Scaffold High Expectations
“A great WebQuest asks students to do things they might
not ordinarily be expected to do…Scaffolding is a
temporary structure used to help learners act more
skilled than they really are.”

Reception

Provide guidance in learning from a given resource
and retaining what was learned.



Observation Guides
Tips on how to conduct interviews
Online glossaries and dictionaries
FOCUS – Scaffold High Expectations

Transformation

Ask learners to transform what they read into
some new form. Provide help on:
comparing and contrasting
 finding patterns among a number of similar
objects of study
 brainstorming
 inductive reasoning
 decision making

FOCUS – Scaffold High Expectations

Production
“WebQuests commonly require students to create things they’ve never
created before.”

Provide students with
templates
 prompted writing guides
 multimedia elements and structures

“By doing part of the work for students, we allow them to go beyond
what they would be able to do alone. Overtime they internalize the
structures…until they can work autonomously.”
WebQuest – The Basic Framework






Introduction
Task
Process
Resources
Evaluation
Conclusion
Building Blocks of a WebQuest
Let’s Try One


WebQuest about WebQuests
Task:


Which two WebQuests are Best…Worst, and Why?
Who are You?




The Efficiency Expert
The Affiliator
The Altitudinist
The Technophile
Let’s Try One

WebQuest about WebQuests

Resources (WebQuests to be evaluated)
A Stitch in Time
 Our Sun-Sational Star
 Journey Back in Time
 Dolphin-Safe Tuna?
 Penguins

Build Your Own WebQuest
…or find someone’s that works for you

The WebQuest Page



Matrix of Examples
WebQuests Collections
Template to Build Your Own