What is a webquest?

     Webquests are used in education as another form of learning. According to Bernie Dodge on Concepts to Classroom, webquests are "an inquiry-oriented online tool for learning." Webquests are lessons that allow students to explore beyond the boundaries of the classom. Teachers can use webquests to build schema of places/things that students have never experienced. Webquests are on the Internet, therefore computer access is necessary. Webquests can last over a period of time or just in one hour. These lessons normally allow students to be creative with the resources given to them. Some webquests also build upon teamwork.

     Webquests are very useful for the classroom and to engage students in a deeper level of thinking. In my classroom, I think I will use webquests often. I am a Early Childhood major and younger students need to be accostomed to using computers in the correct way. I think that webquests in my classroom will be to make learning fun and to show that there are fun educational things on the web. My goal of using webquests will be an extension of teaching. Bringing creativity into the classroom and to teach teamwork will be vital. I will use webquests as either a final part of a lesson or as an introduction. For my practice webquest, I am doing the life cycle of the butterfly. I would use this as an introduction to a more detailed lesson as well as hands-on experiences with the life cycle of a butterfly. Webquests are helpful for differentiation as well. There can be different webquests for the different students in the classroom. The different webquests can be differentiated for those with different needs. But, the webquests will all be the same. I think this is helpful for a diverse classroom.
    There are many pros and cons to using webquests in classrooms. Some pros of webquests are that students learn to work in teams with other students. This can be a challenge for some students because they choose not to get along with others, but it is a good teaching tool. The webquests allow students to have quicker access to information. Society will require these students to find information at an alarmingly fast pace from a great deal of sources. Webquests allow for creativity and a deeper thought process beyond a mulitple choice test. Students have to construct and understand the concept that is being presented. While these pros are helpful, there are many cons to webquests as lessons. Some webquests do not provide the basic knowledge to a subject such as: definitions or factual recall. Many content standards are based off of those two ideas and are sometimes withdrawn from webquests. Webquests also take a great deal of time to create. Many teachers do not have that much time to learn how to make it and gather all of the resources for the students in time to teach it. Some schools have a hard time doing webquests because they do not have the technology to have a whole class on a computer at a time. This poses a problem unless you can have students pair up on the computers. Behavioral problems can arise at this point, because of the "unfair" usage of computers. There are both sides presented. However, I think that webquests can be useful as an extension of learning.






Credits
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samuelbausson/3394771317/

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/webquests/index.html