This latest blog post is all about my current Instructional Tech project: webquests.
Webquests are projects assigned, researched, and possible even completed online. The teacher creates a website or a wiki specifically for this webquest that covers the following topics: an Introduction, a task, the process, the evaluation/rubric, and the conclusion. Some webquest sites even include a resources page. The goal is for students to follow the guidelines laid out in the website to complete a project using the internet as their only source of information. Hopefully from this they will learn how to search the internet and distinguish between useful and "fluff" information.
Someday, in a classroom of my own, I will use webquests as either group or individual projects in the beginning of the school year. This type of project can be more structured and guide the child(ren) to the information we want them to glean all the while teaching them the necessary steps. It could even be a precursor to a research project because with this project the websites are provided but with a research project the students would have to find the information on their own using skills learned for webquests.
The pros of webquests: they are a guided way to teach research and how to pick out quality information, they teach internet literacy, and they are a way for teachers to monitor what websites their students go to.
A con: setting up a website for each and every specific webquest is a time consuming task for teachers.
I love the idea of using webquests at the beginning of the school year! It seems like a great way to get students involved in collaborating appropriately about classwork, as well as to slowly get them started doing research in your classroom. I also liked the idea of doing it as a precursor to an actual research project! I'm thinking about students with learning disabilities--what a great way to ease them into an activity and also grab their attention!
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct that preparing webquests is very time-consuming. My suggestion is that you add one new webquest to your repetoire each year... and don't try to create it in one weekend! Spread the creation over time as we are doing in class.
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