WebQuests - what are they and do we need them?
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Webquests are inquiry-oriented activities where students interact with and learn from online resources. They were developed in 1995 to help teachers integrate the internet into learning. There are short-term webquests that focus on knowledge acquisition over 1-3 class periods, and longer-term webquests that extend knowledge over 1 week to 1 month. Effective webquests involve central questions, student roles, processing information, and feedback/evaluation.
WebQuests - what are they and do we need them?
- 1. Webquests Steve Evans What are they and why use them?
- 2. Origins In 1995 Prof. Bernie Dodge began developing the WebQuest strategy at San Diego State University to help teachers integrate the power of the Web with student learning. As a result, criteria were developed for creating WebQuests and there are now many examples available on the Web.
- 3. Definition “ A webquest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet…” (Dodge, 1997) “ There are at least two levels of webquest that should be distinguished from one another…”
- 4. Short and long term webquests Short-term - goal => knowledge acquisition and integration. Learner grapples with a significant amount of new information and makes sense of it. 1-3 class periods . Longer-term - goal => extending and refining knowledge. Learner analyses body of knowledge deeply and creates something others can respond to. 1 week to 1 month .
- 5. Basic features Central question/theme Take on roles within co-operative group Relevance to curriculum/level Processing/analysing information Authentic information sources/media Feedback and evaluation
- 6. Five points for design/evaluation Home page - design / navigation End task - relevance to curriculum; analysis/collating information. Process - clear directions + strategy Resources - relevant; exploiting medium; encourage analytical thinking. Evaluation - clear criteria.
- 7. Benefits for EFL teaching Exposure to significant amounts of authentic language - reading texts/streaming media (audio/video) Co-operation enhances communication skills Targeting gives focus & deepens understanding of areas of curriculum Tasks give language learning more appeal
- 8. Some examples Primary Upper-intermediate