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, optionally supplemented with videoconferencing. There are at least two levels of WebQuests that should be distinguished from one another. (Bernie Dodge, San Diego State University)

Level One: Short Term WebQuests

The instructional goal of a short term WebQuest is knowledge acquisition and integration. At the end of a short term WebQuest, a learner will have grappled with a significant amount of new information and made sense of it. A short-term WebQuest is designed to be completed in one to three class periods.

Level Two: Longer Term WebQuest

The instructional goal of a longer term WebQuest is extending and refining knowledge. After completing a longer term WebQuest, a learner would have analyzed a body of knowledge deeply, transformed it in some way, and demonstrated an understanding of the material by creating something that others can respond to, on-line or off-. A longer term WebQuest will typically take between one week and a month in a classroom setting.

 

Well written Web Quests incorporate strategies to increase student motivation:

1. WebQuests use a central question that honestly needs answering.
2. Students are given real resources to work with. Rather than turn to a dated textbook, filtered encyclopedias or middle-of-the-road magazines, with the Web students can directly access individual experts, searchable databases, current reporting, and even fringe groups to gather their insights. When students take on roles within a cooperative group, they must develop expertise on a particular aspect or perspective of the topic. That their teammates count on them to bring back real expertise should inspire and motivate learning.
3. Lastly, the answer or solution the student teams develop can be posted, emailed or presented to real people for feedback and evaluation. This authentic assessment also motivates students to do their best and come up with a real group answer, not simply something to fulfill an assignment.

   (Paraphrased from, Why WebQuests?, an introduction Tom March, http://ozline.com/webquests/intro.html)

Other reasons to use a WebQuest:

1. Web Quests are tools for you to use to help integrate the Internet into your classroom.
   
2. Web Quests help you to expand your curriculum beyond your classroom walls.
   
3. The Web Quest could be completed in one or two class periods or last for weeks and weeks ending with an elaborate project.
4. Web Quests can be done in classrooms with one computer or in library media and computer centers with multiple computers.
5. Web Quests give both, the teacher and learner, independence to gather information from a digital resource.
6. Web Quests are a new teaching paradigm!

Where can I find WebQuests on the Internet?

• The first table lists individual webquests for specific grade level books. WebQuests labeled fifth grade or higher are appropriate for use at the middle school and high school level.

• The second table lists Internet resources for webquest collections.

Literature Webquests for Grades K-5

How can I evaluate my WebQuest?

WebQuest Process Checklist- A list for self- or peer-review of the Process portion of your WebQuest.

A Rubric for Evaluating WebQuests-This rubric will help you pinpoint the ways in which your WebQuest isn't doing everything it could do.

Web Page Evaluation Worksheet from Dr. Nancy Everhart, St. John's University, Division of Library and Information Science.

One of the best practices in recent years for student assessment is rubrics. Rubrics are one form of authentic assessment. Authentic assessment is geared toward assessment methods which correspond as closely as possible to real world experience. The instructor observes the student in the process of working on something real, provides feedback, monitors the student's use of the feedback, and adjusts instruction and evaluation accordingly. Authentic assessment takes this principle of evaluating real work into all areas of the curriculum.

Rubrics are a formative type of assessment because they become an ongoing part of the whole teaching and learning process. Students themselves are involved in the assessment process through both peer and self-assessment. As students become familiar with rubrics, they can assist in the rubric design process. This involvement empowers the students and as a result, their learning becomes more focused and self-directed.

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