WebQuests - Scaffolded Internet Exploration
As you already knew or learned from the other resources we have provided, the WebQuest model was developed to engage learners in the scaffolded exploration of Internet resources to solve information problems. The WebQuest design as advanced by Bernie Dodge and Tom March addresses educational issues that extend beyond how educators might focus students on useful Internet resources. Our own description of a WebQuests proposes that it is a document (usually prepared as a webpage) consisting of:
- A brief introduction to a topic intended to establish context
- The description of an inquiry task related to that topic
- A set of primary web resources students can use in performing the task
- Suggestions for how students might use the web resources in performing the task.
If you are willing to dig into the actual history of the WebQuest, you will see that our view is a little simplified. Tinkering with the components of a WebQuest is not unusual and our four component model differs from the . The concreteness with which the components of a webQuest can be described has made it popular with educators of all levels of experience. Generating a WebQuest is a common task for preservice teachers. With so many WebQuests available online, it seems fair to note that there are many takes on what qualifies as a WebQuest. We interpret the Dodge model to emphasize a task that requires a transformation and integration of information from multiple sources and that this task is to be addressed by multiple students. Not all online examples satisfy these conditions, but whether a given tasks is useful to students is probably best evaluated by their teacher.
Dr. Dodge has generated several resources to assist teachers in developing, storing, and sharing WebQuests. The most comprehensive of the online services offered to date is Quest Garden. This site offers a guided process educators can use to create a WebQuest, a way to share WebQuests, and the opportunity to view WebQuests created by others and modify one of these resources to fit the needs of your own classroom. There is a nominal fee for using this site. Tom March maintains a site called BestWebQuests.Com. This site links to "Best WebQuests", but also differentiates the WebQuest from other ways in which March sees Internet resources being used in classrooms. Bernie Dodge also maintains a site intended to help educators find WebQuests prepared by others and learn to develop WebQuests themselves. You might wonder, with all of the attention WebQuests have received, if there is a WebQuest about WebQuests. It turns out that there is and Bernie Dodge created it himself.
So, the WebQuest model, analyses of this model, and many, many examples are available online. Are their options? Of course. While this is probably the most popular model presented to pre-service teachers and it seems a very effective way to describe important tasks in solving information problems with Internet resources, web projects can take other forms. Tom March has made an attempt to differentiate the WebQuest from other Internet-based learning activities. Others have their offered their own models of inquiry tasks similar to those addressed by WebQuests (e.g., Web Inquiry Projects - Dr. Philip Molebash) and Internet-based inquiry would seem a specific case of the more general interest in inquiry learning.