WebQuest - Links Judy Beal
Opening the Learning Process through online and offline involvement with technology
What is it that WebQuests help do to open student learning using information technology? Encourage collaboration - students working in teams
 Develop student questioning skills
 Celebrate differences in experiences, cultures and ideas
 Scaffold effective and informative online experiences for students
 Promote divergent thinking around a real issue
 Can be structured to support global thinking about local issues 
 Contact with experts in the field of study via email or web-cam
 Contact with other interested students who are distantly located
 Student / Peer assessment valued through rubrics
A Webquest includes a ..
"Transformative Task: The main purpose of using a WebQuest is to scaffold student thinking and research so that eventually a transformative task will help the students engage in higher order thinking. Don't underestimate the value of coming together to debate and answer the question." from http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/Federation/template.htm This link has a standard template for a WebQuest at a site by Jane Carr and is based on the work of Bernie Dodge and Tom March. 

The coming together to debate and answer the question does not have to be in 'real' time and in the same place! With the incorporation of information and communication technologies students can complete WebQuest tasks collaboratively, in an online environment, even when they are distant from one another or the sources of information. 

Useful Links

Some thoughts about WebQuests  http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html - This article by Bernie Dodge gives clear definitions about what WebQuests are and how they are useful to schools
Rubric tool to assess a WebQuest   http://www.ozline.com/webquests/rubric.html  - A useful rubric for assessing the value of an online WebQuest - This page has moved - you may find useful tools at www.ozline.com which points to Tom March's Blog page
Paper arguing for the use of WebQuests in Junior Primary http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/judybeal/judykath.htm - This paper gives arguments in favour of using WebQuests in Junior Primary Schools
Online Rubric generator for peer or teacher assessment http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.html - This is a very useful tool for teachers and students to use in developing assessment rubrics which meet their specific needs
Assessing the research cycle http://www.fno.org/libskill.html - This article by Jamie McKenzie explores ways to assess learning in the research cycle
A matrix of WebQuest examples http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/matrix.html - This resource provides comprehensive listings of WebQuests already available online - there is not much Australian content here but - this has now move! Try searching the SDSU website as they have searchability in the matrix of webquests available. Go to http://edweb.sdsu.edu
Online Course in WebQuest development through TSOF http://www.tsof.edu.au/resources/webquests/index.asp This site based at the School of the Future in Hindmarsh, Adelaide has online learning modules about WebQuests. It has a range of links to Australian WebQuests
April 2001

email me

Judy Beal