Webquests Travis Smith and Ryan Bartlett Two

Webquests Travis Smith and Ryan Bartlett

Two questions: • How many of you used the internet at least once a week during class in your core classes when you were in school? • How many of you plan to have students use computers at least once a week during class in the classes you teach?

Web. Quest • “A Web. Quest 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)

Why use a Web. Quest • Students like computers (and many need to learn to use them for something constructive) • Inquiry based by nature – effective for most students since the students are active • 21 st century skills – Information and Media Literacy – Promotes Global Awareness – Often include Critical Thinking – Career skills for the Information Age • Administrators like technology

When should you use a Web. Quest? • Only when you are teaching a subject that has internet resources… • In other words – for anything! – To introduce a unit or topic – To reinforce what you already taught another way – As a form of assessment (formative or summative!)

Are Web. Quests effective? • Students like them (Abbit & Ophus, 2008; Lipscomb, 2003) • Differentiation – effective for disabled (Skylar, Higgins, & Boone, 2007) to gifted (Schweizer & Kossow, 2007) students • Difficulties in comparing teaching methods (Abbit & Ophus, 2008; Strickland, 2005)

Examples of common Web. Quests • Scavenger hunt • Watch videos/listen to podcasts/read text online and then answer questions/complete tables/etc. • Online games/activities • Online quizzes or tests • A combination of all of the above

How do you create a Web. Quest? • “Borrow” one and then modify it OR 1. Find resources online that help you teach your subject. 2. Create an activity around the resources. • • • Pick a place in your unit. Decide on a level of structure and length (10 minutes to whole unit or even whole class). Plan your assessment.

Example: Machines Introduction To Machines Web. Quest

Example Rubric For Machines Web. Quest Section Description Teacher Feedback I Reviewing Force Points Possible 5 II Simple Machine Song 15 III 30 IV Simple Machine Description Compound Machines V Japanese Machines 10 VI Review 5 VII Analyzing 20 15 Points Earned

Example Graded Rubric Section Description Teacher Feedback I Reviewing Force Good II Simple Machine Song III IV Simple Machine Description Compound Machines V Japanese Machines VI Review VII Analyzing 30 20 15 10 Student Response 15 15 Good, but put things in your own words. You forgot to label! Points Earned 5 15 Didn’t answer all the questions. Points Possible 5 10 5 5 20 18

Examples • • Biology: https: //docs. google. com/document/d/1 vb. Ceibe. Ra_do 9 nf. Hu 5 g. Gm. Z 1 x. EIl. Wv_s. Gb. B 0 xp. LPPf. YQ/edit? hl=en&authkey=CIa w 4 KMJ Earth Science: https: //docs. google. com/document/d/1 Fo. Ey 5 b. PDq. YVoo. E 2 Mm. Cd 71 yd 4 EFszgr. VKYnp. Wx. N 7 Marw/edit? hl=en&authkey =CNv 2 v. Lk. C Language Arts: http: //its. guilford. k 12. nc. us/webquests/storyteller. htm Math: http: //www. wfu. edu/~mccoy/NCTM 00/amy. html Science: http: //amazingspace. stsci. edu/resources/explorations/groundup/ History: http: //www. learnnc. org/lp/projects/history/ http: //www. learnnc. org/lp/editions/nchist-twoworldslessons/1981 Spanish: http: //www. zunal. com/webquest. php? w=72984

Sounds great, right? So what could go wrong?

Common mistakes (that Ryan made)

1. Forcing students to type long website names • Ex. http: //www. starsandseas. com/SAS%20 C ells/SAS%20 cellphysiol/celltranspor. htm • How many students would type this in wrong? • http: //bit. ly/ssoe-bio • LINKS!

2. Assuming websites that work on your home computer will work on school computers • School internet filters • Software – Programs – Plug-ins

3. Assuming all student computers have the same software • They don’t (especially plug-ins) • Animations usually require Adobe Flash and/or other plug-ins • Students usually cannot install any software on their accounts

4. Making a Web. Quest that can be answered too easily • Be very careful with scavenger hunt Web. Quests • Why? • Ask. com, Answers. com, Google, etc. • Students typing questions into boxes and writing down the answers is not terribly effective learning. • Include higher-level questions and questions that can only be answered by going through an activity or website

5. Not having a back-up plan • Technical difficulties – School’s wireless internet down – Computer use conflicts – Computers extremely slow/long log-in (profile building) • Murphy’s Law – this will happen when you are being observed or the superintendent is visiting your classroom, etc. • "Murphy was an optimist. “ (Unknown)

Summary of advice • Use links. • Try the Web. Quest yourself on as many student computers as possible. • Have a back-up plan. • Use higher level questions.

Links • • • • • Math Web. Quests: http: //www. wfu. edu/~mccoy/NCTM 00/exampleshi. html (mostly High School) http: //www. meridian. wednet. edu/~dshick/webquest. htm (mostly High School) Social Studies Web. Quests: http: //www. ushistorysite. com/webquests. php (mostly High School) http: //thwt. org/webqueststhinkquests. html (all grades) http: //www. kathimitchell. com/quests. htm (Elementary and Middle School) Language Arts Web. Quests: http: //projects. edtech. sandi. net/projects/literature. html (all grades) http: //bestwebquests. com/bwq/listcrosstab. asp? wqcatid=3&edid=4 (High School) All areas: http: //www. webquest. org/search/index. php (all grades) http: //its. guilford. k 12. nc. us/webquests/index. htm (all grades) http: //www. catawba. k 12. nc. us/webquest/ (all grades) http: //www. learnnc. org/lessons/ (Web. Quests and other lessons, all grades) http: //zunal. com/ (all areas, includes web-based Web. Quest creator) http: //questgarden. com/ (all grades, subscription but free trial) http: //education. iupui. edu/webquests/home. htm (all grades)

Questions • What are some potential barriers to using Web. Quests and web resources in the classroom? • How will you prevent students from visiting inappropriate (for school) websites such as Facebook while on the web? (Note that proxy servers will bypass internet filters that your school may have in place. ) • How important is it for students to learn to use computers without immediately going to Facebook before entering the workforce? • How could you combine Web. Quests with some of the other teaching strategies we have learned about thus far? • What topic in your subject area would Web. Quests be particularly effective in teaching?

References Abbit, J. , & Ophus, J. (2008). What we know about the impacts of web-quests: a review of research. AACE Journal, 16(4), 441 -456. Dodge, B. (1997, May 5). Some thoughts about webquests. Retrieved from http: //webquest. sdsu. edu/about_webquests. html Lipscomb, G. (2003). I guess it was pretty fun: using webquests in the middle school classroom. The Clearing House, 76(3), 152 -155. Schweizer, H. , & Kossow, B. (2007). Webquests: tools for differentiation. Gifted Child Today, 30(1), 29 -35. Skylar, AA. , Higgins, K. , & Boone, R. (2007). Strategies for adapting webquests for students with learning disabilities. Intervention in School and Clinic, 43(20), 20 -28. Strickland, J. (2005). Using webquests to teach content: comparing instructional strategies. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 5(2), 138 -148.