EDU221WebQuestIntroduction

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What's a WebQuest?

 * 1) How would you describe it based on your MEL experience?
 * 2) Here's what WebQuest.org says:[| http://webquest.org/index.php] (scroll down to "What is a WebQuest")

Why the Task?
According to Bernie Dodge, inventor of the WebQuest model, "The task is the single most important part of a WebQuest. It provides a goal and focus for student energies and it makes concrete the curricular intentions of the designer. A well designed task is doable and engaging, and elicits thinking in learners that goes beyond rote comprehension."

What is the purpose of the WebQuest in this Practicum?
WebQuests can be used for a variety of purposes.... sometimes an entire unit can be contained in a WebQuest, sometimes a single lesson. You use the task summary (GRASPS) from Stage 2 as the heart of your WebQuest -- it sets the stage and defines the "quest." In a typical lesson, you write the teaching and learning sequence for yourself or a sub that outlines what the students will do and includes all the resources you need for the lesson (content notes). In a WebQuest, you gather all that same information, but your audience is the students themselves. You write the sequence in second person. (Think about "Choose your own adventure" stories and the power of second person to draw the reader right into the story.) And instead of putting all the resources at the bottom of the list, you embed them right into the directions so the students know exactly when to use them and how they are to use them. What we are doing in Practicum for the last lesson of your unit is instead of writing it up using the UMF lesson plan format, you are going to write it up in a WebQuest format.

A WebQuest is a lot of work. Why bother?

 * A WebQuest is a great way to introduce the GRASPS to your students but then also make it available in a way that they can easily revisit it. It's easy for students to lose sight of the GRASPS setting and yet that's your context and connection (Meaning from the MEL model) that put the unit in the real world.
 * The WebQuest format allows students to work independently and at their own pace...that's just good teaching and is also very desirable in a proficiency-based classroom.
 * If you ever have a sub, instead of the sub trying to figure out the lesson plan, your sub notes simply say "have the students work on the WebQuest" and the students know exactly what to do. It may be one of the few times that a sub actually is able to accomplish what you had hoped would be accomplished while you were gone.
 * A WebQuest is great for helping any students who were absent be able to catch up without you having to reteach the lesson. This is true for students who were absent physically, but also anyone who was absent mentally. Students don't have to ask the questions that they feel are "dumb" (because they feel like they should know but they don't) or the ones that are annoying to the teacher (I've already gone over this!) because the answers are available in the WebQuest.
 * A WebQuest is a great communication tool for parents. They can see
 * what is expected of their child (both the product and the evaluation rubrics)
 * the purpose of learning that information (because the task gives the learning a real world application)
 * resources that will help them learn the content if they are unfamiliar with it

How long does it take to make a WebQuest?
Bernie Dodge surveyed 70 teachers to ask that very question.

What makes a good WebQuest?
You're going to look at 4 different WebQuests and start to get an even greater feel for the amazing variety of WebQuests that are already available on the Web. There is variety in quality, topic, grade level, duration, creativity, autonomy for students, design, graphic appeal, and more. Your job is to evaluate the ones you find, not necessarily find good ones. There is much to be learned from both examples and non-examples that will help you figure out what makes a good WebQuest.

Evaluate the WebQuests using this page:


 * 1) Think of a creative rating scale and draw a legend in the top right corner of the first page that you will use to indicate your evaluation of each section of each WebQuest (e.g., 1-5 firetrucks where 5 firetrucks is best; thumbs up/thumbs down; Lucky Charms--a 4 leaf clover is best, a moon beam is good, a star is okay, and a heart isn't too great; speeds--going from tortoise speed to Mach 3; ...).
 * 2) You and your partner(s) will pick 1 WebQuest to evaluate. Discuss each WebQuest component with each other but then each of you write your own opinion on your paper.
 * 3) Then, on your own (goodbye partner!) find 3 more WebQuests in your concentration to evaluate. You can look for ones in your concentration area or not in your concentration area; they can be related to your unit topic or not.
 * 4) [|WebQuest.org] has a decent database.The Curriculum X Grade Level Matrix is the best of their search tools.
 * 5) These are from students from the University of Richmond: https://sites.google.com/site/spiderstudentprojects/secondary-webquests
 * 6) You can also do your own Google (or other search engine) search but note the warning from the WebQuest.org people: just because it's called a WebQuest doesn't mean it's a WebQuest. Make sure what you pick has the 5 components (Introduction, Task, Process, Evaluation, Conclusion).
 * 7) Tom March (Bernie Dodge's colleague in the early days) has created [|bestwebquests.com] with many good resources, including links to some great WebQuests. (NOTE this website goes up and down, so it won't be a good resource if it's currently down.)
 * 8) NOTE: If you find the [|Zunal] website, you might think you've found some good WebQuests, but very few of their WebQuests have GRASP-based tasks. However, many of them have great introductions.

We will start this in class. You will finish it for homework. Bring your completed evaluation forms to the next class.

REMEMBER: You will be assessed on how well you evaluated the WebQuest, not on if you found good WebQuests. The goal is to find 4 WebQuests--good, bad, or in between--and evaluate the components of each, explaining what makes them good or bad.

Tips on Writing a WebQuest
NOTE: Dr. Grace and I work together on the Task (Task Summary); changes you make here are okay with her; also, it's okay to change your GRASPS at this point (a simple fix in your Stage 2)
 * 1) a good conclusion is hard to find
 * 2) a closer look at the process section
 * 3) using your presentation planning document for the process section
 * 4) how not to pick a website that will get you fired: evaluating information Web sites
 * 5) the power of writing in second person singular
 * 6) compelling (think of choose your own adventure stories)
 * 7) avoid plural...think that you are writing to only one reader
 * 8) stay in the scenario--convert school-sounding vocabulary to scenario
 * 9) assignment --> contest entry, museum display, audition tape, ...
 * 10) teacher--> executive director, contest supervisor, head of the Olympic Committee...
 * 11) student --> web designer, architect, aspiring author, journalist...

Prior Resources for designing the Task portion of a WebQuest