Teacher Resources
Rationale
Webquests are inquiry-oriented activities using resources from the World Wide Web (Gilbert, 2004, p.128). They are designed to guide students to important and high quality sources on the Web, and to support learners’ thinking as they use the information found. This saves student’s time in having to work through the unstructured and voluminous information provided by standard search engines (March, 2005, p.265). It also focuses students’ attention on higher order thinking, rather than simply copying or repeating descriptive information from the Web (Gilbert, 2004, p.128). Well-designed Webquests generate communication, group work, problem-solving, and critical and creative thinking, engaging students in reflection, collaborative work and expression.
Digital literacy is an important component to a student’s overall learning experience because of the modern day expectations to utilise technology within the workplace (Briggs, 2002, p.92). For this reason, teachers need to provide ICT lessons which are of an acceptable standard so that students leave school with the necessary skills to be successful in their chosen field of work. Webquests achieve this aim because they make use of various forms of information including print, images, video, audio, object-based, graphs, diagram, performance, etc, which are the basic elements that ICT take shape in (March, 2000, p.56-58). Webquests are also teaching and learning tools that are in line with many of the principles behind the Quality Teaching model (NSW DET, 2006). Elements like Deep Knowledge, Substantive Communication, Explicit Quality Criteria, Engagement, and Knowledge Integration are all present in Webquests and so this only further quantifies the value Webquests have for both students and teachers collectively.
Webquests are often categorised into the following groups: Retelling Tasks, Compilation Tasks, Mystery Tasks, Journalistic Tasks, Design Tasks, Creative Product Tasks, Consensus Building Tasks, Persuasion Tasks, Self-Knowledge Tasks, Analytical Tasks, Judgement Tasks, and Scientific Tasks (San Diego State University, 2008). The typical format of a Webquest consists of an introduction, task, process, outcomes, assessment, and the resources needed to complete the Webquest (Marsh, 2005, p.265):
Introduction: The purpose of the introduction is to provide students with the necessary background knowledge to the topic and to also capture the interest of students so that they are engaged and motivated to finish the task (Briggs, 2002, p.88).
Task: The task section is an outline which makes clear the final product that students need to work towards (Marsh, 2005, p.265). This section is often presented as a scenario which presents the requirements in a creative manner to better reflect the post-school similarities between the Webquest and types of tasks often confronted by people in various roles, positions, situations, etc in society today (Yoder, 1999, p.9). This reinforces the significance behind the Webquest and reduces the amount of students questioning the point of the exercise.
Process: The process is essentially an outline which assists the students in being as independent as possible (Summerville, 2000, p.35). It does this by scaffolding the method by which students should organise their thoughts into the appropriate form of presentation as stated in the Task (Yoder, 1999, p.9). A common approach to this section is to provide additional resources (including templates and proformas) which solely deal with the form of presentation required by the Webquest. This allows students to receive support should they need it during their Webquest, which can be extremely beneficial to a single teacher in a 30 odd computer lab class.
Outcomes: Like any quality assessment or task the Webquest includes the appropriate outcomes for both teachers and students to access. This allows users to understand what exactly is meant to be achieved or gained by completing the Webquest (NSW DET, 2004, p.28-19).
Assessment: The assessment component provides explicit criteria (i.e. a marking rubric) on how the students work will be marked and graded (Briggs, 2002, p.88). This will allow students to reflect on their work and determine whether they have satisfied the requirements of the task, to what standard they are working at and whether they are meeting the expectations of the Webquest and teacher.
Resources: The resources used have been chosen from sources provided from web 2.0 technologies such as Flikr, Youtube, Yola, interactive medieval websites, and Wordle. The resources section of a Webquest contains the sources which have been evaluated and approved by the teacher to be used with the Webquest (Taylor & Young, 2003, p.144). Although both online and offline resources should be provided, the list should focus on online resources so that students access those resources that are not normally available to students (Yoder, 1999, p.9). Having the preapproved list of resources assists in making sure students do not find themselves on undesirable and inappropriate websites. Another positive outcome from having a preapproved list of resources is that students are more likely to remain on task for the duration of Webquest because the monotonous process of locating appropriate sources no longer applies. The teacher should locate resources online that make use of various learning styles, particularly those that are not normally made use of within the classroom (Summerville, 2000, p.35). The more interactive the resources are the more valuable they are to the overall learning journey.
The Castle Builder Webquest assists teachers of the NSW Stage 4 History syllabus by meeting various educational goals. To begin with the Webquest works towards fulfilling three out of the four proposed objectives for the overall stage. These include:
Students will develop:
· A knowledge and understanding of the nature of history, past societies and periods and their legacy
· The skills to undertake the process of historical inquiry
· The skills to communicate their understanding of history
New South Wales Board of Studies (NSW BOS), 2003, p. 11.
The Webquest also assists by providing students an experience to develop the values and attitudes outlined by the syllabus, which are:
Students will value and appreciate:
· History as a study of human experience
· The opportunity to develop a lifelong interest and enthusiasm for history
· The nature of history as reflecting differing perspectives and viewpoints
· The opportunity to contribute to a just society through informed citizenship
· The contribution of past and present peoples to our shared heritage.
New South Wales Board of Studies (NSW BOS), 2003, p. 11.
