[Tool sharing] WebQuest

What is a WebQuest?

ž“A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.” - Bernie Dodge

WebQuest is a "design-specific, technology-rich" online program that is follows the task-based-learning principles. WebQuest is structured this way for students to complete the task: Introduction, task, process, conclusion, evaluation. The introduction is used to explain the aim of the task, so students can find meaning and the need to complete the task. The task section gives students an overview of what the task is going to be about, for example, they have to design an itinerary for a 7 day trip in UK. Then the process illustrates the steps of the task, assigns different roles to each members, and provides links from authentic sources as input for students. The conclusion reminds the students of the skills or knowledge they gain from the task that may be applicable to real-life situations, and the evaluation section allows students to reflect over their learning procedure. 

With WebQuest, teachers can choose to either pay for membership to use the template and create their own WebQuest, or use the pre-made WebQuests for free!

What can WebQuest achieve? 

As March (1988) states, the WebQuest is created not for students to passively receive information through rote memorisation and drilling and spitting it back out. WebQuest aims to train students' cognitive abilities through collaborative work and discover contextual and linguistic knowledge from self-exploring with the structured process to scaffold them into the right steps to complete the task and achieve the anticipated outcomes. When students use WebQuest to learn English, they "transform information into something else: a cluster that maps out the main issues, a comparison, a hypothesis, a solution, etc."*


"The goal then, and now, was to create lessons that make good use of the web, engage learners in applying higher level thinking to authentic problems, and use everyone's time well." - Bernie Dodge, founder of WebQuest 

By using WebQuest, students will not feel too overwhelmed because it does not straight away expect them to be fully independent and autonomous in finding their own information. Not only does the clear instructions of each procedure scaffold students to completing the task, the sources provided also prevents students from feeling overwhelmed by the unlimited and wide ranged sources on the internet. The pre-selected authentic texts gives students confidence for being able to read and work with useful and real-life material for meaningful purpose, such as finding information to learn more about a social issue. 

Students may also use these pre-selected materials as a reference to know what types of sources they can find on the internet to get the kind of information they need in the future. This guided-independent learning is helpful for helping students move on from reliant, dependent and passive learning in the traditional classroom to self-discovery and autonomous learning. 


See this link to find out more about WebQuest:http://questgarden.com/

Why should teachers use WebQuest:

WebQuest is a tool that allows teachers to integrate technology into their classroom.  it is quite suitable for teachers, especially those with limited experience, because WebQuest already has a logically constructed task planned out for teachers. When teachers do not know how they should manage or organise the lesson to achieve effective learning goal, they may use WebQuest (especially the pre-made ones for beginners) as a guide and observe whether or not she can and enjoys teaching with problem-solving tasks to improve students' English skills. Also for novice teachers who have limited experience in teaching, they may also have little experience in material design as well. Thus, using WebQuest helps them save time from figuring out from scratch on what teaching method and management works best and finding suitable or appropriate materials which they may not have enough sources of. With this time saved, teachers can put more attention and focus on the students' needs and interests, strengths and weaknesses, and individual learning styles. 

WebQuest Example: An English Holiday 

Here is an example of a pre-made WebQuest for students to learn and complete a task for a meaningful purpose- to plan a holiday to an English speaking country. This WebQuest gives clear instructions of each and every step, and also provides clear description of the different roles for students to take on. With each procedure well structured, teachers may use this kind of WebQuest to train students to independent learning with their peers. Instead of listening to the teacher give instructions for the entire task (which might take a long time since there are a lot of steps, and may potentially bore the students), students may figure out the task on their own, which may be more engaging and interesting for them. Students may also read the instructions and figure out the purpose of the tasks and selecting roles on their own pace, so they will not feel stressed when they are trying to keep up with the teacher's instructions.

Limitations to WebQuest

As wonderful as WebQuest sounds, there are still possible limitations to the platform which teachers should keep in mind. Teachers should not just randomly select a pre-made WebQuest and just send the students the link without changing or adapting anything and just sit back; teachers should look over the WebQuest and see if there are any weaknesses or loopholes that need to be supplemented or amended. 

First of all, teachers should check the links selected in the tasks to see if it is appropriate and suitable for their particular learning group. Not all links chosen will fit the needs and level of every learning group. Also, the context of the links may not be culturally or socially acceptable in every group as well. Thus, if teachers do find something inappropriate for their learning setting, it's best for them to find different links as a replacement to meet students' needs and interests. 

Another limitation to WebQuest is that if teachers want to use pre-made WebQuests, they cannot directly revise anything on the link. Everything is already set, so it is difficult for teachers to use the link to directly adapt it to match the teachers' teaching aims. The teacher might possibly need to create one on her own and use the pre-made WebQuest for referencing or as a template instead. 

Lastly, when students are working on the collaborative task simultaneously, it is quite difficult for teachers to monitor every step they are doing. If the teacher is monitoring group A and then group B does a step wrong or misses a step without realising, it may be difficult or may take time for the teacher to realise and help trace back where the problem came from. This might waste more precious class time and may even cause teachers to delay their teaching agenda even more. 

Therefore, there are many strong benefits for teachers to use WebQuest to facilitate discovery, tasked-based, and communicative learning. However, teachers should also be mindful of how to integrate WebQuest to their lesson to help enforce their teaching focus, not as a complete replacement that may blur the learning outcomes the teacher expects to gain out of students. 


* cited: http://www.internet4classrooms.com/why_webquest.htm