Engage your learners in collaborative learning
- About Webquest
Doctor Bernie Dodge, professor of educational technology at San diego State University and creator of the Webquest model defines it as 'a constructivist lesson format, wrapped around a doable and interesting task that is a scalable-down version of something adults do'. It promotes task-based learning and enables students to learn by doing, by using pre-selected online resources and by following the instructions set by the teacher or the task designer.
- The content
Introduction: The main task is presented and each group member is given a role.
Task: It tells learners what they are supposed to do.
Process: The different steps that participants need to go through to complete the task.
Evaluation: Webquests use a rubric to guide learners and show them how the work will be evaluated.
Evaluation: Webquests use a rubric to guide learners and show them how the work will be evaluated.
Conclusion: It enables participants to express how they felt during the task. They can talk about what they liked or disliked or how they perceived collaboration with peers.
Credits: This page displays the source of the materials that were used to make the Webquest. It can be a lesson plan adapted from another web page, images, videos or rubrics.
Teacher page: Here the teacher gives the aim of the lesson, the level of the learners and the pedagogical context in which the task was designed.
Credits: This page displays the source of the materials that were used to make the Webquest. It can be a lesson plan adapted from another web page, images, videos or rubrics.
Teacher page: Here the teacher gives the aim of the lesson, the level of the learners and the pedagogical context in which the task was designed.
Examples of Webquests from Questgarden
- Can you make your own Webquest?
The answer is yes. There are several websites such as Education World or Zunal that teachers can use to create their own webquest. However Questgarden is the place 'where great Webquests grow' (Dodge).
Questgarden offers ready-made examples and a free thirty-day trial to create your own Webquest.
- Benefits
- It engages learners in authentic tasks and allows them to play interactive roles.
- Webquest also encourage the use of the target language through interactions and negotiations.
- Learners develop collaborative scaffolding skills by correcting each other.
- It creates a supporting learning environment that fosters intrinsic motivation.
- Webquest also encourage the use of the target language through interactions and negotiations.
- Learners develop collaborative scaffolding skills by correcting each other.
- It creates a supporting learning environment that fosters intrinsic motivation.
- It promotes social interaction, co-construction of knowledge and collaborative learning.
- Students learn through problem solving and critical thinking.
- Teachers in EFL contexts can adapt the content according to their learners' proficiency, sociocultural needs and learning environments.
- Are Webquests relevant for all learning contexts?
Some webquest tasks require high level of thinking, so they might not be relevant for young learners in English as a Foreign Language learning environments. An effective use of Webquests also demands access to computers and internet which is not the case for many schools in the contexts aforementioned. Therefore, teachers can use computer rooms for such activities, or resort to project-based learning which can be designed as online inquiry-based tasks that learners can carry out in groups outside the classroom.
Like any other good tool, Questgarden requires its users to subscribe with a monthly cost after the free trial.Watch the tutorial
True. It helps boosts their interaction during class.
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