Webquestioning

Image found here

            The concept of a Webquest is one that is relevant for both students and educators because it allows them to discover new information in meaningful and relevant ways.  By throwing an urgent subject at students and expressing the need for each student to respond, students are motivated to step up to the plate and help  solve the problem at hand.  Learning content will become fun and interesting because each student has responsibility to learn it and help educate their classmates to learn as well.

Webquests involve a significant amount of creativity.  If I were teaching in a classroom with computer/Internet capabilities for all students, I believe that Webquests would be fantastic to use in the classroom.  Additionally, I think that teachers could use Webquests for any subject, and could use the curricula to decide where Webquests would be best implemented.  Webquests allow students to step outside of their everyday classroom routine and take the role of someone else, whether a scientist, news forecaster, or superhero.  They appeal to multiple intelligences simply because they can be used in a variety of lessons and involve different tasks and processes.  Because students learn best by finding information themselves, a Webquest allows students to take ownership of their education and investigate the topic independently or in small groups.  Working in groups would also give students opportunities to benefit from cooperative interactions with their peers, but the groupings can only be effective if each student is given an equal share of responsibility for the product.  This project can allow teachers to differentiate based on the students, and teachers may make decisions regarding grouping (whether to have homogeneous or heterogeneous groups based on student ability) to best help the students learn.

For ELLs, Webquests allow teachers to design lessons and find websites that are best for the individual students.  In addition, when students are given access to search online, they are able to use graphics, translators, and work together to create meaning.  When the teacher chooses sources for students to focus on, they will be exposed only to reliable sources of information and responsible to create their own conclusions based on the information given.  

Allowing students to use technology in the classroom is also extremely important.  Teachers should be aware that some students who are familiar with using the Internet may become distracted by all the Internet has to offer (facebook, youtube, and game websites, for example), students who are unfamiliar with using computers may find difficulties navigating the technology necessary for this assignment.  Teachers should be sure to scaffold the Webquest as necessary so no one is left behind, and all students are encouraged to learn.  Webquests allow students to focus on learning and introduce them to the vast amounts of information available online.