Global History Webquests
Webquests
The Quest for Knowledge
The Internet, unlike any other medium before it, is interactive and accessible to a great deal of people at once. It has the ability to provide endless amounts of information that can be used to motivate students to conduct investigations on any given topic. As an interactive tool for learning, teachers can use the Internet to stimulate creative thought and guide students to develop critical thinking in their "quest" for knowledge. But, how does a teacher tame the nature of the Internet to provide his/her students with a beneficial learning environment?
The Nature of a WebQuest
One model approach for this dilemma is called a WebQuest developed in 1995 by Bernie Dodge of San Diego State University. Simply put, a WebQuest is an inquiry-based activity where students are given a task and provided with access to on-line resources to help them complete the task. It is an ideal way to deliver a lesson over the web. WebQuests are discovery learning tools; they are usually used to either begin or finish a unit of study.
When creating a WebQuest, it is beneficial to be able to make your own web pages. But, it is not necessary. Teachers have delivered fantastic WebQuests in hard copy format.
Six Reasons Teachers To Use WebQuests
1. To begin a unit as an anticipatory set (as per Madeline Hunter);
2. To conclude a unit as a summation;
3. As a collaborative activity in which students create a product (fostering cooperative learning);
4. To teach students how to be independent thinkers since most of the problems encountered in a WebQuest are real-world problems;
5. To increase competency in the use of technology; and
6. As a motivational techniques to keep students on task.
Source: https://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/web_quests/
