According to the founder of WebQuest fromWebQuest.org, "a WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web." Generally speaking, a webquest is composed of 6 parts: introduction, task, process, resources, evaluation, and conclusion. Teachers can either create their own webquests or adopt those available webquests shared by others. Depending on the task of each webquest, students might have to give a presentation, design a website, write a report and so on.
Why is the content good for language learning?
- Webquests can be tailor-made depending on students' levels and how much the time teachers have to do the activity. A webquest can be as short as a one-hour class or as long as a one -month project. Teachers might be adapt a webquest for classroom use or even create their own one!
- Webquest is learner-centered and encourages collaborative learning. Mostly students have to work in pairs or in small groups, learning from one another in a scaffolding environment.
- Webquests include authentic tasks in which students have to analyze, to solve problems related to real life. They connect the knowledge of the language to how the language can be used in different situations.
- Webquests fosters students' higher level of cognitive abilities such as negotiation, synthesis, critical analysis, solving problems, independent thinking and evaluation.
- Students have to transform the information and knowledge they received into a meaningful and creative outcome. They not only learn the knowledge of the language but how to use it in certain situations.
- Students can foster their learner autonomy in the process of solving the task.
- Teachers will provide some useful reference resources and clear guidelines so that students won't get lost on the Internet when trying to find information.
- Generally speaking, the tasks of Webquests are motivating and communicative. Students are engaged in a more meaningful and interesting learning.
- Due to the various nature of webquests, students having various learning styles can all contribute to some parts of a task of a Webquest.
Classroom use
- Teachers can modify or directly use a online webquest which is related to the topic of a lesson as an extended activity after teaching a lesson.
- Teachers can design webquests suitable for their students' level of English. Teachers can share the webquests with one another.
- The following paragraphs are the suggestions of how to use webquests in class written by Tom March from this website:
- No computers
- Teachers with no computers available in their schools are hard pressed to do a WebQuest, but the intrepid can print out the Web pages for their students to use in class. The fun of computers and Web work can be lost, but perhaps other aspects of the learning experience can be used to increase student motivation.
- One computer with Net Access
- Teachers in a one-computer classroom can pair students up and create a modular classroom for working on their WebQuests. One rotating station could be the online computer, one could use print-outs from Web pages, another group could use library books, magazines, videotapes, CD-ROMs, etc. Students in this scenario would be in a good position to evaluate whether Web access made a difference.
- One Computer no Net Access
- Teachers with Web access at home but non-networked computers in school can use a program like Web Buddy or Web Whacker to download the Web pages from home and then copy them from disk onto computers at school. This creates a virtual Web where the pages look identical to the pages on the Web, but they are running from the computers' hard drives. Some schools carry this notion one step further by loading the pages onto their proxy server / intranet.
- Few Computers
- If you have Internet access in your schools, but perhaps lack a sufficient number of computers, you might also try pairing students up for each role (therefore five roles could support ten students). You might also look for access to an online computer lab that might be available for a few class sessions. Also use a combination of the above bulleted strategies to ease the crunch.
Limitations
- It takes lots of time to design an unique webquest or find a webquest suitable for students for particular level.
- Students' parents or the school might question the teacher for not really "teaching" the knowledge.
- Due to cultural difference, teachers might have to modify some webquests to make them more suitable for their teaching context.
- Since students might work in a group, teachers might only pay attention to group dynamics instead of individual needs.
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