What Are Webquests?

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WebQuests are Web-based interdisciplinary learning units that foster collaborative problem solving as students work on a task, resulting in a cumulative project. Most existing WebQuests have been developed and posted by classroom teachers. The WebQuest tasks often simulate real-world situations, requiring students to take on particular roles, design a blueprint, persuade others of a particular point of view, or come to consensus to develop a policy, mission statement, or sales pitch. Because of their flexibility, we contend that WebQuests have great potential for accommodating diverse learners—especially ELLs—while creating academically challenging activities that encourage the development of academic Omega Replica language development, Internet inquiry, and critical and higher order reasoning. Thus, WebQuests incorporate both teacher- and student-centered aspects, providing all students with opportunities to engage collaboratively with one another, and plenty of possibilities to interact efficiently with the World Wide Web.

Typically, WebQuests provide ...
... small groups of students with the opportunity to delve into particular topics in depth by completing tasks that culminate in a final product. Students are asked to synthesize knowledge and conduct further inquiries to create a group product, which is eventually shared with their peers. The final product can incorporate multiple modalities. For example, a high school literature WebQuest called Things Fall Apart requires that students synthesize the information gathered and identify the five most important issues relating to the social context in a particular novel. Ultimately, students are asked to work in pairs to create a role-play interview through which to present the issues to the class.

Basic elements of WebQuest design include a title page, introduction, explanation of the task, list of relevant resources and links, and a set of step-by-step instructions for completing the cumulative task. Assessment of the WebQuest task is also included, usually in the form of a rubric (Molebash & Dodge, 2003). March (2003) underscored that the WebQuest task should be developmentally appropriate and require collaborative problem solving rather than simply eliciting rote text comprehension tasks. The task should integrate multiple competencies and provide cooperative as well as individual learning opportunities for student engagement (Maddux & Cummings, 2007; March, 2003).

Although youth are often perceived as being cyber-savvy, perhaps because many can be seen text messaging, downloading songs, and playing video games (at times simultaneously), several studies point out that many students—especially low-income students—may be "low users" of technology (Facer & Furlong, 2001). These youth may interact with cyber technology only in the most basic ways, both in the classroom and at home (Lengel & Lengel, 2006; Ware & Warschauer, 2005). Therefore, if we as educators expect to prepare students adequately for present and future demands, technological literacy should be taught explicitly and integrated into content area learning in meaningful ways (Gee, 2000; Lankshear & Knobel, 2004; Lengel & Lengel, 2006). There are several portals on the Internet that provide guidance for creating WebQuests (Figure 1).
Cummins (2000) also has suggested Breitling Replica Watches that the World Wide Web has great potential for providing ELLs the visual and aural stimulation to render new concepts more comprehensible. By giving ELLs the opportunity to engage with content knowledge in multiple modalities, students are more likely to expand their competencies as they "collect, internalize, and consolidate their knowledge of language and then use it powerfully to extend their intellectual horizons and personal identities" (Cummins, 2000, p. 544). Considering the number of ELLs in 6th to 12th grade classrooms across the country, WebQuests are to be viewed as a resource for developing students' technological, content area literacy and English-language competencies.