Webquests - Hard work, but worth it!

I am embarking on creating a Webquest for my Assessment 3 item for ICT. It is not an easy journey and I am finding it quite difficult to put all my thoughts and ideas together to form this quest. Saying that, I am persistent and particularly want to succeed in producing something of a reasonable standard.

A Webquest is an inquiry based, on line learning activity. Incorporated into a Webquest are the higher order thinking skills of Marzano & Pickering (1997) Dimensions 3 & 4. Life long learning comes when students are encouraged to Extend and Refine Knowledge and to Use Knowledge Meaningfully. Because many Webquests incorporate authentic scenarios or problems the outcomes and learning opportunities for students is internalised. When group work is undertaken in a Webquest students learn to problem solve, inquire, investigate, analyse and produce an authentic product based around a scenario. It is designed so students don't waste time searching for information from inappropriate sites as the list is already there for them to go through. This means that the final product should be of a high standard as the teacher has done all the hard work sifting through appropriate sites.

Students are able to work at their own pace - therefore covering the areas of student-centered learning, active learning and learning engagement theories.

I am excited about putting this quest together - even though I am also finding it quite difficult getting the information formatted correctly. One advantage to Webquests is that it is almost entirely student based and therefore the students teach each other and support one another through the process of learning and gathering information. This is a skill that is not often learnt at school due to students relying on teachers to provide the information to them. Webquests require the students to seek out the information to complete the task.

Once I have semi-mastered the designing of Webquests I believe I will continue to use them within the classroom for not only the experience of group work but also for the great life learning skills that will be gained by each student.

What a lesson to learn!

References:

Marzano, J & Pickering, D (1997) Dimensions of Learning: Teacher's Manual 2nd Ed. McRel, Colorado, USA.