WebQuests 网络主题探究

- an effective way of using Web resources in teaching -

History of WebQuests

Invented by Bernie Dodge and Tom March

San Diego State University in 1995

The WebQuest official site http://webquest.org/

http://www.being.org.cn/webquest/

What is a WebQuest

“A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet.”

“WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.”

Bernie Dodge 1995

Examples of WebQuests

Jurgen Wagner's WebQuests (not really) The World of Shakespeare WebQuest 网络主题探究

http://www.being.org.cn/webquest/

Can you answer the questions?

What kind of resource does a WebQuest use?

Does a WebQuest involve students working in groups? How?

Do students need to analyse and discuss information to complete the task?

What is the basic structure of a WebQuest?

Structure of a WebQuest

Title Introduction– overall theme, background Task – the end result of students’ activities Process – a set of predefined

tasks/resources Evaluation – self vs teacher Conclusion Credits and resources - links, audio, video,

etc

Quiz Time

See Handout

Features of WebQuests

use information on the Webcan vary in size

can vary in their function - learning about a new topic - analysing a topic - reinforce work done

previously

Benefits of WebQuests

Webquests support independent learning Students encounter language above their level Motivation and sense of achievement Well resourced on the Internet

Any Drawbacks?

WebQuests and Constructivism

Built into the WebQuest process are the strategies of cognitive psychology and constructivism. First, the question posed to students can not be answered simply by collecting and spitting back information. A WebQuest forces students to transform information into something else: a cluster that maps out the main issues, a comparison, a hypothesis, a solution, etc. March 1998

Task: Examining WebQuests

http://www.being.org.cn/webquest/The WebQuest official site

http://webquest.org/ http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest-hs.html

Making your own WebQuest

Essential guidelines: Define the topic area and the “end product”

(Introduction and Task) Find web resources which are suitable content-wise

and linguistically (Resources) Group the resources according to stages of the Task Structure the Process – tasks + resources Design the Evaluation stages.

Source: Dudeney 2003

撰写 Webquest 的五项原则http://www.being.org.cn/webquest/focus.htm

Task: Examining WebQuests

Get into groups of 4 Go to

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest-hs.htmlhttp://www.being.org.cn/webquest/index.htm

Look at the WebQuests

Report on these Questions

Which two of the example WebQuests are the best ones? Why?

Which two are the worst? Why? What do best and worst mean to you?

What is a WebQuest

A “WebQuest” is a constructivist approach to learning…. Students not only collate and organize information they’ve found on the web, they orient their activities towards a specific goal they’ve been given, often associated with one or more roles modeled on adult professions. Since students have to participate in the elaboration of their learning strategies, the level of autonomy and creative production they attain is increased. With the proper guidance and “scaffolding” students can accomplish far more actual learning than in traditional transmission-of-knowledge situations that so often leave them wishing they were anywhere but in the classroom.( Benz, 2001)

Examples

MiniQuest Example: 密歇根州的蝴蝶花园

http://www.being.org.cn/miniquest/sample/bflygar.htm

WebQuests: 地震研究 http://www.being.org.cn/webquest/earthquake/i

ndex.htm

Scaffolding

• “In order to engage students in higher level cognition, WebQuests use scaffolding or prompting which has been shown to facilitate more advanced thinking…

• By breaking the task into meaningful "chunks" and asking students to undertake specific sub-tasks, a WebQuest can step them through the kind of thinking process that more expert learners would typically use..” March 1998

WebQuest scaffolding

• Reception Scaffolding to help the students get started

• Transformation Scaffolding to help the students transform the information

• Production Scaffolding to help the students show what they have gained

Tasks

Visit WebQuest siteshttp://webquest.org/index-create.phphttp://www.being.org.cn/webquest/

Create WebQuest on Wikispaces WebQuest Templates available at

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/LessonTemplate.html Finding kid-friendly sites for Webquests:

http://webquest.org/findlinks/