1. Designing Great WebQuests Higher Level Learning for GT Students (and ALL students) on the World Wide Web Based on: FOCUS: Five Rules for Writing Great WebQuests by Bernie Dodge Learning & Leading with Technology, May, 2001. TCEA State Conference, February 6, 2002 Ann McMullan Instructional Technology Officer Klein Independent School District amcmullan@kleinisd.net

2. What is a WebQuest? An Inquiry-oriented activity Most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web Designed to use learners’ time well Focus on using information rather than looking for it Support learners thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation

3. What’s the Appeal of WebQuests? Provide structure and guidance for both students and teachers Engage higher level thinking skills Make good use of limited computer access

4. How do WebQuests differ from each other? Thousands of WebQuests can be found on the World Wide Web Quality ranges widely Some created hurriedly to complete a class assignment Others developed over a longer time – thoughtfully refined Some not WebQuests at all – merely worksheets with URLs (Internet Scavenger Hunts) Johnny Appleseed

5. 5 Principles for Creating Great WebQuests F ind great sites. O rchestrate your learners and resources. C hallenge your learners to think. U se the medium. S caffold high expectations. FOCUS

6. F OCUS – Find Great Sites Master a Search Engine Seven Steps Toward Better Searching Google; AltaVista; Vivisimo GoogleAltaVistaVivisimo Probe the Deep Web Thomas – a tool to search U.S. legislative information on the Internet Thomas Library of Congress American Memory Collection Bernie Dodge’s Specialized Search Engines and Directories Don’t Lose What You Find My Bookmarks Backflip

7. F O CUS – Orchestrate Learners and Resources “A great WebQuest is one in which every computer is being used well and everyone has something meaningful to do at every moment.”

8. F O CUS – Orchestrate Learners and Resources Organizing Resources A single computer can be used to drive whole-class discussion and exploration. One to 10 computers can be used as learning stations. If the only Internet access is in the lab – frontload the lab visit with offline activities to prepare students for online lab time. If all computers don’t have Internet access, create Web archives and save to hard drives. (WebWhacker; WebBuddy)

9. F O CUS – Orchestrate Learners and Resources Organizing People – Use Cooperative Learning Strategies Positive interdependence: Learners perceive that they cannot succeed without each other Promotive interaction (preferably face-to-face) : Students help teach and applaud each other as they wrestle with authentic work Individual and group accountability: The group is held accountable for completing the task, and each individual is held accountable for his or her part in the process Interpersonal and small group skills: Most children (and many adults) need to be taught how to work together. Group processing: Conversation about how to improve the group's effectiveness is deliberately built into the process Process Guides

10. F O CUS – Orchestrate Learners and Resources Organizing People – Create Separate Responsibilities Have learners read different web pages Have them read the same web pages from differing perspectives Divide production responsibilities in ways that parallel production crews in real life (e.g. scriptwriter, graphic artist, producer) “The trap to avoid is creating separate roles that do not result in information all members of the team will need to accomplish the end goal.”

11. FO C US – Challenge Your Learners to Think Take Your Learners to Task Focus not on the information, but what you ask the learners to do with the information: Problem Solve Create Design Judge WebQuest Taskonomy

12. FO C US – Challenge Your Learners to Think Types of Tasks: Design Have students design a WebQuest Museum of Egyptian Antiques Journalistic Learners take on a persona and create a news account Witchcraft or Witch hunt

13. Types of Tasks: Persuasion Amid Controversy Look for authentic controversies in the world as a vehicle around which to organize the study of a topic. A Forest Forever FO C US – Challenge Your Learners to Think

14. FOC U S – Use the Medium “ A WebQuest that’s fully flexing the model is one that could not be accomplished on paper.” People Line up humans with expertise to share Ask an Expert; ePals Ask an ExpertePals Conversation Allow students to post their opinions; invite others to participate QuickTopic

15. FOC U S – Use the Medium Selective Glitz “ Though it’s critically important to avoid distracting your learners with dazzle and noise that serves no instructional purpose, it’s also important to take advantage of audio, video and images on the Web when appropriate.” FindSounds; Earthcam FindSoundsEarthcam

16. FOCU S – Scaffold High Expectations “A great WebQuest asks students to do things they might not ordinarily be expected to do…Scaffolding is a temporary structure used to help learners act more skilled than they really are.” Reception Provide guidance in learning from a given resource and retaining what was learned. Observation Guides Tips on how to conduct interviews Online glossaries and dictionaries

17. FOCU S – Scaffold High Expectations Transformation Ask learners to transform what they read into some new form. Provide help on: comparing and contrasting finding patterns among a number of similar objects of study brainstorming inductive reasoning decision making

18. FOCU S – Scaffold High Expectations Production “WebQuests commonly require students to create things they’ve never created before.” Provide students with templates prompted writing guides multimedia elements and structures “By doing part of the work for students, we allow them to go beyond what they would be able to do alone. Overtime they internalize the structures…until they can work autonomously.”

19. WebQuest – The Basic Framework Introduction Task Process Resources Evaluation Conclusion Building Blocks of a WebQuest

20. Let’s Try One WebQuest about WebQuests Task: Which two WebQuests are Best…Worst, and Why? Who are You? The Efficiency Expert The Affiliator The Altitudinist The Technophile

21. Let’s Try One WebQuest about WebQuests Resources (WebQuests to be evaluated) A Stitch in Time Our Sun-Sational Star Journey Back in Time Dolphin-Safe Tuna? Penguins

22. Build Your Own WebQuest … or find someone’s that works for you The WebQuest Page Matrix of Examples WebQuests Collections Template to Build Your Own