Webquests

I found this weeks assignment a mix between power-points and internet use. The "Critical Attributes" of a webquest reminded me of a lesson plan format. The Introduction and task can be viewed as the motivation and introduction for a lesson. Information sources can be viewed as a material for the lesson, the Process is the steps, guidance is the modeling, and the conclusion is just like a conclusion in a lesson. I like that webquests are most likely to be group activities, which students seem to enjoy most, and that they each receive a specific role, which helps the organization and function of the activity. If the webquest is planned out well (but sticking to the 'rules' and rubric) and reviewed by the teacher, it can be really successful, engaging, and fun! But if thinks are placed in an unappealing way or worded incorrectly, it can become uninteresting, confusing, and boring. My biggest problem with webquests is that it may not be possible to use from year to year. Web-pages expire or don't exist anymore, which makes many of these lessons invalid.

The exemplary webquest that I found was “Native American Museum” by Lauren Kaufold and Allison Weber  http://questgarden.com/131/17/6/111017202714/index.htm. In short it was organized and visually appealing. Only one of the links were 'broken', but Google can always be used with an adult around. There were clear and fair expectations of the students, all listed on a detailed rubric. The activity was fun and I'm so glad I stumbled upon it. I will be bringing up the idea of a "Museum" of Native Americans tribes to me cooperating teachers (since we are focusing on Native American tribes in social studies and writing/reading).

The “Not-So-Good” webquest I came across was “Buying a New Pet” by Samantha Marsh (http://questgarden.com/117/18/7/110117201934/index.htm). While it was visually appealing, that's as far as it went. It was confusing and even I (a 22 year old college educated woman) was unable to easily follow along and found myself confused countless times. The rubric had irrelevant subjects the teacher was evaluating the students on. Most of the links were broken or just sent the students to one main website that they had to navigate themselves. The directions and process were not clear and frustrated me.

While I see why teachers may use webquests while teaching, I truthfully do not see myself using it much (if ever) in the future.