Treehouse WebQuests

A WebQuest is an inquiry oriented and web-based activity for learners that was originally developed in early 1995 at San Diego State University by Bernie Dodge with Tom March. WebQuests focus learners on specific web-based information resources with the aim of supporting them in using information for analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Dodge, 1995). It is important to understand that WebQuests are not just a collection of links for learners to go and retrieve information but a way for learners to transform information into a newly constructed, assimilated understanding (March, 2005).

Students are the intended audience of a WebQuest, and WebQuest authors are encouraged to formulate roles for learners to play, or scenarios to contextualize and make meaningful the search for knowledge that takes place within the WebQuest.

Today, teachers and learners all over the world are actively creating and embarking upon WebQuests. The Tree of Life's WebQuest format follows the six traditional steps for a WebQuest:

• Introduction
  • Provides an introduction for the learners that will partake in the webquest. WebQuests often ask learners to take on a role, or present a specific scenario. The introduction is where roles and context should be explained.
• Task
  • Reviews the goals of the WebQuest, and the tasks that learners will need to accomplish are clearly laid out.
• Process
  • Guides learners through the steps that they will have to go through to meet the goals of the WebQuest.
  • Leads learners to online resources and instructs them on what they need to do to complete the steps of the WebQuest.
• Evaluation
  • Explains the methods of assessment used to evaluate learners who engaged in the WebQuest.
  • Provides a rubric that describes how learners will be evaluated.
• Conclusion
  • Closes the WebQuest with a conclusion that summarizes what students should have accomplished and learned. The conclusion can provide additional questions that would help students reflect upon their learning and formulate new ideas, as well as additional links that could point students in the direction of future research.
• Teachers
  • Presents information for teachers to help them use the WebQuest with their students.

References

Dodge, Bernie (1995) "Some Thoughts About WebQuests" http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html

March, Tom (2005) "What WebQuests Are (Really) http://bestwebquests.com/what_webquests_are.asp