Web quests definitely feel engaging. I can see students getting quite excited about trying to solve these very relevant problems that seem very complicated. According to the views of connectivism, knowledge comes from experience (Siemens, 2004). Students, most likely, will not have much experience in dealing with environmental issues (HawkQuest, 2004)or terrorism (March, n.d). Assigning roles and allowing time to investigate their options, can help them attain and process knowledge from others. This could only be positive, as it can instill a greater understanding of how the world is at present.
Since I am not a teacher, and I'm not currently training to be one, I’m not sure how how to structure a web quest into a teaching curriculum. Nevertheless, I am a student, and I would probably see a web quest in the form of a end of term assessment in which part of school lesson time is dedicated to working on the web quest. From a traditional classroom sense, I can see there might be problems. Students and teachers would have to rely on the available resources. This would typically mean computers and Internet access, which may not be readily available.
Perhaps dropping the 'web' part of the quest might be better suited to the offline classroom. Instead of students using the web to deliver there results, change it to a classroom presentation. This is not to say drop the Internet completely, since it's a necessary tool for quest research. The aim of the web quest is to present students with real life problems and promote problem solving, the delivery of this method can always be negotiated.
References
HawkQuest Educational Enterprise (2004) Antarctic ice to water Australia. Retrieved December 9 from http://pbl.cqu.edu.au/web_quest/home.htm
March,T. (n.d) Freedom fighter or Terrorist. Retrieved December 9 from http://www.web-and-flow.com/members/tmarch/freedom2/webquest.htm
Siemens,G.(2004) Elearnspace. Retrieved December 9 from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
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Hi Kathryn
ReplyDeleteWell considering you are not training to be a teacher I thought you had a good suggestion for using the Webquest as an end of term Assessment tool. Great one. I might use a WebQuest for students who are learning how to use the Internet for the first time or even to develop their Internet skills. As an Active Learning tool, the WebQuest technology encourages a hands-on and engages the learner right from the start. They might even establish a Blog to track their WebQuest activity and record their conclusions which they can share with other learners.
Thanks.