WHY USE WEBQUEST IN CLASSROOM?

Hi everyone!

The prevoius week we were asked to create a WebQuest. I found it really interesting and I want to share some informations related to it and why we should use it in classroom.
WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity that uses resources on the World Wide Web. WebQuests pull together the most effective instructional practices into one integrated student activity. These Web-based projects use World Wide Web sites to help students develop problem-solving and decision-making skills.
WebQuests are interesting and motivating to teachers and students. An effective WebQuest develops critical thinking skills and often includes a cooperative learning component. Students learn as they search for information using the web , following a prescribed format that focuses on problem solving and authentic assessment.
Below I’ve provided a kind of chart showing how to create a WebQuest:

A well-written WebQuest requires students to go beyond simple fact finding. It asks them to analyze a variety of resources and use their creativity and critical thinking skills to solve a problem.  Also WebQuests help students analyze , synthesize and evaluate information.
As I mentioned in my previous post WebQuest  is an internet based module designed by an instructor that presents a task with predefined process , resources and a rubric for the learners to undertake the tasks step by step and at the end they self-assess their performance based on the rubric provided for the module.

A WebQuest should contain :
- An introduction
- A task
- A set of information sources
- A description of the process
- Evaluation
- Some conclusions

So why would a teacher want to use a WebQuest instead of more traditional teaching methods? First, WebQuests increase student motivation. When students are motivated, they are likely to put in more effort, and their minds are more alert and ready to make connections.
WebQuests are often cooperative in nature, requiring students to take on roles where they are part of a team that must accomplish the task. They have to become experts on a certain topic and share this information with their group. They know their teammates are counting on them to contribute to the completion of the final task. Because they know their results will be shared with others in some format, often times on the Web, they know they have a real, sometimes worldwide audience. Most students are motivated to do quality work when they know that someone other than their classmates and teacher will see the results of their work.
One of the key reasons for using WebQuests is that they prompt higher-level thinking. The questions posed to students require more than just finding and spitting back information. They must take the
information they research and transform it into something else. Often students have to evaluate a variety of information sources that contain multiple opinions.

#quoteoftheweek " I HEAR AND I FORGET. I SEE AND I REMEMBER. I DO AND I UNDERSTAND. "