making the quest through the web

What are they? How are they used? Who can use them? What are they used for? These are many questions that went through my mind when I was first introduced to WebQuests. WebQuests are online projects that allow students to work in groups to reach a particular task. This week we were to collaborate with our group members in order to review a few different WebQuests. This activity made me realize what exactly these were and what they can be used for. Each member of the group had a particular task that they were responsible for reviewing in each WebQuest. My job, in particular, was the efficiency expert. My job was to review the site and to see if the project was using time efficiently. If the project took a long period of time to complete, I wanted to know if the children were getting a lot out of the material learned and was it worth our class time to complete. Some other things that should be looked at when deciding on what WebQuest to use are: does it allow for group collaboration, does it make children think at a higher level and not just writing down facts, and the overall look of the page is also important. This project really made me aware of what to look for in a good WebQuest and to know when you come across a bad one.

After we completed this project in class we were to go out and find our own WebQuest that we would like to use in our classroom. I was really frustrated when first looking for one because it seems like there are many out there that do not meet the expectations that we were looking for in class. The WebQuest that I finally found was "Help Frog and Toad". This particular WebQuest should be used in a first grade classroom and it collaborates English and Science. The children are asked to read Frog and Toad Are Friends and then to do research on both frogs and toads. This was a good WebQuest because to me it met all of the qualifications we learned about in class. The children are working with partners, they are using a good amount of time to research and talk about the subject at hand and the page is very appealing, it does not have many distracting aspects and it is easy to understand.

Overall, I think that WebQuests are a great tool for teachers at any grade level. They allow children to learn about a subject while discussing with their fellow classmates, as well as using tools on the internet. As teachers, we must also be aware that their are some WebQuests out there that are not very effective or efficient. Before we give any classroom a particular WebQuest we must first review the page and decide if it gets an A or an F. If given an A, then let your kids begin working and enjoy the fun!