In 1995, Bernie Dodge and Tom March began
work on developing strategies to make effective use of the World
Wide Web in the classroom.
Their WebQuest model with four supporting activity formats
was developed at this time. Some
Thoughts About WebQuests, explains what
a WebQuest is.
These activities increase
in complexity from the Hotlist, which simply provides
students with a list of sites to enable them to gather information,
to the WebQuest, which demands complex cognitive responses.
NOTE: Tom March
has added two new critical thinking activity formats: the Concept
Builder and the Insight Reflector. Although these
templates are only available for subscribers,
you can read about them by taking a tour of Web-and-Flow.
| Topic
Hotlist for open exploration |
A
Topic Hotlist is the simplest of all online
activities for students. It is designed to save
students hours of aimless searching.
- Make a Hotlist by gathering
suitable URLs for your topic and publishing
them on a web page.
- You might also ask students to
design a Hotlist for others to use.
Make one now using:
Filamentality
[Click on 'Start a
New Page'] |
| Multimedia
Scrapbook for downloading media |
Essentially
a Hotlist, the Multimedia Scrapbook
focuses on providing links to a variety of media
and content types such as photographs, maps, stories,
facts, quotations, sound clips, videos and virtual
reality tours.
- Students gather media scraps
that they think are important or interesting
and paste them into a presentation format.
- This may be a newsletter, collage,
PowerPoint presentation, bulletin board, webpage
or HyperStudio stack.
Make one now using:
Filamentality
[Click on 'Start
a New Page'] |
| Treasure
Hunt for building knowledge |
A
Treasure Hunt leads students to important
information about a topic.
- Find web pages that hold information
that is essential to understanding a topic.
- Set students to answer a key
question posed for each page.
Make one now using:
Filamentality
[Click on 'Start
a New Page'] |
| Subject
Sampler for connecting affectively to a topic |
When
you want students to feel that the a subject really
matters, design a Subject Sampler
- Collect a small number of websites
about a main topic.
- Ask students to justify their
perspective on the topic.
Make one now using:
Filamentality
[Click on 'Start
a New Page'] |
| WebQuest
for solving complex problems |
A
WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity
designed to use learners' time well, to focus on
using information rather than looking for it, and
to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis,
synthesis and evaluation.
- Choose a controversial topic
and gather a range of websites.
- Students evaluate the information
provided, become expert in the topic and present
findings in a range of ways.
- Generally students work in teams,
each with a set role.
Make one now using:
Filamentality
[Click on 'Start
a New Page'] |
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- Some
Thoughts About WebQuests
Bernie Dodge
The original 1995 rationale for using the WebQuest
model for inquiry based learning.
Teacher resource for all levels.
- WebQuest
Taxonomy
Bernie Dodge
Twelve types of task you can set for your WebQuest.
The task is the most important part of a WebQuest.
- Working
the Web for Education
Tom March
A coherent rationale for using the Internet that suggests
a number of different models of web-based learning
to integrate into a classroom program.
Teacher resource for all levels.
- Articles
& Writings
Tom March
Links to a number of recent articles in online journals
such as MultiMedia Schools.
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- The
WebQuest Page
This site is designed to be a resource
for those who are using the WebQuest model to teach
with the Internet.
Click on Portal to
access a selective list of well-designed WebQuests
across all ages and learning areas.
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- ozline.com
Tom March aims to help teachers
to develop effective online learning strategies for
their students.
Click on 'WebQuests &
more' to access the huge range of support he provides.
- Web-and-Flow
Web-and-Flow is an interactive
design site that teachers can use to create and store
the online modules they develop. Although the main
elements of the site are available on subscription,
the background information on activity formats is
very useful.
Sign up for a 30-day free
trial.
- BestWebQuests
Provides an Evaluation matrix with
criteria for judging WebQuests, a matrix of best WebQuests
by Learning Area, a list of online activities that
are NOT WebQuests with an alternative Best WebQuest
on the same topic.
Read the About BestWebQuests
section for some excellent background about online
activities.
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| Tom March's work |
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| Background Information |
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