Creating a WebQuest to Teach Pet Emergency Preparedness
Miriam Ramos' Portfolio
Introduction to Inquiry-based Activity
Welcome to my professional development lesson, Creating a WebQuest. Designed by Bernie Dodge and Tom March at San Diego State University in 1995, a WebQuest is an inquiry-based activity in which the information the learner interacts with comes from resources from the Internet. In WebQuests sstudents learn to work in a collaborative environment and become responsible for their own learning--and they use technology to complete a task. There are five components used to help teachers design a WebQuest: Introduction, Task, Process, Evaluation, and Conclusion.
Performance Objectives
General outcomes: Through cooperative and collaborative work, participants will gain an understanding of how a WebQuest is created, how WebQuests are tools that can be used in any subject matter and will demonstrate how to apply the concepts of a WebQuest lesson.
Specific outcomes: After completing this course the learners should be able to:
- Choose resources from the Internet to use in a WebQuest
- Create a WebQuest for your content area
- Develop plan to implement WebQuest learning in the classroom
To learn how to create a WebQuest, read the following step-by-step process:
Unit I: What is a WebQuest
Unit II: Process
Unit III: Characteristics of Effective WebQuest Design
WebQuests can be designed within a single discipline or they can be interdisciplinary. Given that designing effective interdisciplinary instruction is more of a challenge than designing for a single content area [1].
WebQuests promotes collarbortive work and group activites amongst students. Students work together to complete a task and to create a project to show their completed research. Students could work together to create a slideshow presentation, create a pamphlet using computer software, create a short video, a public service annoucement or any other multimedia presentations.
Webquests also adds motivational elements to its basic structure by giving students a role to play. The roles students can play and scenarios that teachers can create are endless. Role-playing also encourages students to look at issues from multiple perspectives. The group then synthesizes the information they find and creates a product that demonstrates their learning [2].
Back to Creating a WebQuest to Teach Pet Emergency Preparedness
Move on to Unit IV: Design a WebQuest
Unit IV: Design a WebQuest
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