Hao do I struggle with WebQuest?

To be honest...

😅This is really a tough topic for me. I don't like WebQuest the first sight I saw it ( Because I mistook the website QuestGarden.com as WebQuest. It has the old-fashioned website design (with no offense at all) and the large amout of words in each of the WebQuest🤐). So I was trying to escape from the fact that I have to write something about it. 

At first, I thought that WebQuest is outdated and wondered why we should still study it. So I tried to search for some information about WebQuest and was so surprised to see that on Weibo (a social media platform like Twitter in China), there are many people who have the homework about designing a Webquest. One blogger shared her  experience of learning based on the use of WebQuest through which she did learn a lot and she's really grateful to and likes the teacher who uses WebQuest in teaching. So I guess it's time for me to put away prejudices and reconsider the role and the use of WebQuest in teaching and learning. 

Main idea: 

( I was once taught by a teacher who always gave us WebQuest homework, and asked us to read 20 articles related to a certain topic. We must also sort out all the content and information and share them in the next lesson in about half an hour in groups. Only after that, the teacher will do the lectures. At the end of the semester, all the groups in the class were required to report their preject in the last lesson. It's small class teaching, and we have discussions and thinkings and we can really learn things in this way. I really like him. )

What is a WebQuest?

The first time I saw the name I thought it is a some sort of searching engine like Google. But, to my understanding, it is a good lesson plan or curriculum unit that utilizes resources from the Internet. But, it is also more than a lesson plan or unit plan. It requires students to think and learn at a higher level by asking students esstential questions, giving them tasks, providing them opportunities to explore further and getting them to apply their knowledge with a hands-on activity. 

Take Oh, the Possibilities! as an example

Essential Question

At the heart of every WebQuest is an open-ended question. The question creates a clear purpose for the webquest, inspires students to access prior knowledge, and creates a level of excitement that motivates students to explore further. 

In this WebQuest, it is based on an activity of asking students make a plan to have a trip in an English speaking country and have a immersion course to improve their English. Travelling in a new country is always easy to attract people and letting students make a plan on their own also give them autonomy and practice their decision-making ability which are quiet good for students. 

Task Section

The Task section of a Webquest provides a "scaffolding" to lead students through the kind of thinking process that more expert learners use. "Scaffolding" means breaking the daunting project into smaller pieces so students can work on specific sub-tasks that will lead them through the difficult steps of researching and then applying their knowledge.

For this project, students have 4 roles to choose, which are transportation expert, accomodation expert, activities expert and finacial expert. I think all of them are quite challenging and students will definitely learn a lot when they finish the tasks. However, I do have some concerns at the same time. For example, before I came to Warwick to study, I could hardly find any information about the cost of buses or train or I can say I don't know what to search for. 😅Even after I arrived, I was so nervous the first time I took a bus because I don't know whether I was taking the right direction or how I should pay for it and the price for the ticket and so on. Besides, a financial expert always has some overlap parts with other experts and some tasks on financial can only be done after other parts have finished. Therefor, the time arrangement really needs to be considered carefully. 

Evaluation

When using a webquest, students are asked to think at a higher level. It is important for teachers to evaluate student's hard work effectively. Many Webquests provide rubrics to clearly define how a student's work will be assessed. Rubrics also provide an opportunity for students and teachers to reflect on their learning. 

Both students' collaboration with team members and individual work will be evaluated in this WebQuest. And the standards of the evaluation are very specific so that students know what to focus and address when they are doing researches. Moreover, no work no score which makes students have the motivation to do something on their own and not totally rely on others. 

Do I have a different idea on WebQuest?

I think I used to wrongly mix the website of WebQuest and a WebQuest itself. The website is not as good as I expected and for me, it is like a platform collecting all the WebQuests teachers have; it's a database. I can even make a WebQuest with a Word doc. But the learning method with WebQuest is interesting and helpful for both teachers and students. Many different abilities can be trained with WebQuest. I think I will try to use WebQuests in furture teaching (if I have a chance) and see how the students react. After all, real knowledge comes from practice😉