WebQuest About WebQuest

Role of:Technophile

Your Impressions

WebQuest	Strengths	Weaknesses
Gorillas	Links to other sites that allow you to do your own investigation  Allows students to follow up on their research	Design is rather bland; nothing eye catching
Shakespeare	Quality links for students to learning more about the project	Also rather bland design;  a few pictures but nothing special  Several of the links do not work
Earthquake	Striking design: good use of white space, colorful fonts, and bold text for important items  Step by step instructions to guide the learners as they go Conclusion proposes feedback oriented questions that make the student evaluate both the project and his/her contribution to the group	Multiple links do not work  Web and technology use are mainly limited to research
Foreign Country	In-depth use of technology: Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access  Quality list of links (government sites and educational pages) Largest diversity in terms of the task students are asked to complete	Boring text; large chunks of text clumped together Very few pictures within the WebQuest
Waves & Sound	Page Design: Lots of text but it is colorful, broken into block paragraphs and staggered by  several pictures Interactive links provide for the students to assist them step by step	Conclusion lacks depth and thought provoking discussion to get students to think about what they have accomplished  Teacher resource page is rather empty and could make it tough for another teacher to try to replicate this WebQuest Many of the links do not work

My group only reached a consensus on a best and worst WebQuest out of the lot of five.  We felt that the three in the middle were very similar, but we did feel that we had a clear cut best and worst.

After evaluating all five of the WebQuests, my group has determined that the Earthquake Webquest is the best of the five.  This WebQuest included a team atmosphere through its foundation on group work.  The project then required a variety of elements as it called for research, a PowerPoint presentation, a market analysis, and then finally building and testing the building through simulated earthquakes.  The aspect that really put the Earthquake over the top is the quality reflection at the end of the project.  Not only does this require students to design their project, but it also requires them to understand why they succeeded or failed; and it also grades the students based on their understanding and not necessarily the success of the building.

Our group decision on the worst WebQuest was the Shakespeare Webquest.  This project was rather bland and did not seem that it would excite the students.  And as we all know, students learn best when they are having fun.  Personally, I feel that old poems and plays are about the most boring aspects of Literature class, and I would dread not only having to read the material, but also being required to research the material in-depth and put on my own skit.  Also, the WebQuest fell to the bottom of the ranks as several of its links were broken.  The project started out as a quality idea, but I feel that it falls short of sparking the level of student interest that is necessary for effective learning.