Day 13: WebQuest Design Patterns

How do you ensure that students will be engaged in your WebQuest activity? View the WebQuest Taxonomy of Tasks -- to determine in what category your original WebQuest will fall. Share with the class your idea for a "hook" or Introduction and your WebQuest category.

Now that you have an idea for your WebQuest -- how will you design the entire process for your learners? What are the major components of a WebQuest and what is the role of each in the learning activity? The Building Blocks of a WebQuest page will help you to better understand the purpose each one has.

So, how do you get started writing your own? The WebQuest Design Process flowchart created by Tom March is a great way to keep track of what you are doing.

Know that you have an idea for content flow -- how do you put it all together into a web-based learning activity? Bernie Dodge has put together a large list of templates you can use to create your activity. Choose the appropriate template from the WebQuest Design Patterns Page. You will need to download the student page and the teacher page. Remember, you'll have to open the pages in Dreamweaver in order to edit them.

Spend some time working on your WebQuest - making sure to check with the project description to ensure you are including all required elements.

On Tuesday, we will be working in groups to review your WebQuest -- although WebQuests are not due until Thursday -- you will need to have at least 1/2 of your WebQuest completed before Tuesday in order to participate in the reviews.

Here are some questions to consider about your WebQuest before tomorrow's class:
*Is your WebQuest topic authentic in order to engage your students?
*Is your WebQuest task challenging and doable?
*Do your learners need to think independently and critically during the WebQuest activity?
*Is collaboration between your students important for them to successfully conduct their WebQuest activities?
*What scaffolds (visual organizers, software tools, prompting suggestions) are provided in your WebQuest?
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Continue to work on your 2 Fireworks elements and the content for your webpages. Please make sure that all projects created this semester are saved to your keydrive -- this includes your resume, etc. You will need all of them with you in class on Wednesday.