Vive le WebQuest!
Throughout Practicum, each class had one language lesson per week scheduled in the Computer Lab. Whilst I didn’t always take up the offer (to the dismay of especially the younger boys), we went there most scheduled lessons. Especially with my Year 10, who had finished the programme for the Year, I felt it was really well worth it and I designed a unit of work on “Life after HSC” which relied heavily on Internet resources. I created activities with and around two authentic French websites giving information to French students in relation to different professions and university courses. That’s why I read March’s article “The Learning Power of WebQuests” with interest. It clearly differentiates between web-based activities and a true quest, which is defined by Dodge (1995) as
“an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet”
I completely agree when March states that we always need to ask ourselves if students can achieve the learning we want them to do online just as effectively without the Internet; and if the answer is yes, we shouldn’t bother switching on the PC. So it seems I did the right thing by insisting we stay out of the LAB and in our normal classroom when using the LAB didn’t enhance the learning experience. Having said that, the WebQuests I designed for the Year 10s, in line with March’s description of the scaffolded learning structure, included initial tasks and activities which required knowing or finding ‘facts’ before requiring the boys to use the acquired information and expertise in a new way. Overall, I feel if March looked at my unit programme and examined the quests I developped, he’d be satisfied that I did a good job. The boys certainly enjoyed it – and stayed motivated until the last lesson of the term, in which I asked them to write a motivation letter for a real job we investigated online (Yes, authentic tasks do motivate!). I’ll be interested to explore the realms of WebQuests for our assignment, Miche!
