Designing the Right Task for Your WebQuest

Bernie DodgeSan Diego State University

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/designingtask/

WebQuests Are Everywhere

• Thousands of teachers are creating them. They write letters.

• The WebQuest Page is getting 2800 hits a day

The WebQuest Page

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/

Examples, training materials, links to other people

WebQuest Definitions

• Inquiry-oriented

• Based on a doable, engaging task

• Uses pre-defined resources from the Web (and elsewhere)

• Can be short or long term

Parts of a WebQuest

• Introduction

• Task

• Process – Resources

• Evaluation

• Conclusion

Thinking about Tasks

• The WebQuest Taskonomy has proven to useful for helping people think about tasks.

• Twelve types of tasks are named and explained

– http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/taskonomy.html

The Standard Research Report

• Write a three-page report on Australia

Limited Engagement

• Years later, what will they remember?

Retelling Tasks

• Read, and then tell me what you read

• These are marginal WebQuests

• Let’s go beyond this!

E.g.:Will that Volcano Spoil Our Party?

Deeper Engagement

• Inviting creativity• Raising and resolving uncertainty• Rational disagreement and resolution

Compilation Tasks

• Organizing information into a consistent format

• Selecting and combining examples of that format into a larger collection

E.g.: Cooking with your Three Sisters

Mystery Tasks

• Wrap the inquiry within a puzzle

• Appropriate for content like archaeology, science, investigative journalism

E.g.: King Tut: Was it Murder?

Journalistic Tasks

• Describing an event using journalistic conventions

• Emphasis on accuracy, lack of bias

E.g.: Mexico City Earthquake

Questions to Ask Yourself

• (Journalistic) Is there a pivotal event that encapsulates what I want to teach?

– newpaper

– diary

– newscast

– documentary

Questions to Ask Yourself• (Compilation)

Is there a way to select, collect and organize important information on this topic?

- Cookbook- Gallery- Compendium

- Calendar of events- Time capsule- Recipe book- How-to’s

Questions to Ask Yourself• (Mystery)

Is there a way to create a puzzle by withholding information?

A blurred map An incomplete letter A broken artifact

Let’s Take a Thinking Break

• Take a topic, and try to come up with a task that would be appropriate for that topic and for your classroom.

Design Tasks

• Solving a problem or creating a pre-specified end state.

• Working within authentic constraints

E.g.: Designing a Canadian Vacation

Creative Product Tasks

• Working within established formats for creative expression

E.g.: Radio Days

Consensus Building Tasks

• Reconciling divergent viewpoints

• Applicable wherever there is controversy

E.g.: Vietnam Mural

Judgment Tasks

• Determining relative or absolute worth

• Making a decision and justifying it

E.g. Evaluating Math Games

Questions to Ask Yourself

• (Design) Is there an object, process or event to be designed within authentic constraints?

– A tour?– A lunar colony?– A new constitution?– A replica?

Questions to Ask Yourself

• (Creative Product) Can the important content be incorporated in the one of the standard genres of creative expression?

– A play?– A mural?– A poem?– A song?

Questions to Ask Yourself

• (Consensus Building) Are there groups that disagree about this topic? Can you steep your students in those points of view and force them to agree?

– A common position statement?– A letter to someone in power?– A compromise design?

Questions to Ask Yourself

• (Judgment) Are there decisions or judgments you can ask your students to make?

– The top five x’s?– Which x to do or buy?

Let’s Take a Thinking Break

• Take a topic, and try to come up with a task that would be appropriate for that topic and for your classroom.

Persuasion Tasks

• Preparing a persuasive message on a topic

• Requires a real or simulated group that needs convincing

E.g.: Nobel Mathematicians

Self-Knowledge Tasks

• Blending information from the Web with introspection

• Career planning, goal setting

E.g.: What Will I Be When I Grow Up?

Analytical Tasks

• Breaking a topic down into subparts

• Looking for patterns, relationships

E.g.: San Diego-Biarritz Comparison

Scientific Tasks

• Generating hypotheses

• Gathering data from web

• Validating or modifying hypotheses

E.g.: Lighthouse Diamond Thief

Designing the Right Task for Your WebQuest

Bernie DodgeSan Diego State University

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/designingtask/