A Dinosaur WebQuest

There are many advantages of using WebQuest in education. WebQuests are mainly developed by educators and are freely available on the internet for anyone to use. Some of the advantages are;

1. WebQuests help the students to stay focused on their task and they don’t get lost for finding the information.
2. WebQuests saves time for both students and teachers; because it does not need any special software or hardware installed except for the internet connection.
3. The teacher need not prepare the assignment starting from the scratch. Teachers could use already available WebQuests or they could make their own using web-editors to suit their needs.
4. It interests students to learn because students are motivated to learn by the use of technology.
5. WebQuests are reliable because they are mainly developed by educators and it is ‘structured’.
6. It reduces teachers’ stress because the activities are in ready to use format. WebQuests activities offer complete guideline for an activity starting from the introduction up to teachers’ evaluation.
   

If WebQuests are not used in learning students would encounter the following problems;

1. Students miss the opportunity to explore things.
2. Students miss a learning environment which enhances individualized learning.
3. Students will not be able to stay focused if they are asked to use internet to learn something, as there are thousands of things out there that would distract them from learning. There are chances for the students to get lost in finding the appropriate information. WebQuests’ pre-selected websites help them to collect relevant materials from reliable sources.
4. WebQuest are structured so that students find it easy to follow, understand and accomplish the task.
   

WebQuest activities are designed in such a way that students cooperate and work among themselves in a structured learning process, which helps them to understand how to work in a group and accomplish a task. WebQuests activities are user-friendly and the students need not completely rely on teacher for every instruction. Students learn technology ie., how to use computers and how to do the activity. So, they not only learn the subject but also the technology. It makes the students actively participate in the activity and do their assigned role in accomplishing the task. This helps them to develop self-confidence in accomplishing a task.

If I were to design a WebQuest, I will first select a topic appropriate for WebQuests. Then I will design some worksheets or activities that suit to my topic and content. I will also plan for a rubric for that activity. Next, I will design the whole process of the activity in a step by step manner so that students will find it easy to understand and follow.