Current Event 2

Nicole Dagro
Language Arts and Technology
Current Event 2
Due 10.09.07

Title: Inquiry-Based Learning and Technology: Designing and Exploring Webquests
Author: Jan Lacina
Resource: Childhood Education: Volume 83, Issue 4 (Found using Proquest)
Publication Date: Summer 2007

This article discussed webquests. It explored the questions “What is a webquest?” “How can you design a webquest?” and “What are the essential features of a webquest?” It also provided advice on how to implement them and use them efficiently and sources you can refer to.
The article stated that a webquest is an “inquiry-based technology activity.” Its purpose is to get users to extract information from the Internet. It is also used to promote higher thinking and for students to construct their own opinions and conclusions based on the information they explore.
The article also discussed the five essential components of a webquest. These include the introduction (introduction to the subject and grabbing the student’s attention), the task you want them to do, the resources, the process, and the evaluation (assessing understanding). The article then provides useful advice on things like time spent designing, being organized, and checking links to make sure they still exist. Also, the teacher should take on the role of “guide,” and always have a back-up plan in case the technology does not work that day.
Throughout this course we have discussed how to improve literacy using technology. Even last week, we learned about Internet Workshops and how they can improve a student’s educational experience. This article shows that webquests can be a wonderful tool to enhance learning. Students can access information and make inferences from that information. This information and what they are forced to do with it can help improve a student’s literacy skills. They are reading, analyzing, writing, and forming conclusions from this activity. With anything else, skills improve with practice and webquests are a great way to practice literacy skills.
This article not only has relevance to this course because it discusses an activity that can help literacy skills, but it also provides us with information on how to implement it. Through this information, we can now use this activity in Language Arts and other classes to aid our students in improving their literacy skills. I think that everyone enrolled in this course can benefit from the information provided in this article.
I believe that webquests can be a useful learning tool. They motivate students, deal with literacy skills, and engage the students in their learning. These are all important factors to develop a student. I think this article was informative and got you thinking how you can use this in your classroom. I have seen webquests used before, but this article allowed me to use that prior information and add to it in order to create my own webquests. Every teacher today should know how to and use webquests in their classroom.