3.+Pros+of+using+Webquests

= **Research Supported Benefits of Webquests** =



When used properly, Webquests can have many benefits. First, the teacher can involve higher level thinking scenarios and questions. Some of the higher level thinking categories for Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive levels are application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Etobicoke Board of Education, 1987, p. 3). It is important that the teacher plans this learning strategy in a way in which the students have the freedom to respond in their own creativity. The result should not be information obtained through copying and pasting. Also, students may be engaged in their learning through authentic teaching. They may deal with real problems and situations in life. They may also encounter many perspectives of people. Furthermore, students sort the data that is available on the Internet with higher taxonomic thinking.

Literacy Learning- Nigel Hall
Webquests can provide meaningful lessons to the students especially through literacy learning. The common view of literacy learning is that “In school literacy is treated as a neutral object to be studied and mastered [and is] unconnected to the ways in which it is actually used by people in their lives” (Hall, 1998). Nigel Hall (1998) calls this an “autonomous model of literacy” regarding the disconnected way it is generally used in schools. Rather than instilling an importance of the vehicle of communication itself such as reading or writing, it is more important that the focus is on the meaning. By teaching literacy through webquests as a form of sociodramatic play and storytelling the importance of meaning and clarity in communication is conveyed. Students interact with one another through this frame. With the importance of communication in the forefront of the students’ minds, the mechanics and correctness of language will be integrated naturally.

Learning Through Experience- Jean Piaget
If done well, teachers can create an environment within a Webquest that promotes learning in accordance to substantial theories. For instance, “Piaget described learning as the modification of student’s cognitive structures as they interact with and adapt to their environment” (Tompkins et al., 2008, p. 5). They teacher would provide the links to credible sites in which the students are to explore. Piaget also “believed that students construct their own knowledge from their experiences” (Tompkins et al., 2008, p. 5). By initiating their learning through the webquest the students will learn as much as they desire to. Most likely they will take away much because the topic should be meaningful and interesting.

Learning Through Social Interaction- Lev Vygotsky
The social aspect of the webquest is also effective to the students’ learning. According to Vygotsky, “children learn through socially meaningful interactions” and that “children negotiate and transform [their experiences]as a dynamic part of culture” (Tompkins et al. 2008, p. 8). Collaboration of the students allows them to do more difficult things than if each were independent (Tompkins et al., 2008, p. 8). Thus, the students are challenged to work in their “zone of proximal development,” the term that Vygotsky coined (Tompkins et al., 2008, p. 8). This is the space in which children learn best (Tompkins et al., 2008, p. 8). The webquests can be made in such a way that students work in pairs or groups and that each person knows their role in the activity. By giving different scenarios to groups the teacher can manage a differentiated method for students who at different learning stages. The questions that the teacher poses in the Webquest are considered to be a form of “scaffolding” as stated by Lev Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner (Tompkins et al., 2008, p. 8). Scaffolding enables a student to “transition from social interaction to internalized, independent functioning” (Tompkins et al., 2008, p. 8). The teacher must have each student in mind when preparing specific webquests for the students.

Essentially, webquests are flexibly made and can be designed to meet any objective, outcome or learning theory. Students may explore a whole new world of perspectives and information online as guided by their teachers.