Benefits of Webquests in the classroom

Hello bloggers,
So Webquests is the issue of the week. As I begin to unravel the nature and practicality of using webquests in the classroom, I become more and more aware of their many features and benefits. For example, one of the first things I notice about their design is that students can finally get excited about learning in other ways than just in the physical classroom setting. Of course technology in and of itself is new and interesting too students, but when you insert interactive quests into their learning, you just cannot go wrong. In addition, it seems that many teachers consider using Webquests with lower achieving students simply because it increases motivation and productivity.

Another hugely positive feature of the "web quest" is that it helps to create a facilitative classroom instead of a solely explicit atmosphere. What I mean by this is that the teacher can facilitate learning in the classroom rather than give direct instruction every day. The webquests help the students think for themselves, create higher order thinking, make choices and decisions, and venture through the learning process on their own. Now, I am not saying that doing webquests every day is a better or even more reliable way of teaching; however, I am suggesting that adding a web quest series into the class curriculum will only strengthen the student's individual desire to think independently and critically about the academic material provided.

For more information on the benefits that teachers have found using webquests, check out http://www.hardin.k12.ky.us/res_techn/pdonline/discovery.htm

In my opinion, I think webquests should be incorporated in some way in every classroom curriculum. Technology is the wave of the future, and things like Web 2.0, wiki's, webquests, blogs, twitter, and more are installing themselves into the educational scene with more and more teachers learning about their features and benefits.

Ok, see you guys next week, and keep blogging with your thoughts on Webquests! I'd love to hear your thoughts about why teachers should stretch the curriculum to incorporate this type of technology? What are some of the downfalls you envision?