Task-Based Learning with WebQuests

This week, I wish to draw your attention to task-based learning using WebQuest. You may wonder what WebQuest is like I did when I first heard of it. According to the inventor of the concept, Bernie Dodge (1995) from San Diego State University, a WebQuest is "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the 'treasure hunt like project tasks in which learners are provided with information to use to complete them. The emphasis is on 'using' and not 'finding' information. 

A WebQuest structure has the following:

• The Introduction stage: introduces the theme, provides background information, defines the context, roles and key vocabulary involved in the task. 

• The Task/Question - explains clearly and precisely the task learners have to complete and how they will accomplish it. It is expected that the task will be interesting and motivating.

• The Process stage guides the learners through a set of activities and research tasks, using a set of predefined resources.

• The Evaluation: involves learners in self-evaluation, comparing and contrasting what they have produced with other learners and giving feedback on what they feel they have learnt, achieved

In completing the task, learners can perform the activities individually or collaboratively by taking up roles. 

The purpose of my post this week, however, is to analyse one WebQuest I found interesting using the evaluation matrix. For this task, I have selected a WebQuest by the British Council Teaching English titled: The Year 2004 Magazine in which learners are expected to use archives and create a Sunday Magazine supplement of key news events of 2004. I will use the evaluation matrix criteria as subheadings for my analysis. 

Generally, this task is suitable for learners in senior secondary school especially those preparing for examinations like the School Certificate Examination. It is also useful in developing the life skill of verifying information, especially in the advent of fake news spreading easily through social media. 

Engaging Opening

From the onset, the task is clearly exciting from the start as learners are placed in groups of three, each with a specific topical focus - health, politics, crime, space exploration, business and sport, to delve into the BBC Archives, compile their stories and present a summary. With this variety of topical areas, learners can find at least one that interests them individually and form partnerships with those they have common interests. These topics are generated sufficient interest in many young people save maybe politics. They are engaged in brainstorming, sharing task components and deciding the order of priority for the stories in their assigned topic. Therefore, there is high-level engagement at the beginning of the task.

 

The Question/Task

A good WebQuest always has a clear question or task easy for learners to understand and follow to a logical conclusion.  In this WebQuest, learners are provided with clear topical areas to focus on and a step by step procedure of how they will come up with the components of the final product. 

From  the  BBC News  Archives, choose two important news stories from 2004 for each of these  categories (group work): health, politics, crime, space exploration, business and sport

1. Present a short summary of your news stories to the newspaper Editorial Board. They will help you decide on the most important story for each category (group work).
2. Write short articles about your final six news stories, and include graphics (individual work). 
3. Edit and produce  The Year 2004  magazine. Show your magazine to other groups (group work)
4. Do a questionnaire self-evaluation of your work (individual work).

This demonstrates that careful thought was put into the crafting of the task to yield the intended outcome. 

Background for Everyone 

To tap into the learners' background knowledge, the task asks them to firstly reflect on what made interesting news to each of them as individuals before they surf the BBC Website to refresh their memories. This is important because it helps learners, not only tap into their own background knowledge but also examine and realign their interests to choose a suitable partner. Weblinks are then provided as resources to use in completing the task.  

Roles/Expertise 

The task asks the participants to assume the role of a 'group of reporters' who work in teams of three to reproduce news articles of hot news stories of the year. after writing the stories, the reporters are to submit their products to another team called the "Editorial Board.' There is a clear and distinctive definition of roles that arrays fears of conflict of interest. Further, each team of reporters has a specific topic to concentrate on according to their interests to avoid overlap in duties. 

Use of The Web

Using the Web is in the DNA of a WebQuest thus a task that does not fully utilise this resource defeats the whole purpose. In this particular quest, learners made use of the BBC Website for both archived and recent information to help them complete the task. 

Transformative Thinking 

This is the best part of this WebQuest as higher-order thinking skills were engaged from the beginning. Firstly, they had to reflect on events of the year and remember particular ones that stood out from their individual perspectives which later culminated in decision making - settling on topical areas from those provided. Secondly, participants had to find others with aligned interests, express their views and decide to form working partnerships. It is possible some of them may have wanted to partner with close friends, but they had to examine and put aside personal inclinations for the good of the mission. Higher-order skills of reflection, brainstorming, analysis and synthesis were tapped into by the task. 

Real-World Feedback  

The WebQuest task has two forms of feedback that I found very interesting: News Verification and Self Evaluation.  In news verification, learners were tasked to ensure that all contents of their respective articles were derived from authentic sources provided as a real-life journalism ethic. This would help build a foundation for ethical reporting in future. In the second part, learners were provided with a self-evaluation questionnaire to reflect on the task in terms of experiences, perceptions of group work (before, during and after the task), lessons they picked from the task and what they would like to improve on in the future.  Above all, they were provided with the rubric of how their product would be assessed. 

Conclusion

Overall, the WebQuest had a holistic tough to it as it involved all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, and completed individually in part and through groups. The task was highly engaging and activated higher-order thinking skills and roles clearly shared with distinctive boundaries. All components of the WebQuest as stipulated by the inventor were complied with. However, the task may not have been very appropriate for learners who learn better as individuals than in groups as it required a lot of teamwork and collaboration.  

If you wish to develop research and other higher-order skills in the learners, try WebQuest. Let me know what your views on this topic by commenting below. 

For more information, visit  WebQuest.Org or