One String to the Next: On a WebQuest

Day after day, people search for answers to questions that they've been longing to resolve. Our answers are found in books, magazines, newspapers, television broadcasts and the internet. Sometimes we look for answers through discussions when sit down and talk with people about curiosities, confusion or even searching for clarification. In the digital age that we are forced to face, we must still learn to work together and solve the problems of our own fortunes. When teachers bring learning experiences into their classrooms that integrate technology and require students to collaborate, today's teachers begin to prepare our current generation for the days of digital closure and solidarity. Learning projects that once focused on identification and summarization are transforming when teachers introduce WebQuests into their classrooms. WebQuests require students to use higher order thinking skills (i.e. analysis, synthesis and evaluation). The creation of a WebQuest can be carefully guided through many available websites, professional development trainings, journal articles and more. WebQuests prepare students to go beyond the two dimensional paper report and extend their learning through technological dimensions.

Naturally, WebQuests can be molded into a classroom whether one or several computers are available. Hesitation for implementing WebQuests should only stem from making a high quality quests due to the fact that high quality quests for learning take time and effort. It requires a great deal of time to search for websites that are engaging and appropriate. Sometimes the surface level websites may not be the sites that are the most interesting and teachers or designers may need to dig deeper to find more informative and intriguing websites. Time and effort continues when WebQuests attempt to challenge learners and thinkers. Creating a challenge requires thoughtful questioning that goes beyond knowledge, comprehension and application and the questioning begins to strive for analysis, synthesis and evaluation. True webs of challenge take time.

WebQuests can be teacher or student centered and they can be designed to explore any subject area. With digital learners sitting in classrooms, WebQuests seem idealistic for motivation. History and science, when brought to life in technology, open the doorway to drawing millennials into classrooms around the world. Famous North Carolinians, the United States of America, the Periodic Table and so many other topics only began to glaze the surface of possible ideas for WebQuest designs. Current local and world news could be heated topics of discussion in a WebQuests that is created to incorporate videos and images. WebQuests are webs of questions waiting to be linked, with many hands, from one string of silk to the next.

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