WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented Internet- based activity  in which students interact with a collection of resources, some of them taken from the Internet

· A quest for knowledge

· Effective use of Internet

· Cognitive training

· Improved teaching and learning behaviour

· Source of methodological inspiration

1.1. WebQuest as means to apply ICT and effectively use of Internet in education

For the last decade teachers everywhere in the world have been confronted with new professional challenges related with new learning concepts and theories. Information and communication technology (ICT) has been seen as a powerful tool to apply these concepts into teaching practice. Yet there are still quite a few concrete models to follow. WebQuest is one good and widely shared pedagogical design approach to combine these elements (theoretical and technological approach) into teaching.

According to Bernie Dodge  (1997), a WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which students interact with information gathered primarily from resources on the Internet. Both elements of this definition are of equal importance for understanding the main arguments supporting the classroom implementation of the WebQuest projects: that is inquiry centered learning and the use of Internet as a tool for learning in different curricular and epistemological fields.

WebQuest projects can at their best take into account concepts such as: critical thinking, cooperative learning, authentic assessment, and technology integration, schema theory, scaffolding, and novice/expert models of teaching. WebQuests can be problem-centered or case-based learning activities that provide teachers with the opportunity to integrate Internet technology into the course curriculum by allowing students to experience learning as they construct their knowledge.

1.2. The added value provided through WebQuest teaching and learning

WebQuests can be identified as quests for knowledge.  Rather than being a static body of content to be taught, a WebQuest can offer evolving body of content to know, to explore, and to process. Most WebQuests require students to perform multiple tasks, well beyond simply presenting their findings to the class or writing a report. These possible tasks include the creation of a multimedia projects, videoconferencing, using email, databases, and spreadsheets, as well as a myriad of other technology-rich possibilities.

WebQuests were designed with the purpose of instilling in students the capacity to navigate the Internet with a clear task in mind, retrieve data from multiple resources, and increase critical thinking skills (Dodge, 1998). 

Here are some cognitive features of  a good WebQuest: 

1. Logical meaning. The WebQuest can constitute in itself an "epitome" or pre-organizer of content knowledge and investigation activity. In a Webquest teacher can structure the contents in a comprehensible way for the students, provided with a logical sense that it is conceivable to students. With use of different kind of tasks or design patterns (e.g. investigation task, case problem, design problem) one can model knowledge structure of the discipline.
 

2. Psychological meaning. With suitable selection of resources WebQuest allows to construct a learning activity that is adapted at the student's psycho-evolutive level. For further development of knowledge and skills the task should require group investigation that leads to what Vygosky calls "Zone of Proximal Development" ( to the level in which student perform better with the aid of more capable peer than by him/herself)
 

3. Self-directed learning. In the WebQuest the student's fundamental work is autonomous: he/she is the one who selects the information that considers relevant; and also the one who structures knowledge, building his/her own cognitive schemes. In a WebQuest one should favour tasks to synthesize, to summarize, to analyze, to compare different sources and means of information
 

4. High "social functionality" of the learning. The ecological-contextual paradigm of learning proposes the necessity to consider in the educational process the point of view of the utility of certain knowledge for the student, considered from the "social ecosystem" in which the student is included. In this sense the use of the Internet as a learning tool is of great relevance to students. It may lead to learning processes that are applicable to other non-academic scopes: way of leisure, autonomy when solving school tasks, etc. This could also lead to high level of learning motivation.
 

5. Metacognition. With WebQuest one should create complex learning situations where students are expected to autonomously conduct their learning based on discovery and effective use of ICT. Solving of complex problems demands certain control, self-evaluation and monitoring skills moreover, while solving problems, students can gain comprehensive self knowledge regarding their own learning.

In order to justify these considerations, we could point some the results of the study we carried out. In the study there was a sample of 185 new users (teachers) of WebQuest technique in the classroom. Interestingly teachers answered that the technique is seen as a good and very good learning method 94% answers, but only 53% rated it as a good teaching means. 71% of the teachers considered this method as an excellent or good integrator of the Internet in the learning process. WebQuest was also rated as excellent (29%) and good (57%) in improving students learning skills. This statistic correlates with the improved students’ scores.

Teachers reported improvement at the level of students’ behaviour, and classroom organisation These results were seen, on the one hand, in the increasing of pupils’ motivation and, on the other hand, in working as a team with a clear purpose - solving the group tasks.

On the other hand, the WebQuest creation is in itself a training situation for a teacher, as he forces himself to think of a topic from new perspective.

WebQuest can also be considered as a "source of help" for the teacher, since this methodology makes possible to adapt teaching approach to different learning styles. In addition, the elaboration of these didactic needs and use of Internet resources leads to teachers reflective processes. In the research carried teachers describe WebQuest as a source of inspiration in an impressive proportion (83%).

WebQuests can be especially useful for teachers who are novices in the area of technology in that they offer prepackaged, self-contained lessons ready for implementation. The WebQuest site contains lessons, rubrics, and teaching tips.  This way WebQuests allow the teacher to make an easier transition into using Internet technology with support of a wider community of teachers.

Matrix of WebQuest examples

WebQuest collections

Top picks in WebQuest Matrix

Other collections of exemplary WebQuests

WebQuest Links

"Qualitative WebQuests cited in the article: “The Student WebQuest"

TCC WebQuest Collection

WebQuest collections in Spanish:

Biblioteca de WebQuest de Emilia Rodríguez

Biblioteca de WebQuest de Santiago Blanco

Ejemplos por áreas del programa Ramón y Cajal

Ejemplos en la página de Carmen Barba

Eduteka 

CPEI Beatriz Galindo

Some thoughts about WebQuest (Bernie Dodge’s article)

Building Blocks for WebQuests

Thinking Visually with WebQuest (scaffolding tips)

Task Design Worksheet

The WebQuest Taskonomy: A Taxonomy of Tasks

Taskmastery Exercise

Design Patterns and Templates for WebQuest Development

The WebQuest Design Process

WebQuest Process Guides

Lesson templates for Students and Teachers

Templates & Alternatives

Learning the Web

URL Anatomy Tutorial

Before you Search, Four Nets for Better Searching

Specialized Search Engines

Triton/Patterns Summer 99 Symposium

Friendly graphics

 Adapting Existing WebQuests

a.      Fine points and useful links

There are no best WebQuests, but for development of educationally valuable and interesting for students WebQuest, which fulfills above mentioned cognitive features properly, is a matter of a gradual refinement. Here we present some key aspects for refinement your own WebQuest product. The original creator of the WebQuest, Bernie Dodge encourages  continuing improvement of a WebQuest in his materials and he also encourages to compare and evaluate many similar WebQuests in order to find better solutions for each part of the WebQuest (especially, tasks, processes, and evaluation).

We present here some general conditions that a qualitative WebQuest project should accomplish:

General pedagogical conditions:

*      A well-designed WebQuest offers learner content and tasks in contextual way. It lets students learn about a topic as part of a larger context. In some cases, a WebQuest  also let students explore a topic as interdisciplinary problem to be solved

*      Good WebQuest has a "hook” that means a motivating starting point or a desirable ending point which ought to be interesting for the student. This can be a task like treasure hunt, a game, alternative history or some other form of activity which captures the student’s interest.

*      Good WebQuests also rely on material that is age and ability appropriate. The web contains everything from nursery rhymes to postdoctoral papers, and finding suitable resources is a demanding task for a teacher. With an successful collection of links a WebQuest can offer suitable demands to students with varying skills and it can be a tool to differentiate the instruction

General methodological conditions

*     A WebQuest can be used at best when it relates also to the curricular continuum. The more closely your WebQuest fits into curricular sequence the more powerful it will be in helping the students learn the topic

*     Webquests can be collaborative. In a good WebQuest the process section utilizes different skills of the students by sequencing teamwork and individual work.

*     A well-designed Webquest contains multidimensional evaluation rubric. A rubric should contain evaluation of skills and knowledge acquired during the studying process. The dimensions of the rubric can contain issues of cooperation, sharing of ideas, students products (e.g. written materials, presentations etc.).

*     A Webquest becomes an useful to other teachers when there is a comprehensive teacher’s page wich explains the didactic desing of the learing task

General appearance conditions

*      A good webquest is  highly visual. The web is a visual medium, and with proper use visual elements one can build context for learning, visual elements may also influence to students’ interest on the issue.

*      Good Webquests are easy to use. Students should be able easily get the idea of the task and the process they are supposed to follow  and also, to move easily from one location to the next within the text.

These general conditions will be specified by the following critical and non-critical attributes

Critical attributes

A WebQuest always has own sections introduction, the task, the process, evaluation, and a conclusion. In his paper Some thoughts about WebQuest, B. Dodge (2001) introduces the critical attributes for these parts of a WebQuest.

Introduction

The introduction should:

*      Be motivational

*      Address the students in a comprehensive vocabulary

*      Formulate a “big question” around which the whole project is centered.

Example 1. (from the WebQuest "Shakespeare", CPR Gijon, Spain)

Your English teacher, is very fond of William Shakespeare’s books. She has decided to infect you with this literary virus and, for this reason, she informs you that during the next weeks you will have to spend your time studying his biography and influence in the universal literature and cinema

Example 2 (from the WebQuest "Self-esteem", UBB Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Do you always firmly tell your opinion without hurting others? Do you always  consider yourself a worthwhile person, that deserves to be happy? Do you easily involve yourself in different tasks and take responsibilities? Do you always say NO when you don't want to do a certain thing? Do you communicate both the happiness and sadness or angriness feelings and emotions? Do you easily recover after failing by saying to yourself that life goes on and you are going to have many more chances to show others what you are able of? Do you consider yourself a pleasant person worth coming close to?...  If your answer is YES to all these questions, congratulations, you like and respect yourself. If you answer No to some of these questions you again deserve compliments. It means that you have the courage to recognize that some of the things can be improved. By this project you can gain information regarding the SELF ESTEEM and methods, techniques and advices that could help you put in practice the things you have learned. What is SELF ESTEEM, why it is so important, what is the connection between your self-esteem level and your performances or way of relating with others, and moreover, how SELF ESTEEM answers to the above questions... you can find out involving in the following activities, step by step, together with your colleagues. Lets start...

Task

The task should :

*      Motivate for learning and be doable

*      Cater for certain cognitive activities that students should do: to analyze, to synthesize, to transform, to create, to judge and to value, to create new information, to edit, to share, etc. Consequently, the task should induce higher order thinking. Ideally, the main task in a WebQuest is a reduced version of what adults do in their professional work..

*      Connect to curriculum standards of both specific schools subject and cross-curricular.

*     Set a learning context that will allow the approach of the learning subject from an original, challenging perspective.

Example (from the WebQuest "Self-esteem", UBB Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

The tasks you will accomplish by the end of the project are:

• To develop a guide for improving ones self esteem that will take the form of a brochure addressed to teenagers.

• To create an information material addressed to adults (parents and teachers)

• To self-evaluate your own level of self esteem

• To create a role play script where to integrate the features of a person with low/ high self-esteem by imagining to characters and certain key situations that can influence the level of self esteem of a teenager  il

•  To analyze one of the two poetries presented in the project.

•  To collect information regarding self esteem and to apply it for improving your own self esteem

 Process

“Process Checklist in a WebQuest” material existing on the official WebQuest page offers a comprehensive list of defining features for a well written process.

In synthesis, the process should:

*      Mach the task description

*      Roles should be clearly defined as well as the grouping of students

*      Roles should be strictly necessary for getting the task done and all students should be involved

*      Resources are sufficient and grouped by a logic and visible criteria

*      Integrate also technical resources

*      Offer guidance for the activities that involve cooperation of students or groups

*      Offer scaffolds or templates ( formats)

*      The text addresses at the second person (“ you” not “the students”)

*      Address to specific needs and interests

*      Use smartly the facilities of the word processor (paragraphs, underlines, links, bullets and numbers)

Example (from the WebQuest "Shakespeare", CPR Gijon, Spain)

As  BIOGRAPHER, your work will be  to investigate on  William Shakespeare’s life.

1. Print the questionnaire you must use to fulfil your task.

2. Visit the links below and write down the answers in your form

3.Fill in a bibliography card about one of the following websites.

Shakespeare in Education

Shakespeare in the Classroom

 As  HISTORIAN, you must review the existing information about The Globe Theatre.

1.   Print  the  questionnaire you must use to fulfil your task.

2.   Visit the following  websites and write down the answers in the form.

3. Fill in  a   bibliography card  about one of the following websites.

Virtual tour of Globe Theatre

Information on Globe Theatre

As  TRANSLATOR, you must translate one sentence from the prologue of the work ”Romeo and Juliet”  and explain its meaning

1.   Print  the film poster you must use  to fulfil your task.

2.   Visit the following websites and write down your explanation freely . Do not forget to include references to other literary and cinematographic works 

3. Fill  in a bibliography card about one of the following  websites.

Notes

Characters

Evaluation

The evaluation section should:

*      Evaluate the process of learning and creating new products as well as the products themselves

*      Evaluate the very aspects that represent the specific formative features of a WebQuest: higher order thinking, cooperation, use of ICT, transformative learning etc.

*      Include both quantitative and qualitative descriptors

*      Evaluate all the products and knowledge expected in the Task and Process section.

Example (from the WebQuest "Self-esteem", UBB Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Guide for self esteem improvement

Conclusion

The conclusion should:

*      Include rhetorical questions and additional links

*      Encourage the further reflection.

Example (from the WebQuest "Self-esteem", UBB Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

You gathered a lot of information about the so called SELF ESTEEM. Maybe that all this information just came to complete the things you already knew. Maybe it raised a lot of new questions. Maybe they made you put questions about your own being for the first time. The important fact is that a lot of aspects were clarified You are now more aware about the influences that the context and your own thoughts can have on you. you have learned how you can "push up" your self esteem level when it goes down, and maybe even more important, you make others aware about the importance of this aspect of our personality.

Didactic guide

Though is not described as a critical part of a WebQuest, The Didactic Guide or teacher page should be included to a Webquest. Here are some quality requirements:

*      The author should introduce himself and describe the origin of the WebQuest ( motivation, use of it in a specific context)

*      Describe in brief what the activities are about

*      Describe the level and course for which the activity is designed and also the possibilities for it to be transferred and adapted to other levels

*      Describe the prerequisites of the students needed for the accomplishment of the project

*      Describe the results in relation with the curriculum requirements

Example  (from the WebQuest "Shakespeare", CPR Gijon, Spain)

 Non-critical attributes

Cooperation

*      Cooperation is motivational and also allow covering large, controversial or complex learning topics

*      In a WebQuest teachers must set common goals that only can be accomplished when students work together.

*      When running several WebQuest groups in the same classroom students will face different learning and problem solving solutions that can become models for their own learning

*      Cooperative behaviour performed by students must be evaluated

Interdisciplinarity

*      WebQuest are usually meant to extend students learning beyond the classroom. This leads to interdisciplinary approaches for specific learning topics, for which sometimes a group of colleague teachers is needed for design and management of learning situations.

*      Topics like: contemporary issues, evaluation of history, moral and ethical issues, human rights, can be successfully approached in an interdisciplinary manner.

*      Both, cooperation and interdisciplinary approach are premises for the meaningful learning of students that means: active and intentional learning, relevance for students’ needs, interests, experiences, contextual and problem based learning.

Higher order thinking

Learning of higher order thinking skills represents a key feature of a good WebQuest. Several conditions must be respected in order to reach this standard of quality:

*      Formulate a “big question “that can not be answered simply by collecting and telling back the information.

*      Use of scaffolds or prompting which has been shown to facilitate more advanced thinking

*      Offer examples with lots of information and opinions on the topic through which students will sift until they have constructed an understanding that not only connects to their own individual prior knowledge, but also builds new schema that will be refined when students encounter the topic again.

2.2.                     Issues in the creation of a WebQuest

2.2.1.      Basic computer skills required

Writing of a WebQuests do not require the use of complex, nor specialized software. Some skills to create a WebQuest: 

• to know how to surf the WWW ( some useful links can be find in the left side of the page)
• to know how use  search engines  like Google,
• to be able to make an html document with a word processor or webpage editor
• to have good knowledge on the issue to be thought.

2.2.2. English language skills required. On-line resources in different national languages

The great majority of both WebQuest projects and WebQuest resources is written in English. Consequently ones command over English language would be of great help. Nevertheless, since this learning strategy became worldwide spread there is a number of resources in different other languages: Spanish, Italian, Finish, Romanian, Polish.

2.2.3.      Time resources required

For the creation phase

«Writing a WebQuest is time-consuming and challenging, at least the first time. To make the most of your efforts and to maximize your chances for satisfaction and success, four key considerations for  a WebQuest:

1)      be tied to local, state or national curriculum standards;

2)      replace a lesson that you're not totally satisfied with;

3)      make good use of the Web;

4)      require a degree of understanding that goes beyond mere comprehension. (B. Dodge)

Here are some guidelines for meeting the above suggestions:

a. Curriculum standards

*      it is wise to spend your time creating lessons that can be tied to curriculum, that you and other teachers recognize as important issues

*      the use of Internet and information and communication technology must be an urge only when it brings an added value comparing with standard teaching

b. Creative discontent

*      choose as topics of a WebQuest project something that you've taught before and have never been fully satisfied with

*      The WebQuest you design should replace something and improve it rather than being just an extra activity.

c. Using the Web well

*      The Web can bring primary sources that would not ordinarily be available to schools. It can also bring resent information and offer multiple perspectives on the topic.

d. Understanding

*      Choose content and topics that invite creativity, which has multiple layers, has multiple interpretations or can be seen from multiple perspectives. In short, pick material that requires students to transform information into knowledge. This fact will imply deep understanding.

For the application phase

Considering the criteria of the time that project activity will take, WebQuests can be classified in:

·         Short term WebQuest: its pedagogical goal is the acquisition and integration of the knowledge associated to a specific content of one or several matters. A short-term WebQuest is designed to be completed in one to three class periods.

·         Long term WebQuest: it is designed to be completed from one week to a month . It implies a greater number of tasks, deeper and more elaborated. It usually finishes with the accomplishment of a presentation with an on-line application (for example a Web page, a Powert Point file, etc.).

·         MiniQuest: it is a reduced version of a WebQuest, in which three sections are only considered: scene, task and product. An experimented teacher in the use of Internet could create it in only 3 or 4 hours, and the students can complete it in the course of one or two class periods, at the most. They can be used by teachers who do not have a long time to spend or that scarcely have begun in the creation and application of the WebQuests.

2.2.4.      Order of  WebQuest projects creation activities

The most difficult part is choosing a task. The most time-consuming part is designing the process properly. (Dodge, 2001). It is useful to start with choosing a design pattern or a type of task and compare own idea with existing WebQuests. You can try the following sequence:

1.             write the task on students page and teaching standards and objectives on teachers page

2.             Describe the process the students are going to follow by assigning tasks, roles, activities that will contribute to the development of the main task.

3.             Flesh out the process section by finding a focused set of resources to provide the information needed by learners.

4.             Complete the evaluation rubric in the student page. Duplicate it in the teacher page and add any extra information needed by teachers.

5.             Complete the Introduction, Conclusion and Credits

6.             Add graphics where appropriate

7.             Revise and complete the teachers guide

8.             Self evaluate the project and revise

9.             Edit

10.         Apply in the classroom and improve

2.2.5.  Use of the existing WebQuest examples

A lot of teachers wish to share their WebQuests with other teachers. And they do it for instance by editing it through the Internet. You have got above certain links that trace you to some of the best colections of WebQuest projects.

 It is always useful to go through the didactic guide for the colleagues that teachers usually create on teacher’s page of the WebQuest. It usually holds indications on the proposed curricular objectives, a schedule, necessary tools, advice regarding the role of the teacher, organization of groups, following of students’ activities and moments of feedback etc.

2.2.6.      Use of Internet in the classroom

The school work with the Internet is not an aim in itself, but a means, that, as much is:

1) hooking, 

2) intuitive, 

3) able to conduct autoptic learnings 

4) invested of a high status from the point of view of the social perception in the educative fields (whether it is good or not...),

And that allows a greater diversification of the learning activities, specifically   

• as data base and consultation of remote documentation
• as a disciplinar research tool
• as a didactic resource and tool for the elaboration of didactic units by the teacher 

The teacher that wishes to effectively integrate ICT into his classroom must ask himself:

1.   Exactly, what role must it occupy in his educational activity? That is to say, is it going to be the predominant, exclusive tool of work, even? Is he going to work with the Internet as an occasional resource? How long is worth the trouble to waste in that primary alphabetization of the students?

2.   What and how is worth the trouble to be learnt by the student (and by the teacher, in his/her previous training) of the interface?

3.   We do have to keep in sight the important investment of time required to qualify the student in the simple handling of  the Internet. What would be really necessary for the student to know?

- must the students simply know how to browse?

- must they manage to use the Internet a qualified channel for the communication of their results of learning? And, therefore, must they know how to create Web pages, use the mail, chat, etc.? 

- Who will teach it? the teacher of a certain area?; everyone based on their necessities?; should it be registered in a long term and interpersonal educative planning?

- how should it be taught?: in contextual learning?; by means of test-error?; by means of previous systematic learning?... 

        There is not an only answer to these questions. Still, they must be formulated, and taken care of as it influences our teaching decisions.

The WebQuest is not necessarily a methodology of a very frequent classroom application. Obviously, its preparation requires a high investment in effort and time on the part of the teacher. Nevertheless, the generalization among the set of teachers of this methodology can be enough to prepare the student in ICT procedures: it would be enough whereupon several teachers made one or two WebQuest along the course to fulfill the student's necessity of qualification in ICT. Nevertheless, the educational action would have to aspire to a global planning of the ICT procedures that should be given in each course or educative level, in such a way that there would be a coherent sequence, a definition of the cadence of the WebQuest use in the different areas/subjects. 

2.2.7.      Use of off –line resources

Many of the WebQuests created within our European project mention off-line resources together with on-line ones. The basic structure of a WebQuest could be done with only a pile of books and magazines. Still, the philosophy of a WebQuest projects implies choosing topics that could not be done solely with print materials.

3.1.         Lessons learned from the classroom implementation of WebQuest projects

3.1.1.      When and how to use WebQuest projects

Research has shown that the most important factor related to student learning and technology use is how teachers relate the technology-based activity to other learning activities. Therefore, it's important to clearly link your WebQuest to previous and subsequent activities, so that the WebQuest is not an isolated experience disconnected from the rest of your curriculum. Relatedly, WebQuests aren't the endpoint, but the beginning of student use of the Web for learning. Ideally, in the not so distant future, students will have internalized many of the cognitive strategies built into WebQuests, so that students direct and guide their own studies and findings.

In our study teachers see the frequency of Webquest use in the classroom several times a school year. Only 10% of them think that they will use WebQuest once per year. The other 90% are split in three parts, having the opinion that the WebQuest may be implemented once a semester, more often within a semester or as often as they find it necessary.

3.1.2. What problems can appear? Possible cautions and solutions

Possible application difficulties of the WebQuest in the classroom are fundamentally referred to the management of the students' learning process and the use of the Internet resources. We think that some adaptation in interpretation of the official curriculum needs to be done while working with WebQuest.

Yet, perhaps the greatest obstacle will be technology access. The ways of implementing your WebQuest will vary depending on the kind of Web access you have and the number of computers available. Even schools with lots of computers may not have adequate bandwidth to access the Internet quickly. Or, perhaps when access to Internet is fine the computers and software put up limitations. Or, maybe your school doesn't even have an Internet connection teacher has to make preparation at home. Here are some possible situations and solutions:

No computers

Teachers with no computers available in their schools are hard pressed to do a WebQuest, but they can print out the Web pages for their students to use in class. The fun of computers and Web work can be lost, but perhaps other aspects of the learning experience can be used to increase student motivation.

One computer with Net Access

Teachers in a one-computer classroom can pair students up and create a modular classroom for working on their WebQuests. One rotating station could be the online computer, one could use print-outs from Web pages, another group could use library books, magazines, videotapes, CD-ROMs, etc. Students in this scenario would be in a good position to evaluate whether Web access made a difference.

One Computer no Net Access

Teachers with Internet access at home but not at school can use off-line browsing programs like Web Buddy or Web Whacker to download the materials needed for studying.  These software create off-line Websites where the pages look identical to the pages on the Web. Afterwards these materials can be stored into CD-ROMs for delivery.

Few Computers

If you have Internet access in your schools, but perhaps lack a sufficient number of computers, you might also try pairing students up for each role (therefore five roles could support ten students). You might also look for access to an online computer lab that might be available for a few class sessions. Also use a combination of the above bulleted strategies to ease the crunch.

       In our study teachers most frequently encountered problem was accomplishing the official curriculum standards. The least problematic was the evaluation of students’ activity. It is remarkable that about 80% of the teachers declared that they hadn’t encountered any problems or they were just scarce and less than 10% of the teachers met some problems very often and almost 20% met them often. Most of the obstacles were related to the use of resources due to the schools Internet connection.

For concluding, as one of our student teachers said: “Webquest is a real challenge for both the teacher and the student and a wonderful setting for authentic learning”

A CHECK LIST OF QUALITY ITEMS OF A WEBQUEST

1. It relies on a well-defined structure that counts on a fixed set of sections or protocol (introduction, task, process, evaluation and conclusion) simple to be  neatly understood and followed by the students

2. It is cross-curricular, yet meeting the curricular standards

3. It makes use of a motivating introduction

4. It proposes realistic and creative activities

5. It requires to acquire, to select and to organize new data

6. It contains a common base of activities and a specialized part based on divided work

7. It offers hints and guidance ("scaffolds") on diverse parts of the process related to cognitive tasks

8. It demands the common agreement on the acquired knowledge to make the final product

9. It is a guided and efficient use of the resources of the Internet and the tools for the access and the data processing

10. It is easily adaptable due to its didactic hints