Creating a WebQuest Web Site with Tripod Templates

Creating a WebQuest
with FrontPage

(based on the templates provided at the WebQuest site http://webquest.sdsu.edu/LessonTemplate.html, adapted by Christine Bauer-Ramazani for her teacher training course, GSL520: Computer-Assisted Language Learning Online)

As you have read in the articles by WebQuest creators Bernie Dodge and Tom Marsh and have seen in many examples, a WebQuest follows a particular format. You will need to follow this format on your WebQuest Web Site. To build your WebQuest Web Site, you will need the information from your CALL Lesson Plan for a WebQuest--the one you created in collaboration with a partner. You will now implement the lesson itself as a real WebQuest that anybody (teachers, students) can use on the Web. Here are the steps to follow.

1. Access the WebQuest templates at http://webquest.sdsu.edu/LessonTemplate.html and choose a format you like by clicking on the icon; then download the templates to your hard drive (make sure you note the location!). In order to understand what is in the pages and files that you downloaded, you need to go to the WebQuest Anatomy Page; please print out the information. Next, locate the files you downloaded in the mywebquest folder and review the images, myfiles, and navbarimages in their respective folders. Then look at the WebQuest Design Map in the mywebquest/myfiles folder. It shows you all of the pages you have downloaded and how they interrelate. Use this as a guide for constructing your WebQuest pages.

Your download includes the necessary pages for your WebQuest. These components are the Index or Cover page, Introduction, Teachers Quest/Task, Process, Evaluation, Conclusion, and Credits and References. You will now receive information on what to put on each page. At the bottom of each page, please make a link to the next page in the process, either by stating the title of the next page, or by writing Next and linking to the next page in the process. You may also use the navigation buttons provided in the download. For example, at the bottom of the cover page for your WebQuest, type Teacher Page or Next and link the text to the Teachers page.

Good sample WebQuests for ESL:

The Copacabana Restaurant: A Foodquest for Intermediate and Advanced Students of EFL (by Barbara Dieu)
What's New at Our Zoo? A Science WebQuest for 5th/6th Grade Intermediate English Language Learners, by Sheryl Dunn, Susanna Mason, and Jen Harvey
Vermont Housing for International Students--A WebQuest for Intermediate Level International Students at the college level, by Rattiya (Jane) Panichkul and Hung-che (Ben) Chen.
More ESL WebQuests at http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/webquests.htm and http://call-esl.com/EVO%20CreatingWebQuests/Resourcesforminiworkshop.htm

2. Cover/Index page

This is the first page in your account and should follow this layout. Please copy and paste this into your own Cover page in your WebQuest Web Site.

Put the Title of the Lesson Here

A WebQuest for xth Grade (Put Subject Here)

Put Your Name Here
Put Your E-mail Address Here
Put the course (GSL520: Computer-Assisted Language Learning) here.
Put Saint Michael's College here.

Put some interesting graphic representing the content here.

Put a link here to the next page (Introduction).

Based on a template from The WebQuest Page

3. Teachers

1. The Learners

This is the page to be used for teachers who would like to use your WebQuest with their own class. Describe what the lesson is about.
Include a description of the class (see your CALL Lesson for a WebQuest). Specify native language background, language proficiency level, grade level (middle, elementary, early childhood, etc.), class size, content area (mathematics, language arts, etc), class needs or goals.

2. Preparation

What skills does a teacher need to prepare in order to pull this lesson off? Is it easy enough for a novice teacher? Does it require some experience with directing debates or role plays, for example?
What skills or information do the learners need to have before they can complete the task? Examples include exchanging email addresses of the group members, familiarity with Word (or PowerPoint), the peer review process, effective group work, etc.
Describe what steps/activities need to be carried out before the project can begin. Give clear instructions. If you have identified or prepared guide documents on the Web that cover specific skills needed for this lesson (e.g. how to brainstorm, how to prepare to interview an expert), link them to this section. When preparing activities, consider the different learning styles of your students; see Learning Styles and Learning Style Inventory or The VARK Inventory.

3. Standards and Objectives

Specify the standards and objectives--content, linguistic, computer literacy, social/cultural, and academic--to be met by this WebQuest. List by subject areas (WebQuests should be interdisciplinary projects). State objectives and the expected outcome for each . For K-12 teachers in the U.S., these should be tied to the standards set for each state (use the drop-down menu for the Standards by State--http://www.education-world.com/standards/state/index.shtml). The expected outcome should be performance/achievement-based and measurable through an assessment procedure--see Evaluation below). Look over "The 4 P's of Lesson Planning," with particular focus on the objectives in Preparing a Lesson and the list of Action Verbs for Learning Objectives. Consider the following objectives for ESL/EFL:

Content objectives (please detail with bullets)
Language objectives (ESL/EFL/FL/language arts)
Computer literacy objectives (please detail with bullets)
Cultural/social objectives (please detail with bullets, e.g. work collaboratively)
Academic objectives (please detail with bullets)

4. Introduction

This document should be written with the student as the intended audience. Write a short paragraph here to introduce the activity or lesson to the students, i.e. give some background information. If there is a role or scenario involved (e.g., "You are a detective trying to identify the mysterious poet."), then here is where you'll set the stage. If there's no motivational intro like that, use this section to provide a short advance organizer or overview. Remember that the purpose of this section is to both prepare and hook the reader. Include some warm-up activities.

It is also in this section that you'll communicate the Big Question (Essential Question, Guiding Question) that the whole WebQuest is centered around.

	If your WebQuest is about a place, include some general information, a picture, and/or audio files.
	If it is about a person, describe something about the person that gives general background to the students.
	If you are creating a scenario with opposing points of view, describe the views briefly.

5. Quest/Task

Describe crisply and clearly what the end result of the learners' activities will be. The task could be a:

problem or mystery to be solved;

position to be formulated and defended;

product to be designed;

complexity to be analyzed;

personal insight to be articulated;

summary to be created;

persuasive message or journalistic account to be crafted;

a creative work, or

anything that requires the learners to process and transform the information they've gathered.

If the final product involves using some tool (e.g. a word processor, e-mail, PowerPoint, the Web, video), mention it here. Don't list the steps that students will go through to get to the end point. That belongs in the Process section.

To accomplish the task, what steps should the learners go through? Use the numbered list format in your web editor to number the steps in the procedure automatically. Describing this section well will help other teachers see how your lesson flows and how they might adapt it for their own use, so the more detail and care you put into this, the better. Remember that this whole document is addressed to the student, however, so describe the steps using the second person.

First you'll be assigned to a team of 3 or more students...
Once you've picked a role to play....
... and so on.

What are the guiding questions that students need to keep in mind in order to accomplish their task? What is the task that the student(s) must undertake? Why is the job necessary? What are the circumstances surrounding the task or the question that may cause conflict? What led up to this circumstance? Is there more than one way of looking at this. Can you see conflicting roles for people--such as environmentalist and industrialist?

You should briefly outline for student(s) what they are expected to learn. For example: Despite the known risks of space flight should the elderly be encouraged to make space shuttle flights for the sake of gaining potentially beneficial medical knowledge?

NOTE: Consult the WebQuest Taskonomy: A Taxonomy of Tasks-- http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/taskonomy.html for suggestions, descriptions, and examples of tasks.

Roles: A good WebQuest generates some tension or conflict that must be resolved so you should try to develop three or more roles. Remember that you want this to be a collaborative activity for students. Explain that students who have similar roles may work together to compare ideas based on the factual information they have collected, or that students may continue to pursue their role individually until the conflict generated by the original guiding question(s) forces them to resolve the issue with the entire group. Note: You may want to dedicate a separate page for each Person/Role, but don't forget to link to each one. Learners will access the on-line resources that you've identifed as they go through the Quest/Task. You may have a set of links that everyone looks at as a way of developing background information, or not. If you break learners into groups, embed the links that each group will look at within the description of that stage of the process.

Person 1

Person 2

Person 3

Person 4

6. Process

	In this part, students will be asked to accomplish what was stated in the objectives. This must be done through carefully scaffolded activities, which may be handouts, exercises, links, etc. Consult the Process Guides for suggestions and steps of processes to include in the WebQuest. Use the Process Checklist to make sure you are including what you need.
	Organization: Describe briefly how the lesson is organized. Does it involve more than one class? Is it all taught in one period per day, or is it part of several periods? How many days or weeks will it take? Is it single disciplinary, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary or what?
	Activities: Describe the activities for each part of the process (i.e. each day), giving clear instructions and links to resources, worksheets/handouts, etc. If students are divided into groups, provide guidelines on how you might do that.
	If there are misconceptions or stumbling blocks that you anticipate, describe them here and suggest ways to get around them.
	Variations: If you can think of ways to vary the way the lesson might be carried out in different situations (lab vs. in-class, for example), describe them here.
	Describe what steps/activities need to be carried out before the project can begin. Give clear instructions. If you have identified or prepared guide documents on the Web that cover specific skills needed for this lesson (e.g. how to brainstorm, how to prepare to interview an expert), link them to this section.
	Group work: Once the students have understood their roles and investigated the background material necessary to make informed decisions, then it is time for them to come together as a group and to discuss the issue(s). Group work should result in a consensus document or presentation.
	Give the students directions on this group work.
	Roles: Be sure that they understand that their role may place them in conflict with another person's role. How should they resolve this conflict? What overall idea should they keep in mind that will allow them to compromise? Is there a greater good?

Resources (Equipment/Materials)/Media: Describe what's needed to implement this lesson. Some of the possibilities:

Computer needs (software, hardware)
Other equipment/classroom materials
Handouts/worksheets (electronic files)/exercises/guiding questions

Specific hardware (what kind? How many?--e.g. computers, color printer or other peripherals--scanner, digital camera, web cam, etc.)
Specific software (What kind? How many copies?)
E-mail accounts for all students
Books
handouts/worksheets (guiding questions, exercises)
- Graphic Organizers, especially Goal-Setting Worksheet
- Language Arts Activity Sheets (& other subject resources)
- Printables and Worksheets (for elementary/middle grades)
- My Course Materials > see Academic English Program & Intensive English Program
electronic files
web sites
Specific reference material in the classroom or school library
Video or audio materials
classroom/Online Encyclopedias and/or Dictionaries (see the Online Dictionary/Encyclopedia section in Christine's Links to Useful TESL/CALL Web Sites)
library resources

Note: If the lesson makes extensive use of specific websites, it would be appropriate to list, describe, and link them here. It would also be helpful to link the names of books suggested to Amazon or other online sources.

Describe also the human resources needed. how many teachers are needed to implement the lesson. Is one enough? Do you need to coordinate with a teacher at another school? With a partner in industry or a museum or other entity? Is a field trip designed in as part of the lesson?

Outcome: Provide options for how students may present their information to the group. Here are some ideas:

	Flowcharts		Brochure/newsletter
	Multimedia Presentations		Written piece--summary, essay, paper
	Debates		Concept Maps/Venn Diagrams
	Web Site/Page		Summary Tables

7. Evaluation

Specify

what will be evaluated (Outcome). This must be tied to the objectives and standards above
how students will be evaluated, i.e. what measurements will be used (quiz, presentation, performance rubric, individual assessment, peer review, collaboration, etc.)

Provide students with a clear understanding of the grading criteria which will be used to evaluate their learning as well as their performance. Include an evaluation of each of the objectives you stated.

Provide links to online rubrics which will allow students to know upfront what grading criteria will be used. Make sure you assess all of the components of your students' learning specified in the objectives. Examples of rubrics to choose from can be found here:

PALS: Performance Assessment for Language Students (for speaking and writing at different levels)
TeAchnology
Assessment--Individual/Specific Rubrics Online (scroll to the bottom)
Teacher-Created Rubrics for Assessment
Kathy Schrock's list of Web Page Rubrics and General Rubrics
The Rubrics Page
Examples of Rubrics for Classroom Teachers.

See also Creating a Rubric for a Given Task and Designing Scoring Rubrics for Your Classroom (Mertler, 2001).
For various types of assessment, see Teaching Tips--Assessment.

OR Create an online rubric with RubiStar or TeAchnology's Rubric Makers.

Include a phrase such as, "Please click here to review the criteria on which your individual grade will be based."

"You will also receive a collaborative grade. Please click here to review the criteria which will determine you collaborative grade."

Explain how the grades will be counted or averaged.

8. Conclusion

Put a couple of sentences here that summarize what they will have accomplished or learned by completing this activity or lesson. You might also include some rhetorical questions or additional links to encourage them to extend their thinking into other content beyond this lesson.

Explain to students how the conclusion will offer the opportunity to engage in further analysis. For example:

	Ask students how their roles could have been interpreted in a different light?
	Ask students if they had interpreted their roles differently, how might the outcome have changed?
	Ask students if they were flexible enough to compromise with the group and attain resolution, or did they yield to group pressures?
	Ask students what new questions did the issue(s) generate? Why would these new questions be important in answering the original question(s)?
	Include follow-up activities, such as homework assignments (in-class, out-of-class, individual, collaborative)
	Discuss any problems technical, learner, language, group) that could be anticipated and provide possible solutions. Please see "The 4 P's of Lesson Planning, Potential Problems and Pitfalls.

9. Credits and References

	List here the sources of any images, music or text that you're using. Provide links back to the original source. Say thanks to anyone who provided resources or help. Follow Copyright laws. See the TEACH Toolkit--An Online Resource for Understanding Copyright and Distance Education
	List any books and other analog media that you used as information sources as well.
	Include a link back to The WebQuest Page so that others can acquire the latest version of this template and training materials.