Technology Integration

Using WebQuests in Adult Education

People used to think that learning was all about gaining information and memorizing facts; but today with information exploding all around us, educators know finding information is not as important as being able to do something with it. Students need to be able to use their learning; and one of the most successful strategies available to teachers, particularly those involved with Adult Education is the use of WebQuests. WebQuests are used in the Even Start program serving teenage mothers in Project Step Up in Beaumont, Texas with amazing success. A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that students interact with comes from resources on the Internet. There are two levels of WebQuests, one is a short term WebQuest to gather and integrate new information into prior knowledge to extend and/or refine student knowledge. The second is a long term WebQuest, in which students analyze a body of knowledge, and apply that information, such as creating something that other students can use, either on-line or off. A long-term WebQuest may take from one week to a month, and a short-term WebQuest may take one class period.

WebQuests are linked to the development and use of thinking skills, one of the lower levels of student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test including the skills of inferring, predicting, summarizing, and analyzing. WebQuests provide opportunities for students to compare, to identify and talk about similarities and differences between information; to classify and group their findings in categories; and to infer generalizations from the gathered information. Students use deductive reasoning to infer unstated consequences and conditions from generalizations, and abstract thinking, in identifying and talking about themes or patterns that they identify in new-found information.

Surfing the Internet without a specific task is rarely productive for students, and in most school settings connect-time on computers must be limited which is another reason WebQuests are useful. Students are given tasks that are "specific and doable," and an introduction sets the stage for learning. For the WebQuest Crool Zone, the teenage mothers were asked to serve as reporters to research the topic of school violence. The Adult Education teacher said, "Students, Dr. Thomas, the School Superintendent has asked that we serve as reporters, and write several articles on school violence. He wants the articles by the end of this month, which gives us three class periods. One of the articles will be selected to be included in the BISD newsletter."

This statement set the stage for the WebQuest and provided a task that was "doable and interesting." The teenage mothers brainstormed and identified these questions:

Does watching TV cause people to be violent?

Do school crimes happen in all schools, large ones and small ones?

Are metal detectors helping to prevent problems in schools?

Is bullying part of violence?

How much of a problem do we have in Beaumont, in our community?

The students were then introduced to the WebQuest Crool Zone, and reminded that the Internet is a marvelous source of information, but they needed to develop the ability to read between the lines. Questions from the Crool Zone evaluation rubric were discussed to excite the students about their search. They were encouraged to focus on thinking and learning, not just copying or pasting. Two questions from the Crool Zone rubric initiated their search:

What accounts for 20% of all deaths in the 10-24 age group?

What seems to be the best explanation for the decrease in guns in school?

After some lively discussion, the students worked in small groups of two (dyads) to explore the subject sampler on school safety issues that focused on school violence. They were asked to reflect on: What does the subject have to do with me? The links to web sites included Colorado Shooting-A Photo Journal; School Shootings Interactive Map; Comments on School Violence; Burn the Schools-Save the Children; Fighting Back at School; Alternatives in Education-links; and Candidate George W. Bush on Education. Each dyad chose the link or links they wanted to explore, and used the evaluation rubric that the WebQuest provided to explore the link. The evaluation rubric asked the students to skim the information; to choose or select one aspect that they found interesting; to apply the information by giving examples of how the information could be used; what action they could take; and to reflect on their feelings and to relate it to themselves.

The students enjoyed the personal nature of questions such as Which points seem most important to you? and What would you do to improve the situation? Crool Zones involved the students in a detailed analysis of the issue of school violence, and supported a group process of interaction. This positive social involvement became an asset in promoting nonviolence in the schools. Most important, the WebQuest offered the teenage mothers an opportunity to further develop their computer skills and higher level thinking skills to impact their school achievement.

The teenage mothers in BISD wrote articles using the information they discovered, and one article was included in the BISD newsletter. They identified people to invite as guest speakers, particularly the Director of a Women's Shelter. The use of WebQuests increased their motivation to learn. The teenage mothers were particularly interested in what parents can do to help their children to avoid becoming troubled teens; and the importance of talking with their children to shape their attitudes, knowledge and behavior while they are still open to positive influences. Many of the teenage mothers indicated that no one had talked to them or asked them questions. The students became more self-reflective, and as one young teenage mother said, "I had no idea how serious the problem of school violence was, and how easy the access to weapons is."

A WebQuest can be created in a single subject, or integrated with other subjects, as the School Violence WebQuest integrated Language Arts and Social Studies. The Catalog of Catalogs of Web Sites is helpful, as it lists starting points for exploration in different subject areas. The first step in creating a WebQuest is for the teacher and the students to identify topics of interest that fit into the curriculum; then identify a task that is doable and interesting, with an end product to be implemented in the real world; and then a setting or introductory quest can be introduced to provide the search a reality base. After the topic is identified, the students brainstorm questions, and began their search. The end product can be a document to be shared with a real audience, a debate that the students organize, or a WebQuest with resources for other students. WebQuests help develop the technology competencies of both Adult Educators and students, and these competencies can be used to research and solve problems, which is a highly desirable workplace skill.

Dodge, B. (Modified by Byles, B. & Brooks, S.) (200l). A WebQuest about WebQuests. Available (retrieved March l, 2003): http://www.memphisschools.k12.tn.us/admin/tlapages/wq_wq2.htm.

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Dr. Sisk, Conn Chair for Gifted Education, Professor at Lamar University received her Ed.D. in Education Psychology from the University of California. She is author of Creative Teaching of the Gifted and co-author of several other books.