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Article Excerpt
Teachers in all academic disciplines face increasing expectations to integrate technological applications into their lessons. These applications can be used to supplement face-to-face instruction or as stand-alone learning modules. Either way, technological applications can facilitate student-centered, inquiry-based instructional approaches.
Currently, physical educators have a number of options for integrating technology into their classes. These options include heart rate monitors and the associated analysis software, physical fitness software such as Fitnessgram, handheld personal computers for management and assessment tasks, and devices like DigiWalkers for tracking students' physical activity. Another option for physical educators is the webquest, which provides opportunities for students to learn online. This article describes the nature of webquests, the design features that differentiate various types of webquests, the steps in webquest design, and examples of physical education webquests for different grade levels. An overview of webquest technology application and several resources for teachers and students interested in creating webquests can be found on The WebQuest Page (Dodge, n.d.). Table 1 lists web sites that have many of these resources.
What Is a Webquest?
A webquest is a structured, online learning activity. Webquests provide inquiry-based activities that require learners to interact with internet resources. Because "there is questionable educational benefit in having learners surfing the net without a clear task in mind, and most schools must ration student connect time severely," webquests are structured with a consistent set of components (Dodge, 1997, para. 1). The six components of a webquest are (1) an introduction that is designed to capture student interest; (2) a description of the task(s) that learners will complete; (3) the process, broken into steps that learners follow to accomplish the task(s); (4) the information sources needed to complete the task(s); (5) an evaluation that informs students of how their work will be graded (often in rubric form); and (6) a conclusion.
Usually the task requires students to develop a product that can be presented publicly. For example, students could develop a poster of safety guidelines for an inline skating unit or a handbook with rules, practice drills, and plays for a basketball unit. Information sources can be web-based documents, experts who can be contacted via email or real-time conferencing, databases that are searchable on the Internet, or books and other resources that are physically available to the learner. Designating the resources for learners eliminates aimless wandering through webspace and provides focus for resource uses. The guidelines provided to assist in the organization of information can take various forms, such as guiding questions or directions for developing timelines, concept maps, or cause-and-effect diagrams (Clarke, 1990; Marzano, 1992; Marzano et al., 1988). The conclusion serves the same purpose as a lesson closure. It can be used to review or summarize what students have learned, encourage additional learning, or set the stage for future webquests.
There are two types of webquests: short-term and long-term. Short-term webquests are designed to be completed in one to three class periods for the purpose of knowledge acquisition and integration. For example, a short-term webquest could be used if students are learning about fitness concepts. Long-term webquests may take from one week to one month to complete, and they require learners to analyze a body of information, transform it, and show their understanding of it by creating something that others respond to, either online or offline. For example, high school students may create a poster with physical activity safety guidelines for elementary students to follow in physical education class.
Either type of webquest can be implemented in physical education settings without interfering too much with physical activity time. By their very nature, short-term webquests would not replace too much activity time, and they could be assigned as homework to be completed outside of class. Teaming with other teachers and using long-term webquests as a means of cross-disciplinary integration is another way to avoid conflicts with student activity time. Both types of webquests can also serve as alternative learning activities for students who are temporarily unable to participate in physical activity due to medical or other reasons.
Creating a Webquest
A six-step process for creating webquests appears...
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