A WebQuest HELO
Higher education Expanded Learning Opportunities (HELO)
An inquiry into resources in higher education 
that demonstrate best practices in using technology 
to create better learning environments

A Workshop Sponsored by
The Murdock Foundation
The Berglund Center For Internet Studies
Pacific University

Led by Dr. Mike Charles
Pacific University
charlesm@pacificu.edu

(insert an image here related to the webquest)

 Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits

Introduction

Many of us have been to different presentations which herald the new learning opportunities offered by information technology.  What is less common is a thorough description of the particulars of just how interactive technological tools are used by capable faculty in a variety of disciplines to expand the learning opportunities of their students. In this WebQuest we will attempt to do just that.

Specifically, the WebQuest will address two questions: What are some ways that technology is being used by higher education faculty to provide expanded learning opportunities for their students? And having viewed some of these exemplary uses, what might I want to consider trying with my students? 

Bernie Dodge has described WebQuests as "an inquiry oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learner's time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation." (http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/overview.htm). WebQuests were developed by Bernie Dodge and Tom March at San Diego State University and enjoy widespread use in K-12 schools. The WebQuest Page serves as an excellent resource for those who want to know more about using and designing WebQuests. Of particular note is the excellent collection of sample Webquests, including over 100 intended for adult learners.
 

By the time we are done with this WebQuest, I would hope to help you accomplish a couple of things:

• Consider 10 different kinds of learning activities that use technology across different disciplines.
• Select from among those different kinds of learning activities some that you want to explore in greater depth.
• Synthesize your understanding of these tool as you create a plan to integrate them into your own work.
• Become familiar with WebQuests as a way to structure web-based learning experiences.

1. Begin by finding one or two other people to work with on this project. They might be from a similar department or program. You will work together to produce an MS Word document with the following three things by the end of our time:

• A list of links to sample learning activities that you will spend time exploring further on your own
• A sketch of the kind of learning activity/resources you might want to begin creating for your own students
• A list of the things you might need to learn in order to create these learning activities

2. While you are exploring these sites together, discuss your ideas about the resources with your colleagues. Consider the question of which kind of learning activity is most appealing to you, and why. What is the "value added" to your students learning experiences from each of the different kinds of learning activities. How applicable would these kinds of activities be for use with your students? What new technical skills will you need to learn to begin creating some of these opportunities for your students? 

This website and its resources will remain available at this URL for you to reference in the future if you find it helpful in charting your own professional development in using some of these teaching/learning activities.

1. Find someone in the room with whom you have some common curricular interest or background.

2. Open a Word document on your computers. Name it and save it to the desktop of your computer. While you are working, save frequently in case your computer crashes while you are out exploring on the Web.

3. For this WebQuest we are going to focus our attention on one site: The teaching/learning activities listed at the University of Maryland University College/Verizon Virtual Resources site. You might want to open that site in a second window on your browser as I highlight some of the unique aspects of this site.

First you will note that this site is organized around 10 different kinds teaching/learning activities:

1. Conceptual Learning
Ideas, theories, principles of information systems, bodies of knowledge 
Note: corrected URL for The Building of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

2. Problem Solving
Deductive powers, inferential reasoning, testing assumptions, decision making 
Note: URL for Genetics Science Learning Center--authors of The Farmer's Bones

3. Object and Document Analysis
Contextualization and interpretation using texts, documents, pictures, objects 

4. Data Gathering and Synthesis
Research skills, methodology, evaluation and reporting, quantification 

5. Case Studies
Evaluation of systems by observing and analyzing simulated situations or processes 

6. Virtual Labs and Field Trips
Testing and evaluating information through experiments and in situ examination 
Note: Revised URL for "How to Calculate Biodiversity."

7. Presentations by Teachers
Demonstrations, overviews, framing, setting forth of key information or salient points 
Note: Revised URL for Economics link

8. Presentations by Students
Production or performance of representative knowledge by students
Note: Revised URL for "What is Culture?" 

9. Collaborative Learning
Sharing knowledge, collective decision making, forming learning communities
Note: Revised URL for Creighton University's Virtual Museums--link for museums and social science

10. Authentic Inquiry
Learner as practitioner, connecting theory to practice, taking responsibility for knowledge

One of the first things you may notice is that these are NOT lists of possible technological tools; instead these are lists of possible teaching and learning activities that have been done successfully with higher education students across many different disciplines. The emphasis in this kind of an organizational scheme is on better teaching and learning, and not on "cool" technological tools as an end in themselves. 

However, to consider using these teaching/learning activities with their students, one does have to learn some new technological tools. To that end the designers of this website have also created a second organizational scheme--one that sorts by the kind of technological tool employed. Make sure you take a look at this resource as well. You will note that each of these different technological tools has been rated, denoting its relative level of complexity.

For this WebQuest, I haven't designed a formal rubric for evaluation of your work. Instead I am asking you to print or email me a copy of the MS Word document that you create in this workshop so I can get a sense of which of these exemplars was of interest to you.

WebQuests generally include the use of a rubric that describes how the final product will be evaluated. Below is an example of a rubric template that can be filled out to specify the important features of that product and can be used as a means for evaluating student work.
 

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Stated Objective or Performance	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting the highest level of performance.
Stated Objective or Performance	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting the highest level of performance.
Stated Objective or Performance	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting the highest level of performance.
Stated Objective or Performance	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting the highest level of performance.
Stated Objective or Performance	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting the highest level of performance.

 

Conclusion

This might be a good time to assess how close we came in this time to achieving the goals we set out to accomplish. Remember that those were:

• Get an overview of 10 different kinds of learning activities that use technology across different disciplines.
• Select from among those different kinds of learning activities some that you want to explore in greater depth.
• Synthesize your understanding of these tool as you create a plan to integrate them into your own work.
• Become familiar with WebQuests as a way to structure web-based learning experiences.

This WebQuest is closely based on a similar WebQuest designed by Dr. Mark Bailey at Pacific University and available at http://education.ed.pacificu.edu/cascade/workshop/

The Web Quest page with many examples of WebQuests as well as resources for using and designing your own WebQuest can be found at http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest.html

One thing that I wish the UMUC website also contained was a link from their tools pages to tutorials for each of those tools. Here are some good tutorial links for learning some of the tools of MS Office:

MS Word (with an emphasis on some of its more advanced features such as hyperlinking)

MS PowerPoint

MS Excel

MS Front Page