"Do not go where the path leads;
Rather, go where there is no path and leave a trail."
-Emerson

Can it actually be seven years since Bernie Dodge first presented his idea for a Web-based problem solving model that promoted collaboration and higher-level thinking? Amazingly it has. Along the way many practitioners have dabbled in WebQuests, some more successfully than others. The best Quests have always stuck closely to Dodge's original formula for WebQuest design, and these are the kinds of Quests I sought to identify for you here. Quests are not scavenger hunts or scrap books or virtual versions of worksheets. They are so much more than these. The collections I offer you today will add to your cache of teaching resources by volumes.

I opted not to include the old faithful "how to" sites and definitive collections of the past in the hopes of offering you some new resources you may not have been aware of. As teachers you are busy enough and these sites don't ask you to reinvent the wheel. Just find what approximates your needs and adapt it to your classroom. To find other noteworthy WebQuest resources check out my WebQuest page at http://surfaquarium.com/webquest.htm and the previous WebQuest edition of the newsletter at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Innovative-Teaching/message/247.

You can save a Quest page to your hard drive and then open it up in Word, Composer or your favorite html editor to modify it for your students. Just be sure to email the creator of the Quest and get permission to use their work. Not to worry - these Quests are housed online to share the wealth - these educators will be gratified that you like their work enough to make use of it in your own room! Thanks to Jerry B for his recommendations on the topic. Enjoy!

 

Berks County, Pennsylvania - http://www.berksiu.k12.pa.us/webquest/default.htm

One of the more long-standing collections online and one of the more spruced-up sites, Berks County now boasts some one-hundred Quests divided into fifteen subject area categories such as Business, Careers, Foreign Language, Math, Music, Science and Social Studies. While some categories have few titles to suggest, it still makes for efficient browsing of a sizable collection. These educators also stick closely to Dodge's format, making for quality Quests.

Catawba County, North Carolina - http://www.catawba.k12.nc.us/webquest/

Here's fifty teacher-created WebQuests (with more promised to be coming soon) made through the TechTraC program. Quests are listed with grade level indicators and there are some imaginative approaches here: Surfing with Dr. Seuss, Catch March Madness, This Bod's for You and Something's "Phishy" in NC Waters speak well for the collection. These pages are very nicely formatted; if the presentation of your content is important to you, then this may be the place to begin looking.

Conn Global Communications Elementary School - http://connes.wcpss.net/WebQuest/

Imagine one K-5 school that showcases forty - count 'em - forty-one WebQuests! Conn breaks them down by individual grade levels, and while K-3 has fewer to claim as their own, fourth and fifth grades more than make up for it. K Rozar has her own page of a variety of Quests and there's even two WebQuests for parents covering emergent reading and inappropriate behaviors in the classroom. The nice thing about the design of this page is that it's easy to find appropriate Quests for each audience.

Florida State English Education WebQuests - http://www.fsu.edu/~CandI/ENGLISH/web.htm

David Medicus and colleagues present this collection of sixty-nine WebQuests all built by students at the college of education at Florida State. They are broken down into secondary and elementary titles, and they are annotated to let you know what the focus of each Quest is. Titles include The Chocolate War, Stellaluna, Lord of the Flies, The Scarlet Letter, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and twelfth Night.

Guilford County, North Carolina - http://its.guilford.k12.nc.us/webquests/

Here's a collection of teacher-generated WebQuests that are broken down with more granularity than most: Grades K-2, 3, 4, 5, 6-8 and 9-12. The descriptive annotations of each title help to save you time and give you an idea of what is of value to you. Any support materials and activity sheets needed to complete these Quests are embedded right in the web pages. You'll find the topics here are straightforward and easily adaptable to any state curriculum.

Instructional Technology Services of Central Ohio - http://www.itsco.org/webquest/gallery.html

This page was so slick in its presentation I really did some digging to make sure it had some substance to offer.....and it did! Here are thirty plus Quests made by educators taking the WebQuest class offered by ITSCO. The instructional quality is consistently high and the occasional formatting issue is a gentle reminder that these are created by real educators learning right along with us. There's a nice emphasis on the assessment component and range of topics makes it a pleasure to peruse.

Jackie Carrigan's Graduate Class WebQuests - http://www.plainfield.k12.in.us/hschool/webquest.htm

Jackie's grad students complete these Quests as part of their course work and she showcases them here online to share with the rest of us. You can view the collection by subject area or grade level, with more than one-hundred different Quests catalogued here. Some of the catchier titles include Should Students Wear School Uniforms?, What event has had the biggest impact on technology and Let's Move the United States Capitol.

Memphis City, Tennessee - http://www.memphis-schools.k12.tn.us/admin/tlapages/web_que.htm

You'll find eighty WebQuests here developed by Memphis City Schools' talented teachers, sorted by grade levels and listed alphabetically. Faithfully following the Dodge format, these Quests run the gamut from standard topics found in all curricula to original treatment of unique content. Consider these titles: My Life as a Shark, Rumble On The River, Booker T vs W.E.B. and Will that Volcano Spoil Our Party?

New Mexico State University - http://education.nmsu.edu/webquest/examples.html

Carmen Gonzales and students in the Learning Technologies Program at New Mexico State University put together this collection of sixty plus WebQuests presented in a matrix of subject area and grade level to help you pinpoint those Quests which are best suited for your students. Several of the Quests are presented in both English and Spanish (In Search of Our Roots, El Camino Real: Back to the Future, Yerbas y Remedios: A New Look) and there's an occasional dead link. Overall this site is worth your consideration.

Spartanburg, South Carolina - http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuests.html

These district 3 educators have put together a collection of home grown WebQuests that include a lot of support materials, theoretical and practical considerations, assessments and links to other WebQuest collections around the Web. Some intriguing titles include In the Eye of the Storm, Impressionism, The Love Canal Debate and For Love of the Game?

Stonewall Traditional Elementary - http://www.stonewall.fayette.k12.ky.us/wq/wq.htm

This Quest collection from Lexington, Kentucky is an alchemy of original WebQuests and links to other high quality Quests developed by educators from around the world. The common denominator is quality, as this collection faithfully subscribes to Dodge's formula and offers a nice array of choices from K -5. And while the K activities may not be true Quests, they still give you ideas for using technology in the classroom. If you're a primary teacher looking for age-approrpiate tasks online this is a good place to start.

University of Richmond - http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/as/education/projects/webquests.html

Richmond students showcase eighty-four WebQuests here, presented in categories of Art and English, Foreign Language and Social Studies and Math and Science. Each Quest is labeled with an intended grade level, an indication of when it was last revised, and markers for new Quests recently added. Titles include are Restoring the Nike, Rewriting Wuthering Heights, Put Words in My Mouth, Murder in the Tropics and Dolphin-Safe Tuna?

Yorkville, Illinois Community School District - http://www.yorkville.k12.il.us/webquests/webquests.htm

Yorkville offers sixty WebQuests for your consideration, listed by grade level and annotated to give you an idea of what each has to offer. Titles include A Quest for Respect with The Grouchy Ladybug, Be a Good Citizen with Miss Rumphius, The Colonial Antique Road Show, Plastics By the Number, Using the Number "e" for Population Growth Analysis and Travels with Forrest Gump - Creating a commemorative magazine.

 

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Next week's topic: "Backward Design"

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