What

**What ** is a WebQuest?

To put it simply, it's a quest that you carry out on the Web. Now that we've taken care of the obvious, let's get more specific. [|WebQuest.Org] explains "A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. The model was developed by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University in February, 1995 with early input from SDSU/Pacific Bell Fellow Tom March" and others.

The creator of the WebQuest searches for Web resources ahead of time, evaluates them, selects only the best ones, and weaves them into the quest. Students spend their time USING the Web instead of SEARCHING the Web.

[|Bernie Dodge (1997) explains that there are at least two levels of WebQuests] that should be distinguished from one another:

Short Term WebQuests
The instructional goal of a short term WebQuest is knowledge acquisition and integration, described as Dimension 2 in Marzano's (1992) Dimensions of Thinking model. At the end of a short term WebQuest, a learner will have grappled with a significant amount of new information and made sense of it. A short-term WebQuest is designed to be completed in one to three class periods.

Longer Term WebQuest
The instructional goal of a longer term WebQuest is what Marzano calls Dimension 3: extending and refining knowledge. After completing a longer term WebQuest, a learner would have analyzed a body of knowledge deeply, transformed it in some way, and demonstrated an understanding of the material by creating something that others can respond to, on-line or off-. A longer term WebQuest will typically take between one week and a month in a classroom setting.

__Reference__ Marzano, R. J. (1992). //A different kind of classroom: Teaching with dimensions of learning//. Alexandria VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.