Analysis of Webquests

1. Webquests
Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras con Énfasis en
Inglés
Ambientes Virtuales de aprendizaje

2. Concept
•Webquests are wholistic tasks where
the teacher acts as a curator of
internet information and leads
students through a series of sites
that have been previously verified
and considered useful and supported
in order to learn about a topic and
get to a final product.

3. Characteristics
• Promote autonomous
learning.
• Sequenced
• Interactive
• Multimodal
• Constructive
Webquests are mainly
used to foster students’
critical use of the internet
for learning, their
structure and layout
allow the teacher to
define the adequate
sources to be used and
the way they must be
sequenced.

4. Advantages Disadvantages
Allow students to work at their own
pace and according to their own
interests.
Imply a longer planning period.
Compile different types of formats
and media.
Demand a conscious and judicious
process of data collection for the
teacher.
Allow students to connect
information gathering to a specific
purpose.
Require very clear and complete
instructions.
Gives the teacher control of the types
of sites and sources the students use.
Demand teachers’ clarity on
objectives and process.
Helps develop learning strategies and
an organized sequence of contents.
Can be easily adapted and reutilized.
Lead to real life practical applications
of knowledge.

5. Connections to
language
teaching •Four skills.
•Take advantage of
online sources.
•Production and
comprehension.
•Critical thinking.
From the way they are
constructed, Webquests are
clearly compatible with Task
Based Language learning and
teaching, as they categorize
the different processes for
information collection and
focus on a final task, but allow
for partial products.

6. Discussion questions
• What was the experience of following a Webquest, from a student perspective like?
• What was the most relevant advantage for you to use the Webquest as a
learning tool?
• What part of the process did you find the most difficult in using a Webquest for
learning?
• What uses do you envision for Webquests in your classes?
• How was your experience developing a Webquest?