WebQuest Evaluation – CEP811

Mary M. Gebbia-Portice
CEP 811, Second Summer Session, 2010
July 12, 2010

WebQuest Evaluation

Note: The following is an evaluation of a publicly available WebQuest and represents only the opinions of the evaluator.

WebQuest: "Blue Skies All the Way to Japan: A WebQuest for the Purpose of Experiencing a WebQuest"; http://www.emints.org/xmodres/addresources/japanwebquest/

WQ Author: Michelle Kendrick, eMINTS National Center staff
(Enhancing Missouri's Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies; www.emints.org )

Evaluator: Mary Gebbia-Portice, Educational Technology Graduate Student,
Michigan State University

Synopsis: The purpose of this WebQuest is to teach educators and other adult learners about WebQuests. The subject matter is presented in a simple, clear and concise manner with the purpose of educating the user about WebQuests as well as about teamwork and problem-solving. The scenario presented is that of an individual competing for a job at the fictitious Blue Skies Advertising Agency, and is entitled "Blue Skies All the Way to Japan: A WebQuest for the Purpose of Experiencing a WebQuest".

Pedagogy: The primary pedagogical strategy employed in this WebQuest is simulation and problem-solving. Learners are actually interacting directly with the technology that they are to learn (WebQuests). Though the WebQuest appears to be about landing a job in an advertising agency, the creator of the WebQuest tells us in the conclusion: "You might have learned a little about Japan, PowerPoint, and poetry. But I truly hoped you learned about a WebQuest and what it might be like for your students when they work on a WebQuest". In addition, the learner is also receiving help using the pedagogical strategy of scaffolding throughout the learning process. The WebQuest itself is a scaffold that guides the student through the lesson in a very clear and concise manner. The actual subject matter in the WebQuest is somewhat irrelevant but for this WebQuest, the subject matter also allowed the use of collaborative learning, role play, and discussion as additional pedagogical strategies. This WebQuest has the learner first choosing one of three roles in a small group, then working in large groups in these individual roles, and then returning to the original group of three to discuss what was learned in the large groups. This WebQuest is very effective in achieving its goal of educating adult learners about WebQuests in general because of the use of multiple pedagogical strategies, the clear and concise manner in which the material is presented and the simple and attractive interface that keeps the learner engaged.

Technology: This WebQuest makes good use of technology to educate the adult learner about the technology and pedagogy of WebQuests. The author could have used additional interactive technologies throughout the WebQuest such as video or audio clips; however, additional multimedia may have distracted the learner from the actual lesson. The purpose of the WebQuest was not to showcase internet or even interactive technology. The purpose of the WebQuest was to demonstrate a WebQuest. I believe that the author was very successful in achieving this purpose without cluttering the lesson with unnecessary "fluff". I also believe that the lesson could not have been taught as effectively by just lecturing to the class or writing up an explanation of a WebQuest. I am actually a good example of this statement because in order to complete this evaluation, I spent many hours exploring individual WebQuests and reading definitions and explanations of WebQuests without coming to a clear understanding of what they really are. It wasn't until I went through the WebQuest described here that I actually understood and that the concept of a WebQuest actually clicked. I'm somewhat surprised that there was such variability in the quality and design of WebQuests to the point that I could not even understand the concept until I stumbled upon such a clear, concise and interactive lesson.

Mechanics: For the most part, this WebQuest functions quite well with minimal technical glitches. All links are active, but the pictures on one of the links do not appear without additional action by the learner. The website with picture malfunctions is located at the following link: http://www.outdoorjapan.com/areaguides/prefecturehokkaido.html. In addition, there are no links back to the main page of the WebQuest. There are links back to the introduction page, but not to the primary, or index, page itself. Finally, it is difficult to tell if the author needed to provide credits to others or not. The only additional material on the WebQuest was the links to other sites, so I did not see any information that looked like it needed to be credited to additional authors. Other than the minor problems listed, the rest of the WebQuest worked very well and I was impressed that the links were kept up to date and that the evaluation rubric was so well detailed and thought out. Overall, this was an excellent WebQuest and achieved its purpose easily by walking the learner through a clear, easy-flowing and uncluttered example of a WebQuest.

Changes: The only suggestions I have for improvement of this WebQuest are to correct the mechanical glitches as listed above. For your reference, an additional evaluation of this WebQuest can be found at Tom March's BWQU site (Best WebQuest University): http://bestwebquests.com/bwq/wqdetail.asp?wqcatid=9&edid=6&siteid=122

Previews: Primary or Index Page: http://www.emints.org/xmodres/addresources/japanwebquest/
A portion of the Evaluation Rubric: http://www.emints.org/xmodres/addresources/japanwebquest/evaluation.html