A New Way to Design a Course: Webquest

A WebQuest is an  format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. These can be created using various programs, including a simple word processingdocument that includes links to websites.

“Web" is the meaning of the Internet while “Quest” is the meaning of 'seeking' or 'surveying', and WebQuest is a learning-oriented and inquiry-oriented activity in which students' activities are often centred around one topic. The information that interacts with students all comes from resources on the Internet, so we can call it "web thematic survey" or "web thematic inquiry."

The biggest advantage of the WebQuest form is that you can clearly set up a learning process, focusing on network resources purposefully and enhance the effectiveness of reading instruction. 

This is a good example of webquest. A well designed Webquest usually contains 6 parts: introduction, task, process, evaluation, conclusion and credits.

Introduction: the purpose of introduction is to let students know what will be learned and arise students' interest in learning.

Task: a good webquest should first of all has a relatively clear task. This task can not be too general nor too specific. It can provide a few directions for students to refer. Students can choose their own problems and develop their problems.

Process: The design of a process should be a good guide to student activities, For example, the process of completing a task can be divided into several steps of “before investigation" and "after investigation ". At each step, a short and clear proposal is made to encourage the students to use this as a basis principle.

Recourses: The Internet provides a great deal of information, because of its large amount of information and complex dimensions, students may easily get lost in learning. Teachers are ought to firstly understand the online resources and integrate some useful websites into the "Resources" section. Students can even use other methods such as reading newspapers, investigating and interviewing, or watching TV videos to obtain relevant information.

Evaluation: The research course uses a "focus more on process than conclusion" approach. I designed an evaluation form to examine different aspects of a student's work (process, result, attitude, emotion, etc.).

Conclusion: The WebQuest “conclusions” section provides an opportunity to summarize experiences like what you have learned and encourage learners to expand their experience in other areas. The Conclusions section can also raise many related questions about the content of a combined topic, triggering further thought on the part of the student and facilitating their knowledge of the specialized course.

limitations:

Webquest is good enough, but it requires much more time to get familar to it and teachers may not be willing to devote such long time. 

All in all, throughout the webquest activity, students are the priority, they not only receive knowledge, but also learn the methods, processes and means of learning and research. Teachers are navigators of information, mentors of learning processes. However, the implementation of this subject in China is still just in its infancy, for further exploration, some issues need further tracking and considering.