WebQuests are inquiry-based lessons in which most or all of the content comes from the internet. In general, WebQuests involve group work but can be solo explorations. With a WebQuest, a student or groups of students uses the computer to access activities which may be completely accomplished through virtual means or using a combination of virtual and IRL (in real live) lessons. What differentiates WebQuests from other online activities is that WebQuests are focused on building lessons that draw from real life experiences and higher level thinking skills in order to meet a goal.
Therefore, in order to be a WebQuest the lessons need to share three specific characteristics:
1.) The lessons are classroom-based
2.) The lessons emphasize higher-order thinking skills
3.) The teacher pre-selects the sources so as to emphasize information use versus information gathering.
WebQuests also tend to follow a form that includes an introduction, description of the task, process by which the task will be completed, resources to use, an evaluation for grading, and conclusion or wrap up activity.
WebQuests can be hosted as standard documents (.doc, .pdf, .ppt, etc.) on WebQuest sharing sites or as standalone websites. In some cases WebQuests may merely be saved and accessed from a hard drive and only use the internet for the actual lessons. Some websites offer tools for creating WebQuests but any web hosting site can be adapted to host WebQuests.
The following is an example of a WebQuest produced by myself (Sarah Hsi) and Kris Tina Ackerman.
Elementary Physics
More examples can be found at WebQuest.org, Quest Garden, and zunal.com
Further information on WebQuests can be found in this online workshop from Concepts to Classroom
If anyone has any personal WebQuests they would like to share please link them in the comments section! I would love to see what others have created.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebQuest
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/webquests/