There seems to be a fair amount of confusion about the definition of a “Webquest.” Bernie Dodge, who originated the model in 1995, described it like this in a comment on this blog last year:

“A critical attribute of a WebQuest is that it engages higher level thinking, the upper part of Bloom’s taxonomy. Things like creativity, analysis, synthesis. judgment…. A WebQuest is also wrapped around a single challenging task, not a sequence of separate activities A WebQuest isn’t a scavenger hunt and it isn’t a worksheet with links.”

Here’s an additional helpful comment Bernie added to this post:

“A WebQuest is centered around a challenging, doable and (ideally) authentic task. Examples of WebQuest tasks might include: writing a letter to the mayor taking a stand on whether a new landfill should be opened; writing a diary as if you were living in 1491; designing a travel itinerary for geologists visiting Italy; or creating a commemorative mural celebrating space exploration. A WebQuest is never about answering a series of questions. Even though a scavenger hunt might require some analysis or problem solving, it’s not of the same intensity of higher level thinking that a good WebQuest entails.

Obviously there’s a place for both WebQuests and scavenger hunts, but they are different places with very different goals.”

I can empathize with his desire to make the distinction clear between a scavenger hunt and a webquest.  As readers know, I was a community organizer for nineteen years before becoming a high school teacher, and I’ve been amazed at what some people will describe as community organizing when, in fact, it’s something far less.  That doesn’t mean it’s bad, just as an Internet Scavenger Hunt isn’t bad.  It’s just better for everybody to keep distinctions clear.

Given that, however, we all live in the real world where ambiguity reigns supreme.  So, for example, I believe that a simple Internet Scavenger Hunt can also include elements of “creativity, analysis, synthesis. judgment” without necessarily being a full-fledged Webquest.  Though I promote a lot of activities in my classroom that encourage higher-level thinking, it’s not unusual for me to quickly put together a scavenger hunt for students to use in the computer lab that functions — more or less — as just a change of pace and another opportunity for small group collaborative learning.  These kind of hunts will often include a few interpretative as well as factual questions.

I’ve divided this “The Best…” list into into a few sections. The first ones include tools to create activities that are more akin to “Internet Scavenger Hunts,” as well as some good examples ones that others have created that are a bit more involved, while the later section is focused on “Webquests.”  The resources I share about scavenger hunts specifically related to English Language Learners, while the Webquest ones are more applicable to all students.

Teachers can use the tools I share in the first section to very quickly put together an accessible group of websites where students can find the answers to a list of factual questions (for example, about the American Civil War) and get some needed background to answer more interpretative ones (If you were the President of the U.S. at the time, how would you have treated the South after the Civil War and why?).

I usually either have a list of questions on a sheet of paper that students need to complete, or have them posted on a class blog where students can then copy and paste them onto a Word document and then print-out, or put it on their own individual blog.

I can design a simple scavenger hunt in about twenty minutes. In addition, and for an even better activity, I have student groups design their own scavenger hunts that they then exchange with other student groups, particularly after they’ve done a few of mine.

You can also find additional resources on my website under Webquests.

TOOLS TO CREATE SIMPLE INTERNET SCAVENGER HUNTS:

There are several simple web applications that teachers can use to easily have a list of websites where students can go to find the answers to specific questions on a scavenger hunt.  The ones I list here are particularly accessible to English Language Learners because they provide screenshots of the websites as well as their url addresses, and they also don’t require a teacher to register to use them, either.  They include:

MINMU: With MinMu, all you do is paste the url addresses of as many webpages as you want into a box (no registration is required), and you are given one url address for all of them. Click on it, and you’re shown a screen that not only shows the links to all of the sites, but also thumbnail images of them.

SQWORL: Sqworl is very, very similar to MinMu.

SHARETABS: ShareTabs also appears very similar to Sqworl and Minmu. I just learned about it from Kim Caise’s blog.

VIEWISTA: Viewista is similar to the last three tools.  One neat feature of Viewista is that it allows various options on how to view the multiple sites, including vertically and through a slideshow mode.

Weblist is similar to the previous four apps.

Bit.ly, the wildly popular application that shortens url addresses, has just introduced “Bit.ly Bundles.” All you have to do is copy and paste several url address into the box on their site, click “Bundle,” and it will give you one url address that shows screenshots and descriptions of each of the url address you pasted in — in one url address. You can add your own descriptions, as well as rearrange their order. The only negative I see is that, in order to use it, you have to actually register with the site (which takes seconds). You don’t have to register if you just want to use their regular shortening service. This kind of feature makes it ideal to create Internet Scavenger Hunts, with teachers listing questions they want teachers to find on each website. It’s similar to other applications on this list that don’t require registration. Bit.ly’s advantage, though, is that it is probably more financially stable than these others and is more likely to stick around.

CITEBITE: Citebite is another tool that is ideal for English Language Learners, especially Beginning and Early Intermediate ones.  It allows you to highlight specific areas of online text and then gives you a specific url linking to what you’ve highlighted.  For example, instead of asking my students to find answers to some questions by reading an entire New York Times article on how immigrants can protect themselves from fraud (which I did last week), I can now highlight specific parts of the article for my high-beginners and early intermediate students to link to.  I could have my more advanced students still link to the entire article without the highlighted parts.  It’s a excellent tool for differentiated instruction.  You can use the url’s of the Citebite excerpts in the previously mentioned tools.

Fur.ly is a new tool that lets you combine multiple links into one.  It’s a little different from others I’ve posted about — they show you visual snapshots of each site that you can then click on one at a time. Fur.ly, on the other hand, shows you the first link in the collection and you can then click on arrows to go review each one.

Filamentality and Jog The Web are two other tools to consider (thanks to A Elloway and Alexis Cuff for the suggestions).

Bag The Web lets you easily collect links to multiple websites into “bags.” You can leave comments on the “bag” and on each individual web link you include. It would be quite easy for a teacher or student to use it for creating an internet scavenger hunt.

Trailmeme lets you create “trails” with notes and arrange them in a visual “map.” It’s not super-intuitive on how to use it, but it might be worth a try.

Qrait is a brand new tool that is not quite open to the general public yet, though I received an invitation two days after requesting one. It describes itself as “A realtime curation platform designed to fulfill the needs of content curators and reduce information overload for the rest of us.” I don’t quite understand what that means, but I do see that it can be used to easily create Internet Scavenger Hunts and Webquests. It lets you create a “molecule” filled with “atoms” (the call each topic a molecule and atoms the different parts of the collection). You can insert a website and notes into each molecule, which will also show a screenshot or even a video. The task for each can also be described. And it’s easy to move the “molecules” around. And, then, best of all, you can embed your whole “molecule” wherever you want, including on a class blog or website.

EXAMPLES OF INTERNET SCAVENGER HUNTS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS & OTHERS:

Here are some excellent examples of activities that might better fit the definition of “Internet Scavenger Hunt” instead of “Webquest.”  One of the key cautions with using these kinds of already-made activities, though, is that links quickly become outdated on the Web.  You want to check for dead links before you use these sites with your students.

Good examples include:

Michelle Henry has a great collection of these kinds of hunts — all designed for English Language Learners.

These Explorer Internet Scavenger Hunts are accessible to English Language Learners, and perfect for World History classes. Before you assign them, though, teachers should review the site carefully. In addition to creating the hunts to learn about explorers, the site’s creators have also included some “tricks” to help students learn to double check the facts they find on the Internet.

WEBQUESTS:

WHAT IS A WEBQUEST?  There are several places to learn background information on Webquests.  They include Webquest.Org, Kathy Shrock’s overview of Webquests, a Webquest Taskonomy from San Diego State University, and The Learning Power of Webquests from Tom March.

HOW DO YOU CREATE A WEBQUEST?  Quest Garden is the site created by Bernie Dodge for teachers to use for creating Webquests.  It costs $20 for a two year subscription. Zunal is a free and easy way for teachers (and students) to create webquests. Zunal also acts as the host for the webquest or scavenger hunt after its been created. Creating a Webquest comes from Education World. Webquest 101 comes from Teachers First.

WHERE DO YOU FIND WEBQUESTS?  Webquest.Org has a ton of free webquests. Another great source is Edu 2.0,  The same caution I offered early about being on the “look-out” for dead links applies here as well. A third source is the University of Richmond. The nine national museums in Great Britain have a nice collection of webquests.

The Natural History Museum has a number of webquests.

As always, feedback is welcome.

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