Appendix: Student Comments on Various Aspects of the WebQuest Project

Learning About Technology

Overwhelmingly, students appreciated the opportunity to learn more about technology and its potential for application in their own classrooms. The following comments about this aspect of the project were taken from their final response papers and anonymous course evaluations for the Fall 2001 and Spring 2002 semesters:

• “My computer skills are 100% better than they were at the beginning of the semester.”
• “I really enjoyed designing our [WebQuests]. In the past I tried to avoid using computers whenever I could because I truly didn’t have a clue beyond typing the usual papers. Being forced to create a [WebQuest] really helped me learn more about computers and gave me a sense of satisfaction when we were finished.”
• “I feel that the absolute most useful thing that I did in this class this semester was the webquest...it was incredibly interesting and helpful to learn how to design a [WebQuest], and I was really proud of our final webquest.”
• “I really enjoyed doing this project and I feel it was a great way to get me started on learning [how to build websites].”
• “I now feel comfortable and capable with the program and will continue to use these skills when I teach.”

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Potential Usefulness

A continuing struggle in the literacy strategies course is the one against the I’m-not-going-to-be-a-reading-teacher-so-I-shouldn’t-have-to-take-this-course mindset. The WebQuest project has been especially useful in helping my students see the potential for helping their students master content using text. The following quotes were taken from final response papers and anonymous course evaluations from the Fall 2001 and Spring 2002 semesters:

• The WebQuest project “allowed me to apply [the course principles] completely to my area.”
• The WebQuest project “was a good idea -- it allowed us to be creative and apply it to our areas.”
• “I feel that the webquest was the most interesting and fun activity we worked on during the semester. It gave everyone a chance to be creative in their content area and to actually help students to be excited about and learn about various subjects. I think that these webquests are a great supplement to any lesson plan.... Many of the webquests have interesting and fun links to keep students interested in hopes of extending their knowledge even further.”
• “The most important thing I learned about in this class was the webquest. I really think I will incorporate webquests as supplements to my lessons when I am teaching...I feel they can be valuable as enrichment material.”
• “The emphasis on developing a reading and learning strategy entirely on the web was the most important strategy that I’ve learned in this course all year long.”

  “It was fun to create something that real students will be using.”

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Physical Education and the WebQuest Project

The literacy strategies course offers students majoring in content areas not traditionally considered to be text oriented the chance to explore the possible uses of text in their own future classrooms. The WebQuest project has been particularly useful in this regard (see, for example, physical education WebQuests posted at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater website). The following comment was taken from the final response paper of a physical education major enrolled in the course in the spring 2002 semester:

I really thought that the webquest projects turned out to be a very educational experience. When it was first introduced in class that we had to do the webquest project I was very skeptical. I thought to myself, “How is this applicable to physical education and how are my group members and I going to find things to do this project?” As we got the project moving my outlook really changed. My group and I had to construct a health webquest so we thought about things we could use in the project, and we came up with doing it on the debate over the legal drinking age in Wisconsin. It turned out to be a really good webquest and after it was all said and done I finally realized that a person can use reading and technology in any aspect of education, even health and physical education.

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From “Encouraging the Use of Technology in the Classroom: The WebQuest Connection” by Anne D. Stinson.
Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted March 2003