May 1999 — Features
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The CyberQuest:A Tool to Assess Educational Resources on the Internet
1) When the Internet explosion occurred in the U.S., I was leading a very low-tech life as a visiting professor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, during the 1995-96 academic year. For several months after returning to the States, I avoided the Internet beyond basic e-mail use until I realized my students were using the Web frequently but without a lot of direction or discretion. Helping them provided impetus for me to incorporate the Net into teaching.
2) The
WebQuest, developed by Bernie Dodge of San Diego
State University, provides a general model for the
CyberQuest. As background for understanding the
CyberQuest process, a brief review of WebQuests may
be useful. WebQuests utilize role-playing and
topical curricular issues to examine and evaluate
information on the World Wide Web. In a sample
WebQuest, for instance, participants might evaluate
Web sites carrying information to support drug and
alcohol education, evaluating the material within
the context of pre-assigned pedagogical roles. One
participant might adopt the role of the
"Technophile," a computer enthusiast who considers
any use of computer-based instruction valuable. By
contrast, the "Efficiency Expert" would adopt a
pragmatic attitude, advocating any method of
presenting material that achieves a teacher's
objectives. After viewing different Web sites
offering information on the topic considered,
participants evaluate the material from their
particular critical lenses and then reach a
consensus on the most useful sites to use with
students. Dodge's WebQuest page can be located at
the following URL:
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/webquest.html
3) All
CyberQuests can be accessed through the following
Web site designed specifically for educators:
www.
buffalostate.edu/~beaverjf/internet/index.htm
4) The assessment tool asked respondents to rate each stem according to a Likert scale from 1 ("not useful") to 5 ("very useful").
References
Allington, Richard. 1995. "Who Controls the Literature Curriculum?" Literature Update Fall.
Deal, Nancy. 1998. "Getting Teacher Educators Caught in the Web." T.H.E. Journal 26(1).
