We can provide very structured and guided inquiry projects called WebQuests to support the PYP emphasis on inquiry and students being independent and active learners. WebQuests are online research expeditions built by teachers that put the students, working in groups, into roles to find information from specially selected sites and books as they attempt to solve a real problem. The students working in teams analyze, curate and then use the information to create a project to demonstrate their understanding. WebQuests are NOT Internet scavenger hunts with students just going through a list of links. True WebQuests have the students performing in the authentic roles of historians, economists, mathematicians, etc. The culminating project is usually a performance task in which the students present their findings while playing their roles, or apply the learning to produce a product.
Supporting examples:
To learn more about WebQuests, experience a WebQuest about WebQuests with their creator, Dr. Bernie Dodge. Developing the several web pages that comprise a WebQuest takes some time up front, but the results can be impressive as students become very engaged as they really do “own” their learning. It can be used year after year with new classes of students, sequencing important instruction online instead of onto photocopies. WebQuests can also be the mechanism to deliver a full unit of study.
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