Web Challenges

Web challenges are a fun and engaging way for students to learn and master important standard-based concepts and skills being learned in class.  Much like Web Quests, they are popular web-based learning activities for teaching students.  They mimic real-world problems to be solved, requiring students to apply, analyze, and evaluate the information they have learned in their content area classes.Web challenges are easy to create and integrate seamlessly into the content area curriculum.  Educators also use web challenges as an interactive, web-based activity  to assess the mastery important standard-based concepts and skills.  They can be used as an individual, team, small group, or whole class activity.  They can also be given as a review for a test or challenge activities.

Their are many benefits to using web challenges.  They teach students how to access and use information and resources available on the Internet.  Web challenges help students to develop problem solving skills, improve reading, and become proficient at searching the web. 

Creating an Online Web Challenge:

Web Challenges are real world problem-based activities presented to students in a story-like format to engage them and to peak their interest.  The details of the problem students will solve is written as a scenario.  The scenario explains what the the students will do or produce to solve the problem, what web resources they will use, and any extra information or “clues” the students need to solve the problem.  

The Elements of a Web Challenge include:

The Scenario:  

The scenario presents the problem that the students need to solve in an engaging,  story-like fashion.  It contains a big idea, a task, questions for the students to answer, extra information to solve the problem, and web resources.

The Big Idea:  The main standard-based concept or skill students are learning about.

(Older students can be given a broad based or more complex topic to research)

The Task:  What the students will produce or do to learn and master the Big Idea.

Questions:  The questions students will answer based on what they learned in class and through research conducted on the web.  These questions relate directly to the concept or skill presented as the big idea and can differ in rigor.  (Older students can be asked to add their own questions related to the Big Idea, and allowing other students to answer them).

Note:  Questions reflecting higher order thinking skills such as those requiring application, analysis, evaluation, and creation will give students help them practice problem-solving and critical thinking skills than knowledge and comprehension-based questions)

(Older students can be asked to add their own questions related to the Big Idea.)

Questions must also be tailored specifically to the task the students will accomplish.

Important Information:  

Any information the students will need to solve the problem they are given.  This information is up to the discretion of the educator.   It can consist of a few facts or 

tips about how to solve the problem.

Resources:   Web links or URLs where students will visit and conduct their research.

(Older students can be asked to find and list their own web links and URLs for finding information to answer to the questions.)