First-year students' experience of a WebQuest to explore the University's online resources and virtual learning environment

Abstract

Typically, students enter the higher education environment with a diversity of computing and technology experience due to varied high school exposure and socioeconomic circumstances 1,2. It is therefore important to establish their digital literacy and access to technology to ensure their readiness for the Blended Learning (BL) components of the curriculum 1,3. Students should also be orientated to the online tools and resources available at the University during the initial weeks of their first year to ensure they all have equal understanding and skill for participating in academic tasks 3. Traditionally the first-year occupational therapy and physiotherapy students have been attending an orientation workshop in a computer laboratory which takes them step-by-step through how to access and use the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), the online library resources, anti-plagiarism software and their student email accounts. During the orientation workshops, the proficient students tended to be bored with having to wait for others to catch up, and the inexperienced students were stressed by perceived pressure to hurry up when they did not understand the work. It became obvious that the step-by-step, face-to-face approach was frustrating most of the students. The opportunities afforded by using a WebQuest were explored as a possible way to 'practice what we preach' by using interactive e-learning in the orientation session.

Utilizing WebQuests for Enhancing Teaching Skills of Saudi Pre-Service Teachers of English as a Foreign Language

“…However, the use of WebQuests had a much greater impact on the development of these skills in the teachers of the experimental group since WebQuests offered an effective, self-paced, and interactive learning environment. The findings of the current study are in line with several of the previous studies that particularly discussed the usage of the internet in teacher education programs (Kelly, 2000;Milson & Downey, 2001;Strickland & Nazzal, 2005;Hassanien, 2006;Little, 2007;Schweizer & Kossow, 2007;Sheerin, 2014;Asunka, 2016;Barnard-Ashton, van der Linde, Rothberg, & McInerney, 2018). The researcher attributed the much greater development of teaching performance skills in the teachers of the experimental group to WebQuests, which is likely to provide time-flexible, self-paced, unbound, convenient learning, and opportunities for the students of the general diploma in English.…”

Webquest Technologies as Learning Motivation

“…Obstacles to their effective use may include lack of clear instructions and reliable links to web resources, tasks that are too complex, and the ability to get distracted by other interesting and attractive websites [21]. Also, a decrease in motivation and a feeling of increased difficulty can cause technical problems [22]. It is likely that a subjective factor that reduces the effectiveness of using the technology under discussion can be attributed to the insufficient qualification of the teacher, who does not always recognize the specifics of WebQuest.…”

Editorial Comment

“…In this edition, we feature two articles 1,2 which focus on the 'newage' digital environment within which our education of students is based. The questions raised are: are we prepared for this, and more importantly, are we prepared to adapt the way we teach (both in the classroom and in the clinical field) in order to meet the learning demands of this generation?…”