Webquests made Easier!

While Webquests have been around since at least 1995, they’ve always required a working knowledge of HTML or a web page editor in order to create them. There are many teachers that have wonderful ideas for integrating numerous subject areas to create new understandings for students, but many have steered clear of Webquests because most of us don’t have the time to become web design savvy as well as keep up on other professional development, masters’ classes, etc. The creators of PHP Webquest recognized this and have created a huge time saving tool for creating a Webquest.

Using the free (magic word) open source coding language known as PHP, a group of Spanish programmers have created a template-based system for creating Webquests (don’t worry, there is an English version of the site). You can sign up for your own private teacher account or download a version (remember, it’s free!) for your district technology coordinator to install on your school’s server, but you’ll find that both are simple to use, leading you through a step by step process. After you’ve done your research and found the websites you want to use for the quest just choose a template, pick your colors, and then enter the websites and information (task, procedure, resources, etc.) in the appropriate boxes. You can even insert your own images. In a fraction of the time it would take to create a Webquest from scratch you now have a very professional looking website ready for students to use and explore the web with.