Designing the Task

The Task describes crisply and clearly what the end result of the learners' activities will be. The task could be a:

problem or mystery to be solved;
position to be formulated and defended;
product to be designed;
complexity to be analyzed;
personal insight to be articulated;
summary to be created;
persuasive message or journalistic account to be crafted;
a creative work, or
anything that requires the learners to process and transform the information they've gathered.

In his Webquest Taxonomy: Taxonomy of Tasks, Bernie Dodge describes task formats that have emerged in Webquest models. Visit his page and read the list of tasks. Your goal is to get the student to go beyond re-telling so carefully choose a task that the students will find engaging and elicits thinking in the learners that goes beyond rote comprehension.

If the final product involves using some tool (e.g., HyperStudio, the Web, video), mention it in this stage.

Don't list the steps that students will go through to get to the end point in the Task stage. That belongs in the Process section.

Before deciding upon the task you will assign your students, be sure to review Types of Tasks to gain an understanding of the types of Tasks that are used to create effective and interesting Webquests.

What type of task are you going to create?