WebQuests vs. Research Modules

In a choice between research modules or WebQuests, I would choose WebQuest every time. Partly this is because I have been familiar with WebQuests for awhile, and I have designed my own, after a fashion. Another reason for my choice is that WebQuests provide more structure. I enjoy structure. It's part of being the old-school social studies teacher. Besides, I work with a lot of students who are academically below their grade level in reading. If they had the freedom research modules typically provide, they would probably find sites they cannot read, and thus they would not learn what I want them to. In addition, most of my students have not learned how to develop their own research questions. While this is obviously a valuable skill in many of a student's future careers, it is difficult, and very time-consuming, to teach. I find myself between the proverbial "rock and a hard place"-do I have to be the one to save the world and teach students how to research? And, if I do, what key content will I have to cut? In short, then, I would use the WebQuest because I would not need to devote extensive time to teaching research skills in order for my students to benefit from the WebQuest.

Both WebQuests or research modules, though, would change my role as a teacher. They push me into becoming a facilitator because, no matter how much groundwork I've laid in designing a WebQuest, at some point I HAVE to step back and let the students work. This is helpful to me because, as I've indicated before, I like to be the center of attention in the classroom. But when I am, I usually fall into the trap of expecting less of my students than they are capable of. So WebQuests (and, presumably, research modules) lead me somewhere I might not go willingly-but it's a place I need to go!