After reading through the Kathy Scrock slideshow and Bernie Dodge interview, I have changed my views on webquests a little. I am seeing that perhaps all the work upfront is more worthwhile than I had initially thought. The key question in my mind is are there websites that are suitable for my students in terms of content, reading level, and ease of navigation that match the task I want to create. Without these excellent resources on the web, I think the whole thing becomes ineffective. The information has to be useful, relevant, and well-matched to the task so that students can be successful, and not get bored or frustrated.

I also clicked on the link to one of Dodge's favourite webquests, and it took me to the University of Richmond's webquest page. There is quite a long list of webquests there, and some are very good, like the Lewis and Clarke "Adventure into the Unknown" and "Excellent Explorer" webquests. Perhaps my earler judgement about using the webquests of others was a little hasty. Another option would be to use an existing one as a starting point, and modify the task, resources, etc. to match one's own needs and students.