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

Abstract

First-year students present with diverse digital literacy skills. Orientation to online tools and resources via a WebQuest was introduced as a novel modality to allow students to work at their own pace. Occupational therapy and physiotherapy students (N=383) over three consecutive academic years completed the WebQuest. A descriptive survey design was used to investigate the students' electronic media preferences and their perceptions of the WebQuest. The students (n=250) reported preference for personal computing and home-based internet, and rated their electronic media proficiency as very good. The WebQuest was seen as beneficial to their learning and the difficulty level of the WebQuest was "just right". The majority of the students felt that the WebQuest made the learning process more interesting, but were more ambivalent regarding their enjoyment of the WebQuest, possibly due to technical issues and experiencing it as being time consuming. Overall the WebQuest was a successful modality for orientating the students to the online tools and resources of the University. Key words: WebQuest; blended learning; e-learning; digital literacy; occupational therapy; physiotherapy