1. Web Quests Inquiry-based learning – “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand”

2. Tomorrow’s learners - (Teachers and Students) Netgens – ‘Always on – always connected’ Information explosion at an ever-accelerating pace. Must find a way of managing change Deep Net – adaptive searching, students and teachers must convert information and data into useful knowledge Adapt by finding the right information fast Vivid real-time interactivity Several careers in the course of a lifetime – require team skills and collaborative abilities

3. Teachers Move away from didactic teaching ‘Guide on the side’ rather than ‘sage on the stage’ Facilitators of learning Personalising pathways Decide what information is useful and devise activities for finding it

4. Incorporate Higher Level Thinking A good web quest is not merely a ‘scavenger-hunt’ whereby students find answers to a series of questions Students must be encouraged to transform the information by problem solving it in some way The information can be presented in a number of applications or formats Extension work can be included

5. Teacher concerns Time v tasks  Initial work is time consuming, but no lesson plans are required for subsequent lessons and the WebQuest can be tweaked year by year

6. Don’t take independent learning for granted Students may need initial guidance and subsequent support – extra scaffolding may be required, i.e. talking to an expert via email may require certain etiquettes or protocols. Additional software training or writing frames may be required etc Give clear operational guidelines Instructions must be unambiguous

7. The six essential components of a good web quest Introduction Task Process Resources Evaluation Conclusion

8. Introduction Motivational scenario sets up the tasks Concrete, real-world based Inherently important Challenge, engage, excite

9. Task State the objectives and outcomes – A formal description of what students will accomplish Teacher’s find resources and devise activities that incorporate the required information Students can publish their findings in articles or reports or present them via multimedia We must make them visually or aesthetically pleasing Keep the emphasis on fun!

10. Process Step-by-step description of each task with links embedded in every step Practical demonstrations Support materials Extension tasks and materials Provide checkpoints of what students should have achieved by each stage

11. Resources- (Variety is the spice of life – a web quest is not just hyperlinks to web sites) Lists of bookmarked sites Printable handouts Example work (at different levels, or at a high level) Writing frames Embedded files Movies, posters, maps, diagrams, visiting speakers

12. Evaluation Provide a rubric of standards at different levels – exemplary, acceptable and unacceptable. Let students self evaluate against them Must be clear and consistent Involve learners – self evaluation, peer evaluation. Allow them to mark each others work

13. Conclusion – (we learn by doing, but even better by talking about what we did) Encourage reflection by students How can we do it better next time  What went well  What did not go well  What would I do better next time

14. What topics lend themselves to web quests? Problems with several possible solutions Big issues with multiple perspectives that invite debate Whatever students learn from!