Rieke’s Weblog

During our last class, we looked at a WebQuest which we were asked to analyise in pairs. Me and my fellow student had a closer look at the Ireland WebQuest by Karsten Sill, created in the course of a seminar at the university.

When the Website has loaded, one is welcomed to the WebQuest by an introduction which provides several questions on Ireland and gives basic information about the country. This way, the author of the WebQuest achieves to get the pupil’s attention and probably makes them curious. The introduction page invites the pupils to “Go ahead” and following this link at the bottom of the page, the pupils reach the next step: the process.

What we liked about the process that is described in the WebQuest is a concentration on clearly arranged group work. Addiotinally, pupils get information about how a WebQuest can be solved. Several interesting hints for working on the WebQuest are given at the bottom of the page.

Looking closer at the tasks, the author suggests to work in several groups and disposes various tasks on different topics (e.g. Culture, History, Sports). The tasks are clearly defined, which on the one hand is a good instruction for the pupils. On the other hand this might be a bit too strict in case the students would like to bring in own ideas.

In our opinion, the best part of the WebQuest are the resources provided. Instead of just posting general links to pages like Google or Wikipedia, the author divided the resources into the different topics , general search engines and dictionaries. In addition to this, he also posts keywords to each of the topic which could help finding information.

On the teacher’s page, some interesting information about the purpose of the WebQuest and learners is provided. The author also states on the fact that he has not added an evaluation page which usually belongs to a WebQuest. As he did not actually work with pupils on this WebQuest, he says, it is not necessary to post an evaluation scheme.

As a conclusion, I’d like to say that apart from having a well structured design, the Ireland WebQuest realises most of what Bernie Dodge considers a good WebQuest. Especially in comparison to other WebQuest I must say that this one is impressive and as far as I can see exemplary.

“The purpose of a WebQuest ist learning, not teaching” (statement of a fellow student in class on May 15th)

What does that mean?

Working on a WebQuest basically means that pupils learn on their own while guided by a teacher’s WebQuest. Pupils are not exposed to a traditonal class room situation where they mostly listen to what the teacher teaches them but they find themselves in a process of learning autonomously.

Positive aspects of WebQuests

• Internet is often seen as more interesting
• Pupils learn to work and do research online
• Pupils are active
• Often, group work and self-contained learning skills are trained
• They work autonomously and in their own speed
• Pupils work on an authentic and often current topic
• WebQuest can be designed individually
• Result of work can be presented online

Risks of WebQuests

• Risk of using only online sources and forgetting about traditional media (books, newspapers)
• Online sources are not always trustworthy, at what age can pupils judge them?
• WebQuests might be difficult to grade
• Pupils spend a lot of time online and often get distracted
• Differentiating levels of computer skills

Defined by Bernie Dogde, a WebQuest is “an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet.”(Source) Using the word ‘learners’, it becomes clear that a WebQuest is mostly used in terms of education and teaching. Learners are supposed to do research on the internet while working on a specific topic. Later on, the results are published on the Internet.

Creating a Webquest

Dodge divides a WebQuest into six different parts:

Introduction

Addressing the introduction to the pupils, in this section, the teacher gives information about the central aspects of the WebQuest. The pupils should be both hooked and prepared for further steps.

Task

Now, the teacher shortly describes what the end result of the learner’s activities will be. Depending on the kind of WebQuest, a task could be a problem or mystery to be solved, a position to be examined and defended, a product to be designed, a summary to be created, or anything that requires the pupils to process and transform the information that they have collected.

Process

The teacher outlines how the work will be done and presents each step to the students. Additional links with background information can be posted here.

Evaluation

Most pupils consider the evaluation of their work as very important and so the teacher should come up with a description of how the pupils will be evaluated.

Conclusion

The conclusion contains a few remarks on what the learners will have achieved. It can also offer some additional links to motivate the pupils to extend their considerations.

Credits and references

A list of all references and sources is provided in this section.

This structure of a WebQuest, given by their ‘inventor’ Bernie Dogde, seems appropriate to me. In my opinion, it is important to give pupils a clear outline of how a WebQuest can be created. WebQuests call for self-contained learning but the teacher should always provide help and further information when it is required.

More information about WebQuests

The following set of links provides general information about WebQuests and WebQuest templates:

http://webquest.org/index.php – A website, which contains a lot of general information as well as examples of WebQuests

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/templates/lesson-template1.htm – A template, which describes the structure of a WebQuest

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html – Thoughts about WebQuests from Dodge

http://www.lehrer-online.de/webquests-fsu.php – Information about WebQuests in foreign language teaching (German)

http://bestwebquests.com/links.asp – Provides a wide range of links to websites about WebQuests

What is a Podcast?

According to www.podcast.com, a podcast is “a buzzword to describe a very simple concept: an audio or video file available on the Internet for you to listen to and/or watch.  A podcast can also refer to a series of these audio or video files (similar to how a TV or radio ’show’ can be a series of shows or just one show).  When using the word ‘podcast’, most people refer to the entire series and not just one audio or video file.”

What is so special about that?

At first glance, the definition seems to fit every single audio file which has been posted on the internet during the last couple of years, but a podcast is more than just a file on the internet.  For example: one can transfer it to a computer which makes it available whenever one needs it.  Additionally, one can subcribe to a podcast of his/her interest, manage it, or even create ones own podcast.  Also, the content of a podcast can be almost anything: news from your favourite sports club, your favourite music group, or even world news in general.

Where to find them

A podcast is not hard to find.  If one wants to listen to or watch a podcast in English, one can visit various websites which offer one a wide range of podcasts.  The difficult part is to figure out which podcast suites ones wants and needs.  When the perfect podcast is found, one can subscribe to it and be informed about new content weekly.

English-lesson Podcasts

As the search for an appropriate podcast may take awhile, the teacher should either give the pupils the opportunity to search on their own (after setting some guidelines for them) or suggest several suitable podcasts.  It would not be recommended to use the advanced english podcasts before 10th grade, as it would frustrate the pupils when the English is too hard to follow or understand.  Although some websites do offer podcasts meant for kids, which should be easier to understand.

When working with podcasts from grades 10 to 13, these podcasts could either contain information about the lessons’ topics (which sometimes might be hard to find) or contain news on current events.

Podcasts for the class-room

http://amateurtraveler.com/ –> News from travelers around the world

http://www.npr.org/templates/topics/topic.php?topicId=1032 –> A podcast about literature from National Public Radio

http://www.cnn.com/services/podcasting/?eref=newscast –> CNN Podcast (including CNN student news)

http://www.worldsoccerdaily.com/ –> Podcast about Football

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=1870&cmd=tc –> Podcast about the TV series ‘Family Guy’

http://123listen2me.com/ –> Podcast for kids by kids (depending on learners’ level, this may be appropriate for younger pupils too.)