Web quest

Introduction

The mystery novel is a model for this idea.

Web quests are about making studying fun.

Fact № 1 We all know that children like playing.

Fact № 2 We also know that they like studying interesting things and, moreover, they like using the knowledge they have gained. Or in other words, children like active learning.

Why, then, most of the students eventually lose their interest in school? Because, we teachers, eventually forget these two facts.

Knowledge for real life Nobody likes studying something that is useless. Children are not an exception. It does not matter whether you are a teacher in Maths, English or Computer Skills you should motivate your pupils that they are studying something very important for their lives and also you have to show them how exactly they could use the new knowledge.

Children and school nowadays Children nowadays communicate less and less with each other. Most of them spare their time in front of the computers surfing in the Internet. Undoubtedly, there is a lot of useful information there. Children nowadays are much more informed on different topics then ever. Sometimes, pupils even know more on particular topics than their teachers. Is it possible to make pupils interested in school then? Yes, teachers can make pupils interested in school by using interesting and useful topics shown in an amusing way. One possible method that fulfills these acquirements is the Web Quest.

What is a Web Quest?

The inventor of the Web Quest is Bernie Dodge. He defined his new learning method as an “inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from recourses on the Internet.” In other words, it is a didactic concept within which explorative activities with the Internet are planned by the teacher and he/she transforms from teacher into guider guider of the learning process. The aim is the autonomous acquisition and presentation of knowledge.

A good Web Quest has the following structure:

• Introduction – it aims to motivate the pupils about the topic in a visually interesting and thrilling way.

• Task – explanation what they have to do in every lesson.

• Process – detailed step-by-step instructions how to do their tasks.

• Resources – all internet addresses used in the Web Quest.

• Evaluation – pupils use it for self-evaluation and then the teacher evaluates them using the same evaluation criteria.

• Conclusion – concludes the result of the successfully finished work. What the pupils know now and how they could use it in their lives.

• Teacher Page – information about the teacher who has designed the Web Quest and about the Web Quest itself.

What skills does a pupil need to develop in order to work with a Web Quest?

Working on a particular Web Quest means that a pupil has to:

• follow strictly their teacher’s instructions

• work with particular internet addresses