Target group Teachers Primary - Secundary & Tertiary Education
Number of participants Max. 20
Number of sessions 3
Session duration 3 hours
Syllabus Book & online manual
Tutor Geert Bonamie / Bart Bonamie
Objectives The participants know about the concept of the Webquest, know why and when they can be useful, and know how to implement webquests in a pedagogically sound way. The participants have insight in the structure of a webquest, and can create materials for specific purposes. The participants are capable of creating and developing a webquest with Google Sites. They also master the editing of audio and video files. The participants posess the skills to evaluate other people's webquests, and to suggest changes or improvements wherever necessary. They have become familiar with wikis, and can create a Google Sites wiki for their students. Participants are familiar with pedagogically sound strategies of integrating wikis into language education.

Participants should have a working command of Windows. Prior knowledge of specific software is not required. Access to the internet will be required for the following activities: using search engines, looking at examples of good practice, setting up your own Google Site.

Please take into account as well that it comes recommended to posess the skills you expect from your target audience in your webquest, so that they can come to you with any questions they might have.

This course follows a very practical approach. There are few or no ex cathedra moments during which theory is explained. Instead, everything is demonstrated step by step, and participants get plenty of time to work out these steps themselves and at their own pace, supervised by the tutor. Participants can choose to work alone, or in small groups.

This workshop has been given for quite a few years, which is, in a way, perhaps not so surprising: even though the focus is on webquests, it is still "only" the vehicle. The skills that are taught, like editing audio and video, surpass the webquest by far, and will no doubt come in handy during the development of other lesson materials. This workshop is still offered about twice every year (with updated contents, of course) at the CNO in Antwerp. It is quite a successful workshop, often booked full several weeks in advance, and receives mostly positive feedback from all participants.

During session 1 we will first tackle the theoretical concept of a webquest: what is a webquest? Why would you use one in your lesson? How do you evaluate a webquest? Next, we have a look at the structure and look in great detail at the essential building stones of a webquest: the introduction, the task, the development, the sources, the evaluation and the conclusion (followed, optionally, by the teacher's page). In a next phase we highlight the concept of the wiki: what is a wiki, exactly? What are the advantages and disadvantages of wikis? What are the different kinds of wikis? In the last -and most comprehensive- part everything is approached in a very practical way, and starting with the very basics of Google Sites, you will learn the following things: editing the navigation menu, creating and editing pages, adding links, working with images, video, presentations, and calendars.

Session 2 leaves the first one for wat it is, and takes a completely different route: editing audio and video. The aim of this session is to make a short clip of about 1 minute, with which we will introduce the webquest in a somewhat special way. Using Audacity and MovieMaker, we will learn the basics of editing audio and video files: cutting parts, adding silences, fades (in and out), moving parts, recording from the web, and so on. Here, too, the skills surpass the actual subject of the session: editing audio can be equally interesting for cutting up an audio interview for, say, a dictation exercise or a gap-fill listening exercise, just to mention something.

Session 3, finally, is where sessions 1 and 2 meet: here we will see how we can integrate the materials developed in the website we created, possibly also considering a few interesting techniques for rendering audio and video in yoru site. During this third session about half of the time is reserved for practical, individual guidance during your last steps towards finalizing the webquest.

Participants are entitled to one month of full support via the Let's Learn IT website. An access code, valid for a whole year, will be sent via email. Using this code, all participants get access to the online course material. Apart from this, every participants can ask the tutor questions after the workshop, using the "Submit a ticket" form (in the user menu). It goes without saying we will try to answer your questions as soon as possible!

In case you have any questions left about the contents of this course, or you want to organize this workshop at your school, then pelase do not hesitate to contact us.

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