Quest for Fire
If you are like most teachers, you are on a never-ending quest. What are we seeking? What’s the quest that is never finished, never concluded, perpetual? Continuous learning, being up to date, reinforcing and consolidating our beliefs and capacities to be good teachers, that is the answer to the purpose of the quest.
A lifetime of learning. It brings us today to, “Quest for fire On The Internet”, by Juan Cuevas. What is most interesting about this video is that its contents are not new or revolutionary.
No, we aren’t being transformational, not even cutting edge. However, the interesting aspect of this video is that it was sponsored by the Chilean Ministry of Education, English Opens Doors Program (Programa Ingles Abre Puertas).
They have uploaded a number of talks, by various local experts, with the intent of making high quality instruction available to teachers in Chile, foremost, and by extension, globally. This is quite a commendable act of sharing, in my opinion. We are aware of the many options available to be restrictive, or selective with its content.
Free and open sharing, as we can see, is not only something we can do as individuals. Institutions, both governmental and non-governmental, can also provide high quality resources, for free. So, when are you going to share with your colleagues? 🙂
I’m smiling, but trust me, it’s a serious question…
Now, are you ready to continue? Let’s continue on our quest for fire. Juan, take it away…
Juan Cuevas: “Centuries ago, tribes fought for a precious element, fire. It gave them power, independence, wisdom, and peace.
Nowadays, tribes fight for a different precious element, information. Where and how they can get it is the key to survival and success.
As teachers, we have come to use the internet to support our teaching in a variety of ways. One of the fundamental uses of the internet is as a resource, for both student and teacher.
One popular use of ICT in ELT is the Web Quest. What is a Web Quest?
A Web Quest is an inquiry-based activity. Most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the web. An important aspect of Web Quests is that it’s designed to use learner’s time well, to focus on using information, rather than looking for it.
Web Quests are also designed to support learner’s thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Blom’s Taxonomy).
There are five basic stages of a Web Quest. These are:
1. Introduction
2. Task
3. Process
4. Evaluation
5. Conclusion
To find out more, you have to dig. That’s DIG: Discover, Investigate, and Generate. DIG.
Enjoy the video…
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