Category Archives: Classroom Ideas

Ideas and suggestions to use in your classroom.

Re-visiting webquest


Written by - John Allan @mrpottz

In September 2015 I posted a TESL Ontario blog about revisiting WebQuests. Since then WebQuest founder Bernie Dodge closed his WebQuest site as well as its sister WebQuest archive resource QuestGarden. As well,  Zunal.com has closed.  As WebQuests have been such an established and relevant activity for language teachers and learners, digital alternatives must be found or developed to fill this void.     

This post offers five alternatives to traditional WebQuest editors.  Links to WebQuests created with these tools are also shared.  These tools may take more effort to produce WebQuests, but they use contemporary productive technologies and work well on most device types. 

What is a WebQuest?

WebQuests are inquiry-based learning activities in which students use information from the web to complete tasks or solve teacher defined problems on issues related to module topics. They typically involve students exploring specific resources provided by the teacher, often in a structured format to encourage deeper understanding and critical thinking on a given topic. To summarize, WebQuests support student learning  through problem solving or knowledge building activities.  

Why use WebQuests with your classes?  

WebQuests promote: 

  1. Students deal with real-world issues and problem solving. 
    • higher order thinking
    • brainstorming activities
    • co-operation through group work
    • organization through the WebQuest structure
    • presentation or debating skills
  2. WebQuests can be embedded into learning management system.  
  3. No coding is required to assemble a WebQuest. 
  4. WebQuests promote group work.  
  5. Final projects may be transformed into activities or presentations.  
  6. Learners enhance their technology skills  by actively engaging with current technologies. 

Potential Student Projects 

Authors of WebQuests guide their learners to create a final project. This is done in the task section of the WebQuest.  These may include: 

  • web pages 
  • word processed documents  
  • videos/audios/animations 
  • books/magazines 
  • debates 
  • display boards 
  • social media presentations  

WebQuest structure 

The most common format promoted by Bernie Dodge has been the HTML IFrames format.  This is a three parts webpage.   

  • Title page, at the top of the screen 
  • Navigation page, on the left of the screen 
  • Main information page, in the centre of the screen 

Many contemporary WebQuests do not follow this format.  Some are simple web pages or linear documents while others are slide presentations.  

The WebQuest structure is generally consistent. 

  1. The Introduction that introduces the task and provides background information. 
  2. The task description which explains student expectations. 
  3. The process that provides students with the steps to follow. 
  4. The resources that can include books, media, mostly online to help learners with their research. 
  5. The evaluation structure which is normally in the form of a rubric. 
  6. A conclusion that wraps up the WebQuest and encourages student reflection

WebQuests Creating Tools 

Here are five ways that you can create WebQuests to provide relevant and engaging.  Choose the tool that matches your technical skillset. There are more digital tools out there that you can use to create WebQuests.  If you are aware of these, consider contributing a comment below to enrich our teaching and learning community.  

  • Moodle Books allow instructors to create a WebQuest with a digital book-like format containing multi-page resources and a table of contents of hyperlinks to WebQuest pages. This provides an  intuitive navigation for learners. Pages can include embedded multimedia and hyperlinks. 
  • WebQuest created with the H5P course presentation tool provide a horizontal slide based WebQuest.  These are intuitive to navigate, can have a navigation menu, and report student engagement to an LMS.   
  • Google Site  creates a webpage WebQuest. The presentation is familiar to learners which allows for intuitive navigation.  The site can be accessed by learners separate from an LMS if a school LMS is not available. Only a free Google account is required to create a Google sites WebQuest page.  
  • PowerPoint is a familiar technology to most learners.  In a WebQuest group it is anticipated that one learner will have the ability  to navigate the WebQuest with its single click navigation.  These can be exported as PDF documents if required by institutions without a Microsoft licence. 
  • Microsoft Word is also a  technology familiar to most learners. This method of making a WebQuest is targeted at producing a paper or digital document that can be read in a linear fashion from top to bottom   These can be exported as PDF documents if a shareable digital document is required. 

Final thoughts 

Alternate tools for creating WebQuests for student use have been offered with examples. Due to the WebQuests guided assignment format, many digital tools can be used to create WebQuests.  You can choose the tool is best for your learners.  A good practice is to create your web quest on a word-processed document and then transfer the information to another technology such as H5P.  

Want to learn more about creating WebQuests? 

Register for the Tutela webinar session  
Friday, Feb 21, 2025  
7:00 PM ET 

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My shift to word chunks


Written by - Jennifer Hutchison
Photo by Mali Maeder; www.pexels.com

Session after session, I integrate a “word of the day” into my lessons for students to add to their notebooks. I explain what the word means, provide examples of its use, and task them with using it  that day. But I recently wondered whether it would be better to teach a “lexical chunk of the day” instead, as they tend to have a greater impact than isolated words. Also, students gravitate to these fixed expressions and are always asking what they mean. Indeed, well-known language educator Scott Thornbury supports this approach in Chunk-Spotting–A User’s Guide: “the possession of a memorized store of chunks allows more rapid processing, not only for production but also for reception. It’s quicker to process several words at a time rather than each word individually.”

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Establishing Rapport with Learners: Challenges & Solutions


Written by - Ozma Siddiqui
Image source: Unsplash, photo by Luann Hunt

Teaching is a rewarding profession, but it does come with its challenges. One important aspect of teaching is to establish a rapport with the learners. A teacher who is unable to communicate with her learners in the first few days is at risk of “losing” her class altogether. Research shows that learners learn better when they find the content interesting and like the teacher! In fact, a positive and favourable learning environment is necessary for effective communication in a classroom that learners find safe and supportive. This article will pose some challenges and offer solutions that will ensure student engagement.

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Incorporating Listening Activities Into Literacy Classes


Written by - Derek Czajkowski
Image source: www.bigstockphoto.com

Literacy teachers emphasize reading and writing because those are the only two skills assessed at the literacy level. However, when does the attention given to those two skills become excessive? And, by devoting the bulk of class time to those two skills, do we do so at the expense of a holistic approach to teaching?

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Student Engagement Strategies That Work


Written by - Ozma Siddiqui
Image taken from: Big Stock Photo

As the day wears on, it’s not uncommon to see learners becoming unfocused, disengaged with classroom tasks, restless, noisy or silent. The most demotivating aspect of disinterested students is their unwillingness to learn. A Gallup student poll (2014) reports that nearly 50% of the learners were “either not engaged (28 percent) or actively disengaged (19 percent) in school” (Collier, 2015). 

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Simplifying Real-World Content with ChatGPT and the Canadian Language Benchmarks 


Written by - Bei Zhang
Image taken from: Big Stock Photo

Lesson planning can be a time-consuming endeavor, especially for educators teaching students with lower levels of English proficiency. Adapting materials to meet the needs of these learners requires careful consideration and often entails significant effort. However, with the assistance of tools like ChatGPT, this process can be streamlined and made more efficient. 

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Mitigating the Effects of Trauma


Written by - Jennifer Hutchison
Photo by Susan Wilkinson on Unsplash

“Two of my brothers were killed in the war in Ukraine.”

“My family’s houses were destroyed in Palestine”

“I have PTSD from a trauma in my homeland.”

“There is fighting in my street back home, and I can’t reach anyone.”

“My mother was sent to a re-education centre for being a Uyghur.”

“My husband and I and our two sons were put on a kill list, so we had to flee my country.”

“My sister is sick, and I cannot go back and see her before she dies.”

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Teacher Time Management Strategies in the Classroom


Written by - Ozma Siddiqui
Photo taken from: Big Stock Photo

One of the frequent challenges for teachers, even ones with experience is how to manage time in the classroom. One may well ask, why time management is so important. Effective time management is crucial to provide quality education. In fact, teachers don’t really have enough time to teach considering the breaks, learner attention span (which is typically half an hour or less); moving between classrooms for various activities and downtime between lessons and activities (Mehta, 2019).  Continue reading →

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Smartphones can be a “Smart” Helper in the Classroom


Written by - Bei Zhang
Image taken from: Big Stock Photo

At first glance, smartphones may seem like the ultimate language roadblock for ESL learners. The alluring prospect of effortlessly translating any text with a simple tap can lead to a habit of overreliance, hindering genuine language absorption. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. When approached with a strategic mindset, smartphones can indeed become “smart” tools in the ESL learning arsenal, especially for those who find themselves grappling with the complexities of English at a foundational level. 

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Navigating the Labyrinth: Understanding Cognitive Load in the Language Classroom 


Written by - Samina Nazar

 

In the dynamic realm of language learning, teachers continually seek ways to optimize the learning experience for their students. One crucial factor often overlooked is cognitive load, the mental effort required to grasp new concepts in language learning. Recognizing and managing cognitive load in the language classroom can significantly impact student engagement, comprehension, and overall language acquisition. This blog post explores the concept of cognitive load, its implications in the language learning context, and practical strategies for teachers to enhance the learning experience. 

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