From Books to Blogs:

A webquest to engage the Net Generation in reading English Literature

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm of the
Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million
miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so
amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea (Douglas Adams The
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy).
This planet has a problem, which is this:

English language teachers think that reading dusty old books is a fabulous way to spend time.
Contrarily, students think it is a far better idea to surf the Net, post a selfie, download a few songs
and tweet a few random thoughts. Metaphorically speaking, their worlds are galaxies apart.

Webquests are a great teaching tool to connect Net Generation students with traditional curricula.
The Sci-Fi Webquest below has been developed specifically to guide upper-intermediate EFL
students through their first reading experience of a literary sci-fi novel in the target language. The
purpose of this online learning adventure is three-fold: it fosters fluent L2 reading skills; it develops
digital literacy; and, it provides an opportunity to practise English speaking skills in preparation of the
oral literature exams, which is a compulsory part of the final high school exams in the Netherlands.

You can download the Sci-Fi Webquest below. The file is a PDF-conversion of the original
PowerPoint presentation. Unfortunately, the funky page transitions do not function in the Adobe file.

I would be delighted if you implemented this webquest in your English language classroom. However,
could you please be so kind to email me on gmvdw067@uowmail.edu.au to let me know!