Harry Potter: Webquest Activity

Harry Potter: Webquest

W.W.W. is an acronym for World Wide Web also commonly known as Web. Web is a cobweb of web pages which can be identified by www or http codes and also easy to access. Web Pages are full of information, knowledge, documents and other web resources which can be accessed through the computer or web browser. These web resources can be identified through unique Uniform Resource Locators in short URLs which also can be hyperlinked with other resources.

The World Wide Web went from zero to millions of web pages in a few years. Many revolutions look irrelevant just before they change everything swiftly.

(George M. Church)

The 21st century marked an age of Information Technology where getting knowledge became easier. The World Wide Web has given a wider space to produce, share, access information very easily. There are many words related to the Web that have been invented and also some learning techniques have also come into existence within the area of web resources. One of those learning strategies is Webquest Activity. In loose words a definition of Webquest Activity can be given as below...

"A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click."

So, Webquest in simple terms is a group of different sites which are interlinked and accessible from one document or single site only. "The model was developed by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University in February, 1995 with early input from SDSU/Pacific Bell Fellow Tom March, the Educational Technology staff at San Diego Unified School District, and waves of participants each summer at the Teach the Teachers Consortium at The Thacher School in Ojai, California." (To read more click here)

What is Webquest?

"A webquest is is a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students’ investigation of an open-ended question"

(Tom March)

"A webquest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet…"

(Bernie Dodge and San Diego)

A WebQuest is a Constructivist approach to Learning, Students not only collate and organize information they've found on the web, they orient their activities towards a specific goal they've been given, often associated with one or more roles modeled on adult professions."

(Philip Benz)

Webquest is an internet based activity where all the information is coming from online sources. But at some extent it is different from mere internet based research. Here are some of the characteristics of Webquest Activity which differentiate Webquest from normal internet based research.

Structure of Webquest

If you are acquainted with using a computer for creating a document with hypertext and hyperlink, creating a Webquest becomes an easier task. One thing which should be kept in mind while creating Webquest is that it should be more focused on Critical Thinking instead of just searching and gathering information. Webquest demands higher-order thinking where reflecting over searched information is at the center. It enables students to think at the level of Synthesis, Analysis, Problem Solving, Creativity and Judgement and Evaluation.

Harry Potter Webquest Task

Harry Potter is a series of Seven Books written by J.K.Rowling, categorised under the top selling books later translated into eighty languages. Movie Adaptation of the books of the same name by Warner Bros Pictures, directed by Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, David Yates, which also became the most watched fantasy film series. Harry Potter gained extensive popularity not only as Children Literature but also as Self-help books, which delivers innumerable hidden life lessons within the story of school kids which includes the elements of magic, fantasy, mystery, thriller, adventure, horror, romance and science fiction.

As a child most people have watched the Harry Potter Series, but the intention behind watching Harry Potter movies is mere entertainment which only provides a moral lesson at the end. But When we watch the same movies at Masters level of course there is something to be focused upon, or interpreted upon besides watching it just as Children Literature.

So, A Webquest task was assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad sir as a part of Academic Thinking Activity where students have to work in a group and prepare one document on the Harry Potter Webquest Task. To visit the teacher's blog for the same click here.

Brief Introduction of Harry Potter Webquest Task (Steps)

Watch all(eight) the Harry Potter Films, one part each day.
Read provided mini review of the film after watching the film.(Click here)
Final discussion by the Teacher after watching one film everyday.
Points to be ponder upon

Feminist reading of Harmione’s character in Harry Potter: How do the character portrayal of Harmione and other female characters support feminist discourse?

Discourse on the purity of Blood and Harry Potter: How do the novels play with the thesis of pure blood (Master Race) giving an antithesis by belonging protagonists to half-blood / Mud-blood? What sort of synthesis is sought in this discourse in the Harry Potter series?

Confronting reality by reading fantasy: How does reading Harry Potter make us confront the reality of our everyday existence?

Self-Help culture and Harry Potter: How does it stand by an argument that Self-Help Culture serves as a tool of social control: it soothes political unrest . . . one blames oneself for not getting better off is society and remains in one's own pursuit of self-invention, blaming oneself for the failure rather than the systems?

The discourse of Power and Politics in Harry Potter: How does the Ministry of Magic control the resistance? How do they prosecute the ‘Other’?

Children’s Literature and Harry Potter: How far does J K Rowling transcends the canonical confines of children’s literature and claims the heights of ‘real’ literature?

Speculative literature and Harry Potter: What is speculative literature? How far does Harry Potter qualify for the same? Does J K Rowling transcend the confines of speculative literature and claim the heights of ‘real’ literature?

The theme of Choice and Chance: How does Harry Potter discuss the antithetical concepts of ‘choice’ and ‘chance’?

The theme of Love and Death: How does Harry Potter make use of the age old theme of Love of the dead as well as living as protecting armour? How does Harry Potter deal with the concept of Death as something inevitable?

Moral and Philosophical reading of Harry Potter: How does the concept of ‘evil breeds evil’ unfold in Harry Potter? What is the significance of Harry being one of the Horcruxes?

Christianity and Harry Potter Series: How many times Harry and his friends visit Church? how often in the moments of crisis when they are helpless, clueless, they pray to God for Grace or Mercy? How many times God's Grace saves them from the Devil Lord Voldemort? Does J.K. Rowling uses Christianity at any level in the entire Harry Potter series?

Find at least three good web resources for the following topics
Find key arguments for the discourse on the given topics from the articles or web resources you have referred
Final but the most important Note down illustrations from Harry Potter for the arguments with authenticity.
Evaluation: At the Students are requested to self-assess their Webquest Activity either through the Rubric provided by the teacher in Teacher's Blog or they are free to create their own rubrics on the basis of their accordance and criteria.

So, These are some of the steps through which this Harry Potter Webquest Activity can be carried out.

Harry Potter Series

To read a movie review by the fandom website of each Harry Potter Film click on the photos.