Hyper-Quests®
Interactive, Student-Centered, Multimedia/Internet Investigations and Activities
A Hyper-Quest should contain these elements at a minimum:
- Introductory material to set the stage for the concept and environments that the student will be experiencing.
- Well defined task(s) that the student is expected to complete.
- Help screen(s) that describe what navigation buttons and tools are available to use throughout the Hyper-Quest.
- Resources that the student can use to accomplish the stated task. These might include text to be read as part of the HyperStudio stack itself, references to print material that the student is encouraged to read, buttons that connect to laserdisc sequences for the student to view, buttons that connect to CD-ROM resources, animations, motion video, buttons that send email to identified experts or project mentors and links to Internet resources that support the unit of study.
- Template cards that the student will use to complete a portion of their task. The activities requested of the student to complete might include researching multiple Internet sites and creating links in HyperStudio to those sites which best support the student's presentation, adding images taken with a digital camera or video camera, creating animations to visualize processes, audio recordings to further explain particular thoughts, text as necessary to finalize the communication of ideas and graphic images to accurately depict the findings. These template cards give a structure to the result of the Hyper-Quest.
- Hyper-Quests lend themselves to collaborative work. This could be groups of students within a single classroom or students in remote locations using the Internet to make connections with each other.
- Self evaluation opportunities throughout the course of the Hyper-Quest to enable students to produce a high quality product.
- The completed project given as a presentation for the class or other interested groups. This communication of the findings is an important concept that should be central to the successful completion of a Hyper-Quest.
- Open ended topics that lend themselves to further exploration. A first completion of a Hyper-Quest may lead to further investigation by other students building off of the earlier result.
As you begin the process of designing your own Hyper-Quests, keep these thoughts in mind:
- Identify those areas of your curriculum that seem to be the most likely to be supported by freely available Internet resources and other electronic-based information.
- Keep bookmark lists or create HyperStudio stacks with sections devoted to topics in the areas you're most interested in designing a Hyper-Quest for students.
- Involve other colleagues in the collection and evaluation of Hyper-Quests that have already been produced.
- Research the topics yourself before assigning Hyper-Quests to students to make certain that an appropriate number of resources exist. Of course, expect the students to find resources that you didn't since that is the nature and size of the Internet!
- Much as you expect of students, work collaboratively with colleagues as you develop your original Hyper-Quests that integrate Internet resources. This can be done locally or remotely via email.
- Give back to the Internet what you've had the opportunity to experience and use - in other words, share your Hyper-Quests so that others can benefit from your work.
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