CyberHunt

CyberHunts are educational lessons that are simple to make, popular with teachers and an easy way to introduce the internet to the students. A CyberHunt is an online activity that focuses on gathering information from web sites to answer questions or to support a concept on a particular theme or content area. The intent is to hunt for facts or information to add details for the answer to the question. The questions themselves may vary from the simple fact or statement to the more complex, depending upon the age and skill level of the student. By completing CyberHunts, students learn how to navigate a web site, scan a page for detailed information, and then apply the facts or ideas to the question. A CyberHunt is an excellent way to teach beginning internet researching skills. There are thousands of hunts on the web that are content focused and grade level specific.

When creating the CyberHunt, the teacher selects web sites that support their specific curriculum focus. The instructor has control over which sites have the best information to answer the questions. The students use only those sites in the activity. The intent is to focus on the material and not have students spend time using search engines or directories to accumulate numerous websites that must then be accessed, assessed and evaluated. Instead, students use their time to navigate to teacher-selected sites for the information. The CyberHunt lesson is streamlined to a simple fact-finding activity. For this reason, the typical activity takes one or more class periods to finish.

There are no firm CyberHunt rules about the number of sites, the type of questions, or the amount of activity time to be allotted. CyberHunts have been created in all shapes and forms and for all grade levels. They cover most subjects and have no set time limit. The teacher has control over the sites, the type of questions, and the final product.

External links

* Jill Baedke, "Using Web-Based Research Activities - CyberHunts, WebQuests, PBL++MM: How Do You Choose?" [http://www.vste.org/publications/journal/attach/vj_1702/vj_1702_02.pdf]
* Mary Ann Rechtfertig, "Developing Internet CyberHunts", [http://dixiesd.marin.k12.ca.us/dixieschool/Classrooms/Rechtfertig/cyberhunts/]
* Julie Greller, "CyberHunts: Elementary School Teacher Resources", [http://www.montville.net/hilldale/Hilldale_LMC/web-content/cyberhunts.html]