VideoClipQuests
as an E-Learning Pattern

Axel M. Blessing & Ulrich Kortenkamp,
Pädagogische Hochschule Schwäbisch Gmünd

VideoClipQuests – in short: VCQs – are a teaching-learning-approach focussed on the learner’s self-activity while information is collected by searching the Internet, similar (but far from identical) to the well-established concept of WebQuests.

Basically, a VCQ consists of a video clip embedded into a web page and one or more tasks that are related to the video. The central idea is to avoid the fundamental terms of the subject dealt with. In other words, the task must be verbalised in such a way that it cannot be completely understood without watching the video – an approach that we call “mask the task” in good fun. In order to perform the task, the learner has to watch the video and look for a first cue as a starting point. Only with this cue is it possible to completely understand the task and to go after the solution.

From a psychological point of view, a VCQ confronts the learner with an insolvable task that she wants to transfer into a solvable one. In such a situation, motivation can evolve easily, which is one of the main driving forces of learning.

From a teacher’s perspective, the main advantages of VCQs are that they allow great latitude concerning the subject and the topic as well as the assessment; they can be created very easily; they work with a multitude of learning platforms. As first evaluation results show, learners rate VCQs as being highly motivating. Thus, VCQs can be one effective element to sensibly integrate the possibilities and advantages of the virtual world into teaching.

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