INTRODUCTION

How many times have you seen documentaries about London? How many people have you met who have been to the capital of the UK? You have probably seen photos of Big Ben. Has the expense of visiting London ever prevented you from going? It would be a good idea if an alternative city guide were to be made available for students, don’t you think?

TASK

The aim of this Blogquest is that your group, working and cooperating as a team, produce an alternative city guide. You should work in groups of three or four classmates. Each student will have a different role. Students will be in charge of finding the following:

• Transport.

• Accommodation.

• Pubs, bars and nightclubs.

• Cultural activities and tours.

Then, you should present your city guide using a Powerpoint Presentation.

PROCESS

1. In order to work together more efficiently, each team member should take one of the following roles below:


Person 1: London Nightlife Guide will look for several interesting sightseeing places and fun activities in London. You are responsible for finding and
comparing information about how to arrive, prices and music played in each place. You will review the given links to compare the different options. Your goal is to find the places in which they play music that you like.
Person 2: London Travel Agent will find reasonably transport tickets for London. You are responsible for finding and comparing information about prices on travel. You will review the given links to compare the overall costs of the trip. Your goal is to find the cheapest rates you can. Furthermore you can find other links about London metropolitan transport, using it find the best way to move you across London.

Person 3: London Tour Guide will look for several interesting sightseeing places and fun activities in London. Go to the given links in order to find the information you need for each monument, play, concert or something with a cultural interest. Try to find all the information in the selected web pages and explore all the options. Find prices, timetables and how to arrive.

Person 4: London Accomodation Agent will find reasonable hotels and airplane tickets for London. You are responsible for finding and comparing information about prices on London accommodation. You will review the given links to compare the overall costs of the lodging. Your goal is to find the cheapest rates you can. You will also need to find cheapest prices for a hotel room.


2. Search the information needed in the given links.

3. Create a folder and save the information obtained in it.

4. Finally, using a PowerPoint presentation make your alternative city guide.

London's main sights and attractions:
- http://www.capital-calling.com/
- http://www.virtual-london.com/
- http://www.londontown.com/
- http://www.travelbritain.com/london/
- http://www.ukguide.org/london/londonmap.html

Accomodation:
- http://www.hostelword.com
- http://www.hydeparkinn.com
- http://www.hostellondon.com
- http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/england/london

Transport:
- http://www.ryanair.com
- http://www.britishairways.com
- http://www.easyjet.com
- http://www.londonbuspage.com
- http://www.londontransport.co.uk/tfl/

Pubs, bars and nightclubs:
- http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/clubs-bars.php
- http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/out/ent/clubs.html
- http://www.offtolondon.com/nightlife.html

EVALUATION

Your report will be evaluated in group, so all of you have to work as hard as the others to get a good group mark. Your work will be evaluated in a scale from 1 to 4 as follows:

- BEGINNING (1)

. Web search and Planning: Passive role in team work. Shows little effort or interest. Random, last-minute activity.
. Design: Work barely meets the minimum requirements.
. Research and Gather Information: Does not collect any information that relates to the topic. Student didn't collect a map.
. Content: Does not report trip as planned. Shows little concern for topic.
. Grammar: Contains many grammatical errors.


- DEVELOPING (2)

. Web search and Planning: Shows more effort and interest but should improve research, planning and collaboration skills.
. Design: Work includes a few important ideas but are superficial and disorganized.
. Research and Gather Information: Collects little information. Some relates to topic.
. Content: Reports trip vaguely. Information is appropriate but report lacks organization and cohesion.
. Grammar: Contains several errors.


- ACCOMPLISHED (3)

. Web search and Planning: Demonstrates an ability to effectively use many sources of information. Contributes useful ideas to team work and assumes a responsible and encouraging role.
. Design: Work includes many good ideas clearly and logically. presented. Text and picture ratio well balanced. Shows attention to language and visual impression.
. Research and Gather Information: Collects good information. Most of it relates to the topic.
. Content: Report contains main information.
. Grammar: Contains some errors.


- EXEMPLARY (4)

. Web search and Planning: Assumes full responsibility for his/her own work and contributes a lot of original ideas to team effort. Is good at summing up ideas and presenting arguments.
. Design: Clearly and logically presented. Work demonstrates skilful use of web resources and ICTs. Work is original in approach and visually attractive.
. Research and Gather Information: Collects a great deal of information. All of it relates to the topic.
. Content: Relays a great deal of information. Report is organized.
. Grammar: It is virtually error free.

CONCLUSION

You have learned a lot about the alternative face of London.
You have worked in group and that is very satisfying.
You have used a lot of web pages in English and you have surfed the net in English.
You have used PowerPoint and you have found it useful to learn and study English.