Webquest for students developed by makeITfair

makeITfair is a European project focusing on the electronics industry, especially on consumer electronics. We want to let young people across Europe know about the labour abuses and environmental problems worldwide and to get them active to improve the situation. Therefore makeITfair developed a webquest for students.

We want to let young people across Europe know about the labour abuses and environmental problems that are going on right now around the world – just to satisfy our demand for all the latest electronic gadgets. And we want young people to get active to improve the situation. Together we can hold big brand electronics companies to account – asking them to take responsibility for the labour abuses and environmental damage at the bottom of their supply chain. makeITfair developed a webquest to inform young people about this subject and to get them active to make a difference!

Every day students are using electronics, mobile phones, MP3 players and game consoles. Not many people know about the problems involved in the production of these products – for example the environmental impact of the mining of metals used in mobile phones, or the bad working conditions in the Chinese laptop factories. Without giving the students a feeling of guilt when using a phone, an MP3 player or a computer, this webquest will raise awareness about the problems involved and will also discuss how consumers and other actors could contribute to a different attitude and a change in behaviour and production techniques. They will also learn about the linkage they have with citizens in developing countries. Our specially-designed webquest challenges students to start their own mobile phone shop – so they can see for themselves how to balance problems encountered along the supply chain with the demands of consumers.

Who is the webquest for?

The webquest is suitable for 14 to 16-year-old students. It takes two hours (or 3 x 40 minutes) to complete (including additional assignments) and is relevant for social studies, geography and economy. The webquest is available in Englisch, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, German and in the near future also in Polish.

Where can I find it?

The webquest used to be available for free at the makeITfair website, but has been discontinued. There used to be a downloadable worksheet for students, as well as a teacher’s manual and four different brochures for students to use in class. For more detailed information, teachers were able to consult the summaries of makeITfair’s research.

Organisations makeITfair

makeITfair is co-ordinated by the Dutch organisation SOMO (Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations). Project partners are IRENE in the Netherlands, SwedWatch, Fair Trade Center, Church of Sweden Aid from Sweden, FinnWatch and Finnish Association for Nature Conservation from Finland; Germanwatch and Verbraucher Initiative from Germany, KARAT from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE); ACIDH from the DR Congo, CIVIDEP from India and SACOM from China.