Lesson Four: Finding Your Resources
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Back to Lesson Three: Advanced Searching Techniques
Forward to Unit Three: Evaluating Information
What We've Learned So Far
So far in this mini-course you've learned...
- There is a lot of information available on the Web.
- The research process involves planning, finding, and evaluating.
- You can create a guiding question or questions to help you find what you're looking for.
- Good searching happens through advanced searching.
- Google has many options for limiting (or expanding) results.
- Searching by entering key terms is more helpful than asking a question in Google.
Creating Search Terms for Your Research
In the last lesson, you used the terms information technology, Web 2.0 and social media in the Advanced Google Search to find results. Perhaps the guiding question that would use these terms might sounds something like 'What types of social media tools could be used within my classroom?' Notice that Web 2.0 and information technology weren't a part of this question, but are related to the overall concepts of information technology in the classroom.
Activity: Learn About and Create Your Search Terms
View
Read the following web page by clicking the link below. If you choose, you may also watch the embedded video in this webpage. It can be used as a refresher for some of the information you've learned about so far. Notice that this webpage is aimed at students at a University, but the information for searching the Internet is the same.
Next, in your online journal or in your paper journal, create three to five search terms you could use for your own research.
Trying It Out
Now that you have your search terms in hand, you're ready to do some research! In the next unit you'll learn to evaluate the resources you find. For now, use some of your search terms and several limiters. Feel free to try options we didn't use before in the guided advanced search.
Note: If you find that you aren't finding the type of results you're looking for, try changing your search terms or adding or changing your limiters. For example, if you're finding a lot of websites that end in .com, you could use .edu in the 'site or domain field' to help you find education based results.
Activity: Google Searching
Search the Internet using your terms and selecting criteria in the advanced form. Try five searches, adjusting as needed as you go. Searching is a skill that takes practice. It is different from browsing the Web because it's more intentional and therefore requires more effort.
Reflection: In a short paragraph in your journal, reflect on your searching by answering some or all of the following questions. How is advanced searching different from basic searching? Which type of searching produced the results you were looking for? How and if so, why did you change your search? Were your search terms effective? If so, how did you know?
Please proceed to the final unit of evaluation.
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Forward to Unit Three: Evaluating Information