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Smart Search

Searching smartly means knowing how to use search engines, alter Web site addresses, and even search in the language you know best. Here's how:

Know Your Search Engines

Think all search engines are alike? Try looking for the same topic on 3-4 search engines and see what happens. Not every search engine is the best choice for students or teachers. Find out how to use -- and how to teach students to use -- search engines in the Education World article Surfing for the Best Search Engine Teaching Techniques.

It's Greek to Me
Search in your native tongue.

ESL students doing online research can change Google's Preferences so the interface (the actual text on Google's search pages) or the sites found are in the student's native language.

Back to the Source
Navigate easily to a site's home page!

Teach middle and high school students to "backtrack" Web sites. When they find a great Web page and want to look at more pages on the same site, but can't figure out how to do that from the page they're on, show students how to go to the site's main page by deleting everything after the extension (.com, .org, .edu, etc.) in the URL.

Refine Your Search
Advanced searches find the pages you need.

Narrow online search results by using the Advanced Search Features at Yahoo or Google. Those features are located to the right of the search blank at both sites, and both sites provide a number of options, including allowing users to specify an exact phrase or work to look for or exclude.



Article by Lorrie Jackson
Education World®
Copyright © 2004 Education World

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