Getting Students Online: A Webquest Lesson

By Angela Lee

Fall 1999

Intro/Objective:

It is very easy to get lost in Internet research especially as the Internet changes everyday. Topics seem endless and it is easy to feel like you are looking for a needle in a haystack. We can become easily distracted and/or frustrated using the Internet. We can and should learn strategies for looking for reliable materials on the web.

  1. Familiarizing You with the Internet
  1. What is the Internet?

    2. If you are not familiar with using the Internet, please go through the below website entitled "World Wide Web Workbook." Click on the buttons that are highlighted and go through the workbook.

    http://www.fi.edu/primer/setup.html

  2. Internet Jargon

Learn what certain words mean so that when the teacher or classmates makes reference to it, you will understand.

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Glossary.html

B. Browsing the Internet
  1. Learn about Search Engines and Directories

    2. Go through Kathy Schrock’s slide show about using Search Engines and Directories

    http://discoveryschool.com/schrockguide/searching/index.html

  2. Use a Search Engine

Choose one of the listed Search Engines and Directories on the website below and find sites on the subject of ___________

http://www2.famvid.com/i101/search.html

  1. How many "hits" have you found? (usually it will tell you on top of the list)
  2. Check out about 10 of the random hits. What percentage of them seemed to be worthwhile?
  3. How do you know if they are any good? Brainstorm for how you can evaluate these sites. (Evaluating Web sites will come later)
  4. Use the Search Engines and find sites on a topic of your choice. Go through letter a) – c) and answer the questions again.

C. Tips for Better Browsing

http://edsitement.neh.fed.us/tools/instructions-browsing.htm

  1. Using more focused subject directories

    2. There are specific search engines for subjects found at all the Search Engines above

    For Example for History: http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/History/

    Don’t forget to click on "just this category" rather than "all of Yahoo!"

    How does this compare with just searching on all of Yahoo?

  2. Vary your topic words

    3. For example, if you are looking up web sites on George Washington, you could use just "Washington", "George Washington", "presidents", "US presidents," etc. Don’t give up your search just because you can’t find it after using one word because it may be catalogued under something else.

  3. Research Resources at the Library

The Weston High School Library has paid for access to certain Research Resources to help you find specific information. These resources are helpful because you can rely on the information and not wonder if it is just "junk."

http://www.weston.org/Schools/High/Depts/Library/

Go into the Research Resources and use Electronic Library to find information on the subject of ______.

How does it compare with the first "hit" of the Search Engines you used above?
  1. Organizing Your Search

This part can get kind of tricky but it is important to figure out a method to do this. First, ask yourself: WHAT IS MY GOAL FOR THIS SEARCH? Second, ask: WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO FIND THIS INFORMATION?

  1. Use Bookmarks/Favorites

    2. Depending on if you are using Netscape, which uses "Bookmarks" or Microsoft Explorer, which uses "Favorites", you should get into the habit of marking pages that look helpful or that you would want to come back to later.

  2. Use the sites you already have to link to other pages with the same/similar topics

Many sites have links to other sites. Check them out instead of going back to your search engine, because they are most likely going to be about the same topic you are searching for.

  1. Evaluating Internet Sites

Because the Internet is so easy, sometimes we forget that we can find materials just as easily, or even more easily in books in the library. Generally, books and print materials in the library go through a complex process so we know that the information we get is reliable and trustworthy. It is not the same on the web.

Go below and use one of the evaluation sites to learn how to evaluate a website.

http://discoveryschool.com/schrockguide/evalhigh.html

http://www.winsor.edu/library/evalstud.htm