Using Google Advanced Search

Using Google Advanced Search

Instructional Delivery: This lesson can be used in any mode of delivery, online or in the classroom.

Objective: By the end of this lesson, you will be able to efficiently search for information on the Internet.

Rationale: The Internet is one place where you will find billions of pages of Information. However, finding relevant information quickly can be difficult and time consuming. With a few internet research tips, students will achieve better search results and develop a more thorough understanding of their topic.

Note to Teachers: This lesson is appropriate for almost any grade level and can be used at any time during the school year/semester to teach searching skills, practice searching skills, or as an early step in a research project.

Procedures:  Depending on the current skill level of the students, provide guidance through the five steps below.

Keywords/Tags: searching, advanced search, Internet, tutorial, lesson, information 

The ability to find or information is one of the most important skills you can have in the 21 century. We are a society of information seekers and whoever has the information reaps the rewards, whether you are compiling research for your professor on campus or your supervisor at work.

The Internet has so much information it can be overwhelming to try to find just what you need without wasting time wading through a lot of garbage. So some smart person developed a search engine and then some other smart people developed their versions of the search engine and we ended up with a wide variety of search tools.

There are many other search engines, (yes, there really are!) However, Google has increase the size of its database so much in the last 20 years that the information available is mind-boggling.

*Spend three minutes or so, watching the video in Step 2 to get some excellent tips to use while searching for information on your topic. 

*Take good notes so you can use them when it's time for you to search.

Alright, now you know what we are going to be doing but what shall we search for and why should we search? You can search the Internet to learn about any topic that interests you whether for fun and self-knowledge, or to complete an assigned research project.

For our purposes in using Advance Google search, lets pretend we have been assigned to learn about a topic that we will later present to the class. This will be fun because we are allowed to pick any topic that interests us.

As you watch this video about the six steps in the research process,  think about a topic you are interested in researching.
For this lesson,  will complete steps 1-3 shown in the video:

1. Choose a topic & explore
2. Narrow the focus
3. Gather

For a quick read, download the transcript for the Advanced Search video.

Write it Down!

 

 

1. Write down the topic you chose.
2. Briefly explain the focus of your topic.
3. Tell us three things you want us to know about your topic.

 

Take this lesson a step further, add technology by choosing one of the following tools to share your exit ticket information with the class:

• AdobeSpark
• Google Docs
• Padlet
• Sway
• Wakelet
• Other presentation tool?