3 Tips for Helping Students Effectively Find and Select Information Online
Now more than ever, it is crucial for students to effectively find and select reliable information online. In a world of misinformation, students must recognize fact from fiction. To achieve this, provide students with effective ways to search, analyze, and scrutinize information online. These practices can significantly enhance your students’ research and critical thinking skills. In this article, we provide tips to help students effectively find and select information online.
Tip 1. Consider the Best Search Engine
Search engines play an important role in the content we search and find. It is beneficial to use kid-friendly search engines when students find and select information online. Unlike some search engines, kid-friendly search engines implement “safe search” filters to hide inappropriate content. Most schools install restrictive network filters to protect students using the school’s internet. Unfortunately, these filters do not protect students once they leave school grounds. On the contrary, kid-friendly search engines have safe search filters in place regardless of where they are accessed.
Tip 2. Compare and Contrast
As responsible internet users, it’s important to compare and contrast online information for accurate research and analysis. The ability to locate accurate information can be tricky, but not impossible. To combat this crisis of fake news, educators must encourage students to compare and contrast opposing information and facts. This requires students to both analyze and scrutinize the credibility of sources on each side of the argument. In turn, students build deeper connections and make informed decisions.
Tip 3. Create a Checklist
Many steps are needed to effectively find and select information online, and checklists can be a helpful reminder for students as they conduct research. A predetermined checklist may be used to guide students throughout the research process. Though checklists are great for individual activities, they can also be highly effective as a collaborative classroom activity. Student-led discussion can help them identify the key steps to include in their classroom checklist. Each activity prompts student engagement and acts as a guiding reminder to find and select the best information online.
To learn more about how you can help students effectively find and select information online, register for Digital Literacy Pathways and follow us on social media.