Supporting digital skills: Searching

Explaining what search engines are and the safe way to use them. While also explaining how to use search engine words.

Explain how search engines work.
Top search engines people use everyday.
How sites will have there own search engines within the site so that you can search just their site for information or a product you are looking for.

If they are interested in how searches work and would like to learn further, teaching them about Boolean searching - using AND OR & NOT.

AND - provides both terms in a search.
"Cat AND dog"
you will get items that have both those terms in them, not one or the other.
This provides a narrower search if you only need information that discusses both.

OR - provides either term in the search.
"Cat OR dog"
you will get items with just Cat or just Dog or both Cat and Dog.
This provides a broader range of results. this is handy when you are happy with results having one or the other and both.

NOT - provides just one term and excludes the other.
"Cat NOT Dog"
you will get only items with Cat, anything that has dog in it (even if it has cat) will be excluded.
This gives you a very narrow search.
If you require results with strictly just one topic and want to make sure it doesn't have other topics, this will limit it to just your one term.

Search engines, navigating tabs and menus. Search terms and advanced searching. Not clicking on ads.

show how a search is great research tool. Explain Search Engines and what they do (they are like a privately owned directory and provide addresses, but the service is paid for by advertisers, so be wary of biassed results).

Explain the difference between a web browser and a search engine. Explain using key search terms, and point out ads and what reliable websites might look like

Show the ways to search online. Create a basic do and don't list and things to avoid and not click on.

Provide free training on searching the internet - ways and safety (how to spot ads and scam pages).

Pam, Katrine and Mark covered all i could think of and more that i didn't.

It really depends on the person's interests and what they would like to search. For example, some may be looking for particular educational materials, whilst some may be looking for things related to their hobbies. In which case, explain different search engines and how they function. In addition, explain that whilst some content may look like they may meet their needs, they are paid advertising materials and can be biased. Explain how they can start with 'key terms' and expand to 'key phrases' and so on.

Explain how search works

Explain search engines and make sure they understand to be aware that not all websites can be trusted

Terms and concepts for discussion:
search engines and how they function
key terms
refining results according to age, date, location
different types of searches: website, image, video etc.
discerning the veracity of site content, particularly for purposes of research

Explain search engines and what adverts look like also tell them about maps and other places to search. Get them to search for things that are interesting for them.

provide training on various search engines and how to browse safely

Explain what search engines are. Suggest some popular engines. Demonstrate some searches

Explain how to use the address bar to type in keywords for research.

1:1 Tech Help Session, ensure spelling is accurate, look for secure sites, show how changing your search words can impact website options

Explain how to search, how to then filter through your search to find what you need and how to identify secure sites.

Explain how search engines work. Advise the customer to use well known search engines i.e Google.

Unpack what a search engine does and explain that not all search engines do the same thing - explain that some are secure sites and others are not. Need to be careful.

Explain how to interpret search results, the difference between a reputable and secure website or an ad or insecure site.
The difference between the address bar and the search bar.
How the search can be broad or specific and the results very different.
What to do with pop ups.

Show where to type in the search box.
Show the variety of options that can narrow down their search e.g. Images/videos/news/books etc.
Explain that there are many search engines.

Suggest using specific terms for their search then if there is no success to then to broaden then search request term.

How to interpret the search results and how to navigate around these areas.

Search engines - different choices, enter key words in the field, number of hits and pages, narrow search down if too vague and don't get anything relevant, often ads first or to the side, click on blue link to go to the webpage, can return back to search and try again, Images/Video tab

How to improve accuracy, how to identify a legitimate website

Explain what search engines are.
Start broad, and then narrow your search.
Using keywords, and brainstorming alternative terms.
Understanding the Search Results: ads, spotting gov or edu sites, etc.
How to get back to your search results after you've clicked on something.

What is customer's interest? What might they want to explore/access?

Show them how search engines work, and how to use keywords to find the required information. Explain that not all sources of information can be trusted.

agree with all the above options. An introduction to Google!

Show them a few different search engines. Explain how a lot of results can be paid ads and show them the difference. Show how to search for pictures, documents etc to suit what they're looking for.
Explain how not everything found on the Internet is reliable or true - show them some features of reputable sites eg ending in gov.au or org.au etc.

Explain how to search and how to recognise safe sites.

Explain what a browser is and what a search engine is. Show the different sorts of websites and how to recognise a scam website. Teach them about screen layout - and identifying and avoiding advertising.

Teach them how to search and how to reconise a scam website.
Explain what pop ups are and how to get rid of the unwanted ads.

How to choose reputable websites with quality content
How to save websites as favourites for ease of access

What to do if come across a site they don't want. How to block certain web pages and get rid of unwanted ads.

How to search and how to recognise safe websites plus the others above not mentioned.

give training in searching. Agree customers need to know not all websites are safe

- Explain how search engines work
- What to do with pop up advertisements

How to identify that a website is a secure site
How to treat pop-ups
What you could do if you get a pop-up saying "You're the 1 millionth visitor: you've just one $10 000 click here to claim prize"
How to identify websites listed in the search results - whether it's an add, a gov website, company or organisation website, PDF information, Utube etc.

Explain search engines and make sure they understand to be aware that not all websites can be trusted

provide training in searching the internet

Explain to them how to get the best search results for your question/query. Show them how to spot an advertisement in the search results, explain the different types of search engines available

How to interpret the screen results. Advertisements and other junk can encroach on text and it can be confusing and lead them to irrelevant links.

How to word searches. How to ensure that information is relevant and authentic. How to use * and not.

How to search - tips to increase retrieval of results - security with accessing sites/links

Defining what a search engine actually does