NJEA REVIEW: Using the Internet

NJEA Review, Vol. 71, No. 3, November, 1997, Feature article on pg. 24. Resources on the Internet for Students and Teachers.

Search Engines

ALTA VISTA. One of the most frequently used search engines, Alta Vista allows you to select "advanced" or "simple" searching. After you select on of these, you select the "Help" button for helpl on that particular kind of searching to narrow yhour search further. The "Help" pages and the links from thenm have excellent search suggestions.

EXCITE. At the Excite home page, two obvious help choices are located above the "Search" button - "Search Tips" and "Advanced Search". You also need to scroll through the menu to locate "Help" under the "Information" heading. By then selecting "How to Search" at the "Help" menu, you will find nine selections to help you learn how to be an effective Excite searcher.

InfoSeek Guide. - or IntoSeek. - At the homepage, select "Tips" next to the "Seek" button. You will be linked to a well-organized "Help Table of Contents" where you can make a selection based on your level of expertise. Read each selection the first time you visit a search engine.

Lycos. - At the homepage, select "Inside Lycos" from the Lycos menu, then from the "Help Page" menu select "Search Help". You will be presented with a list of "Help Topics" and you will want to look at "Getting Started with Lycos". "Search Help," and "Custon Search" for specific information on effective use of the Lycos search engine.

Magellan. - At the homepage, there are two different ways to locate help for searching. You can select the "Options" button next to the "search" button, and you will be linked to a page which gives you several more links to search information. Second, you can select the "Help" button on the homepage, and you will be linked to a "Frequently Asked Question" or FAQ page.

Webcrawler. - At the homepage, select the "Help" button from the button choices at the top of the screen. At the "Help" * Contents" screen, you will find three selections for searching help - "Basics of Searching," "Search Tips," and "Out of Search Ideas?".

Yahoo! - This is another popular search engine. At the homepage, select "options" next to the "Search" button. At the next screen, you will find two options which link you to explicit information for searching, "Help on Search" and "Advanced Search Syntax." Selecting the "help" button will bring you to general information about Yahoo! Search.

Yahooligans. This is a search engine designed for young students. By selecting the "INFO" button, you willl reach the "Yahooligans! Information Booth" where you can find information about the search engine. However, there are no detailed search strategies for using this searh engine.

 Some "super" search engines conduct
              searches of several search engines using the keyword
              or keywords which you have indicated in your search
              query.  They include:

Highway 61. - At the homepage you will find "Options" which will allow you to select links to more information about searching. For a little humor, be sure to try "Will the armadillo make it across the road?"

HotBot. -At the homepage, select "HELP" to reach a menu of optionse. Read the information ound at "An Introduction to Using HotBot," "Frequently Asked Questions," and "HotBot Controls Reference." All are excellent resources for search information.

Metacrawler. - At the homepage, select "FAQ" at the "go2search services" menu. You will want look at several FAQs: "What is MetaCrawler...," "The Quality of my results have gone down..." "How can I refine MetaCrawler searches?". These will give you information about what Metacrawler is and how to use it effectively.

SavvySearch. - At the homepage, select both "FAQ" and "HELP" for information on ousing this experimental metasearch tool.

 For some  general information , check out
                the following:
Lists of Web-Guides. | Lists of Search Engines. 
 For more information about how to become
                a better searcher, chech out these web sites:

General Resources for Teachers 

 A wide reange of teacher resources appear on the NET
        every day, with hundreds added daily.  Here are some frequently
        used ones:
Children's literature web site.| Classroom Connection.| Eisenhower National Clearing House for Math & Science.|ERIC home page.|Historical/social studies web site for K-12 teachers. | NASA K-12 Internet initiative. | Web66..

Some Web Sites with lots of information for students include:

city net. | Franklin Institute Science Museum. | White House Web.

Other Resources

A monthly Newsletter for teachers with ideas for Internet and WWW use, offers subscription information at Classroom Connect. | For ideas on integrating technology and telecommunication into curriculum, check out the Leading and Learning with Technology.

Web Sites for Teachers and Students in Subject Areas

English, language arts, & Literature

Fine Arts
Foreign Languages
Special Education
Collaborative projects
Science & math connections.
Social Studies & History.
General teacher resources.

Conclusion of NJEA educational resources

Compiled by Glenroy B. Wolfsen, 11/29/97. Back to Home Page