HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES

Post Graduate Diploma in Higher Education Teaching (PGDHET)

Module 6: ICT in Education PGEDHET Hand Book

Prepared by: Henok Sahilu (Department of Computer science, Haramaya University –

December, 2010)

Revised by (partially): Tesfaye Guta (ICT Directorate, Haramaya University –

April 2014)

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Module 6

Description

This module is designed to create awareness about the importance of ICT and its application in the

teaching learning process among instructors in higher education institution. The module typically

discusses the basic ICT ideas in education, the application of the ICT in teaching and learning

processes and tools to incorporate ICT in teaching and learning processes.

It is apparent that effective integration of ICT into the educational system is a complex, multifaceted

process that involves curriculum and pedagogy, institutional readiness, teachers competencies and long-

term financing. In this regard this module is designed to boost teachers’ competency towards the

integration ICT into the teaching and learning process.

Accordingly, this module constitutes sections such as, Introduction to ICT, Benefits of ICT for

teachers, How ICT help learning, and the application of ICT in different aspects of instructional

activities. Moreover, the module includes illustration, hands-on exercises, discussions, and questions.

In addition, the participants will learn the technologies behind ICT and will be familiarized with different

tools to incorporate the ideas of ICT into teaching in a mode that promotes active and student-centred

learning.

Objectives

By the end of this module participants will be able to:

define and list basic concepts on ICT in education

identify the improved and new learning models the make use of ICT

apply ICT skills in different aspects of teaching and learning process

identify challenges of ICT in education and know the how to overcome the challenges

understand the use of ICT in implementing student centred learning

be familiarize with and apply different tools of ICT in education

boost their competence in the integration ICT into the teaching and learning process

develop a positive attitude towards the use of ICT in daily work

Use the package for active and student centred learning

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Contents

Session 1 Introduction

Objectives

Methodology

Background to ICT

Session 2 ICT in education

Objectives

Introduction

Why ICT in education?

The promise of ICTs for teachers

Teachers’ responsibility in the integration of ICT in education

How ICT can help learning?

Session 3 Tools to integrate ICT in education

Objectives

Developing a course web site

What is a blog?

Why blog in education?

Creating and using blogs

Remote desktop connection

Sharing resources through network shares

Session 4 Browsing for Resources over the Web

Objectives

Types of search questions

Web search process

Search engines

Tips in searching for resources using search engines

Web directories

Metasearch engine

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Boolean logic in web searching

Search result filtering techniques

Evaluating web resources

Module evaluation

Group activities

Individual activities

Note: For practical purpose it is required that all participants come with their laptop and it is mandatory

that the room has Internet connection.

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Session Two: ICT in Education

Introduction

Information Communication Technology (ICT) have become, within a very short time, one of the basic

building blocks of modern society. This fact is forcing universities, colleges and other educational

institutions to change not only their degrees and study programmes, but also to renew some techniques

that until now were considered as appropriate teaching methodologies. Besides reading, writing and

numeracy competencies, many educational institutions now regard understanding ICT and mastering the

basic skills and concepts of ICT as part of the core of their education system.

ICT is becoming more and more important in the higher education process, claiming new attention and

conditions of learning, and new professional roles for lecturers.

In this session the need and the role of ICT in education, the challenges of educators toward using ICT

and the effects of ICT in learning will be discussed.

Objectives

By the end of this session participants will be able to:

Why ICT skills are required in education

The benefits of ICT skills for the teacher

Teachers responsibility in the integration of ICT in education

How ICT can help learning

Why ICT in Education?

ICT capability is about having the technical and cognitive proficiency to access, to use, develop, create

and communicate information using technological tools. Although a set of technical competences in

software applications (Office packages) are important, ICT capability is much broader in that it involves

the appropriate selection, use and evaluation of ICT. In essence, users need to know what aspects of ICT

are available to them, when to use them and why they are appropriate for the task.

For example, when creating a presentation, ICT capability refers to the selection of appropriate software

(different office packages), consideration of fitness for the purpose and matching content and style to a

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given audience. In this teaching and learning process ICT is used as a vehicle to support achievement of

those objectives.

As users become more confident and proficient in using ICT, there will be opportunities to apply and

develop higher ICT capability in subjects, for example, developing a course web site, manipulating data

to prove a hypothesis, or incorporating sound and video into a presentation to add meaning and impact.

But it should be noted that whatever the level of ICT capability applied, it must add value to the teaching

and learning in the subject.

It is apparent that subject teachers need not teach ICT capability, but can exploit new opportunities for

pupils to apply and develop the capability that they have, to enhance their learning in the subject.

Consequently, the focus of the lesson remains firmly rooted in the subject being taught. Hence, there are

implications for subject teachers, in that they will need a good understanding of the breadth of ICT

capability that pupils should acquire. For example, in the ICT-rich classroom, the provision of additional

sources of knowledge and information greatly reduces the dependency of pupils upon the teacher.

Students are able to use the ICT at their disposal to control and pace their own learning, taking an active

role, and constructing knowledge rather than being dependent on the older fashioned role of receiving it.

Teachers will also need to know which parts of ICT capability offer significant opportunities for teaching

and learning in their subject and how they can be incorporated into existing schemes of work. The use of

ICT needs to be purposeful and add value to the teaching and learning of the subject. Hence, it needs to

be careful integration into subject lessons, with a clear rationale for its use.

Whether educators choose to use ICT to support learning in a lesson is an important decision. In general

the use of ICT is helpful when:

A task cannot be done otherwise - e.g. demonstrating cell division (tasks that must be simulated).

It enables educators to do a task more efficiently - e.g. search for information.

It is believed to motivate students to learn – e.g. Demonstrating using animations makes the

subject clear and that would motivate students to learn. Students are more interested in

images ,icons, video, and photos than plain texts.

So how can the use of ICT raise standards in subjects?

ICT can be used as a tool to support teachers and learners:

• support teachers to:

improve lesson design;

transform teaching and learning;

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engage and motivate learners to learn more effectively;

provide opportunities for pupils to learn in alternative and challenging ways, using a wide range

of sources of information and techniques to support critical thinking;

support both individual and collaborative work; Users of the web are now creators of contents

accessed on the web

Teacher’s responsibility in integrating ICT in education

Teachers should expect students in any given year to have covered all or most of the ICT Framework

objectives from the previous year. Subject teachers may also force students to apply ICT skills that they

learn during the year in which they are being taught.

For teachers to ensure the effective use of ICT in their subject, they should:

Plan the use of ICT by students, in collaboration with the ICT department, to ensure that students

have appropriate ICT skills. For example enforce students to access reading materials from the

course website.

Be sure that appropriate ICT resources are available for the lesson. For example make sure that

electronic document submission is implemented and is functional.

It is important to plan for a range of uses of ICT, to ensure that pupils’ capability is developed and

consolidated as they progress, both in your subject and in the use of ICT. In particular, you should plan to

use ICT in your lessons at a level that will have been covered in ICT lessons.

You will need to ensure that:

Pupils’ use of ICT is varied but appropriate to their learning in your subject.

As pupils’ ICT capability increases they should be given further opportunities to apply and develop

appropriate aspects of that capability in subject lessons. E.g use of a spread sheet to perform

calculations in order that patterns can be concentrated on rather than calculating.

How ICT can Help Learning?

Frequent application of ICT can bring a dramatic change in the process of learning the following presents

some of them.

Developing understanding

– speed and automatic functions of ICT can enable teachers to demonstrate, explore or explain

aspects of their teaching, and pupils' learning, more effectively e.g. use of a spread sheet to

perform calculations in order that patterns can be concentrated on rather than the calculating.

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– explore prepared or constructed models and simulations. Teacher can use ICT to enrich

content by searching engines, facilitating knowledge understanding by multimedia &

computation tools, and managing learning content by content management systems (Moodle

and Joomla)

Extending access to sources

– Teaching time is limited but learning content is unlimited. In response to this, the capacity

and range of tools in ICT can enable teachers and pupils to gain access to historical, recent

or immediate information, through, for example, accessing information on CD-ROM or on

the Internet.

Enhancing enquiry skills

– Search for and compare information from different sources. Teachers and students need not

stick to books but rather they can find learning resources through the user of ICT

Enhancing the development of ideas

– The provisional nature of information stored, processed and presented using ICT allows

works to be changed and amended easily – E.g. using a word processor to edit and refine

writing. Information kept on blogs can be referred again any number of times.

Enhancing the communication of ideas

– communicate with other people, locally and over distances, easily and effectively

– Present information in ways which are accessible in different forms for different

audiences.

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Session Three: Tools to integrate ICT in Education

Techniques of ICT in Education

This session introduces you to e-learning system and also presents the use of online journals called blogs

and how one educator can possibly create his own blog and use it for teaching and learning processes.

In environment where operations are supported by connected computers it is highly likely that one share

files and some scare hardware facilities. How to share files and remote desktop connections are also the

concern of this session.

Objectives

By the end of this session participants will be able to:

Know and apply E-learning systems

Be familiarize with what a Blog is

Create their own blog for

Share files on their computer

Use the Microsoft Windows desktop connection

What is e-learning?

E-learning (or eLearning) is the use of electronic media and information and communication

technologies (ICT) in education. E-learning is broadly inclusive of all forms of educational technology in

learning and teaching. E-learning is inclusive of, and is broadly synonymous with multimedia learning,

technology-enhanced learning (TEL), computer-based instruction (CBI), computer managed instruction,

computer-based training (CBT), computer-assisted instruction or computer-aided instruction (CAI),

internet-based training (IBT), web-based training (WBT), online education, virtual education, virtual

learning environments (VLE) (which are also called learning platforms), m-learning, and digital

educational collaboration. These alternative names emphasize a particular aspect, component or delivery

method.

E-learning includes numerous types of media that deliver text, audio, images, animation, and streaming

video, and includes technology applications and processes such as audio or video tape, satellite TV, CD-

ROM, and computer-based learning, as well as local intranet/extranet and web-based learning.

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Information and communication systems, whether free-standing or based on either local networks or the

Internet in networked learning, underly many e-learning processes.

E-learning can occur in or out of the classroom. It can be self-paced, asynchronous learning or may be

instructor-led, synchronous learning. E-learning is suited to distance learning and flexible learning, but it

can also be used in conjunction with face-to-face teaching, in which case the term blended learning is

commonly used.

Advantages of E-learning

Class work can be scheduled around work and family

Reduces travel time and travel costs for off-campus students

Students may have the option to select learning materials that meets their level of knowledge and

interest

Students can study anywhere they have access to a computer and Internet connection

Self-paced learning modules allow students to work at their own pace

Flexibility to join discussions in the bulletin board threaded discussion areas at any hour, or visit

with classmates and instructors remotely in chat rooms

Instructors and students both report eLearning fosters more interaction among students and

instructors than in large lecture courses

eLearning can accommodate different learning styles and facilitate learning through a variety of

activities

Develops knowledge of the Internet and computers skills that will help learners throughout their

lives and careers

Successfully completing online or computer-based courses builds self-knowledge and self-

confidence and encourages students to take responsibility for their learning

Learners can test out of or skim over materials already mastered and concentrate efforts in

mastering areas containing new information and/or skills

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Disadvantages of E-learning

Learners with low motivation or bad study habits may fall behind

Without the routine structures of a traditional class, students may get lost or confused about course

activities and deadlines

Students may feel isolated from the instructor and classmates

Instructor may not always be available when students are studying or need help

Slow Internet connections or older computers may make accessing course materials frustrating

Managing computer files and online learning software can sometimes seem complex for students

with beginner-level computer skills

Hands-on or lab work is difficult to simulate in a virtual classroom

Learning Management Systems

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation,

tracking, reporting and delivery of e-learning education courses or training programs.

LMSs range from systems for managing training and educational records to software for distributing

online or blended/hybrid college courses over the Internet with features for online collaboration. Colleges

and universities use LMSs to deliver online courses and augment on-campus courses. Corporate training

departments use LMSs to deliver online training, as well as automate record-keeping and employee

registration. Below are open source learning management systems:

aTutor Canvas

Chamilo

Claroline

Dokeos

eFront

Fedena

ILIAS

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LAMS

Moodle (being in use at Haramaya University)

OLAT

Sakai

SWAD

Totara LMS

WeBWorK

What is a Blog?

Nowadays the most effective way to share your thoughts and opinion is to create your own weblog. The

word 'blog' is short for 'weblog', a frequently updated publication of comments and thoughts on the web.

A blog is also called an online journal where anybody can have some writing published. In other words, it

is a web site that can be individually edited using just a web browser. Usually it is reflecting the views of

the blog's creator. Blogs consist of text and images and are sorted by date. The newest information is on

the top and there is an archive of the old one. People create blogs to share their thoughts with the other

blog viewers. A person writing in the journal is called a 'blogger'. Bloggers write about different topics:

from the typical daily situations to the progress of some scientific researches. The readers also can leave

comments and thus make the whole blog more interesting and useful.

Web Blogs for education

1) Using a blog makes learning independent of time and place

Independent of time and place educators can post reading materials and learners can use these

reading materials.

2) By posting articles on a Blog the old paradigm of teaching at a certain time in a certain place can

shift to teaching anytime and anywhere. Posting can be created by students and educators any time

and any place. Typically, Blogs and other asynchronous media give learners time to reflect. Using a

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blog makes education more informal – people can learn through discussion with other people in their

field.

3) Using a blog makes education demand oriented and participant- centred

Learners can go to several Blogs and build their own knowledge – from One -way-teaching and

supply orientation - to participation by everyone. But the challenge is as everyone can participate on

a blog, biased and/or inaccurate information can be taken by viewers.

4) Using a blog helps learners improve their writing competencies

Participants get better at reflecting and expressing reflections in writing

5) Using a blog invites people to collaborate.For example, people can ask and answer questions

to/from each other. But the challenge is in individualistic cultures, some people tend to guard

knowledge in that they do not share their knowledge because of fear of losing individual power.

Creating blogs

The blog application has much built-in functionality such as posting articles, HTML editor,

commenting, archive, menus, themes management, etc.

One does not need to know anything about web development to start blogging: you can create

and manage your blog site using some of the free blog tools that are available. These free blogging

sites provide a free space and a traceable address for users blog posts.

All you need to do is open a hosting account where you can have a blog application installed

and activated.

The following practice shows how to create a blog on http://wordpress.com/

1) Open your web browser and go to http://wordpress.com/

2) In the right hand part of the screen click on Sign Up Now to create an account.

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3) On the Get your own wordpress.com ... page fill all the necessary information to create a user

account. On the blog address type in the address of your blog that viewers would use to get your

blogs. If you call it hdptest then your blog address would be http://hdptest.wordpress.com. Don’t

forget to provide a valid email address that would be used to activate your account being created.

When finished filling the forms, click Sign Up.

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4) After a short while an email will be sent to the email address you provide, for example to

henok@haramaya.edu, to activate your account. Check your inbox and click the link in the

message. On the page appeared you can say something about yourself so that viewers can have a

better understanding of the creator topics on your blog. Click Save Profile when finished.

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Upon following the link sent to you, you would view Your account is now active! Now your account is

activated and ready to be used. If you follow http://hdptest.wordpress.com/, you would view hdptest’s

empty blog. Now let us go to hdptest blog and start populating it with contents and topics.

5) On the left corner of the same page provide your user name and password and click login to

get into the management console of you blog.

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6) Click on the My Blog tab and then click New Post to start putting some articles on your blog.

In the Enter title here text box type in the title of your new post and start inserting the content of

your post in the text area beneath. Note that there are a lot of formatting tools that you can use to

polish your content.

You can click on the preview button, on the right side of the page and see the feel and look of you

blog. Now click on the Publish button to publish your blog to the community of

users (learners and students).

7) Now open your browser and try to see your partner’s blog. On your partner’s blog click on

the Leave a comment link to comment on your partner’s article. Type in your name, email address

and on the text insert in your comments and click the Post comment button. Your comments will

be in pending until the owner of the blog changes its status to approved

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8) Now go back to your blog to see comments and set their status. On the left side click on

comments to list all comments given for your post. Note that on this list you can see comments,

when a particular comment was submitted and who has made that comment. Select comment(s)

and set its status as Approve, send it trash, Spam or Pending. For example to approve a

comment, select that comment and from the Bulk Actions select the Approved action and click

Apply button.

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Note: You are not limited to one blog. You can always create multiple blogs – one for your business,

one for your political views and one for the course you are teaching.

Don’t forget to add links to other sites which are useful and appropriate for the topic of your blog.

Viewers like to see other things on blogs besides your thoughts.

The following process describes uploading a document from your computer to your blog’s Media Library

and inserting a download link into a post.

1. Go to Posts -> click on one of your existing posts.

2. Click on the Add Media icon found in the Upload/Insert icon group directly above your editor

3. Click on the Select Files button and choose the file from your computer

4. Once the uploading/crunching process has complete, provide the title, caption and description

of the file.

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5. Now Click the Insert into Post button and go to your partner’s blog and try to download

documents.

Note: Your blog will not be populated much overnight but it will be successful if you work at it and

are patient until people come to your site to contribute ideas on your topic.

What is Remote Desktop?

In this section we will cover the use of Remote Desktop, a tool that, once mastered, can help you to

connect over the network to remote computer to perform maintenance or to launch applications. This

section will cover the basic setup and use of it.

With the Remote Desktop feature in Windows XP, Windows 7, users can remotely control a computer

from another office, from home, or while travelling. This feature allows users to use data, applications,

and network resources that are on office computer, without being in the office.

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You can't use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to computers running Windows 7 Starter, Windows

7 Home Basic, or Windows 7 Home Premium. In other words, systems with these operating systems will

not allow any remote desktop connection requests but users can use remote desktop connection to connect

to computers running any of these operating systems. That means remote desktop connection request can

be issued from these systems.

The guide below will walk you through the process of setting up your Windows 7 computer to handle

incoming Remote Desktop Connections from authenticated users and how to connect to a remote

computer.

1) Right Click on computer and select Properties

2) Click the Remote Settings link on the left hand side.

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3) On the System Properties dialog box select “Allow connections from computers running any

version of Remote Desktop” radio button. On the warning dialog box click ok and set your

computer to never sleep. Finally Click Apply.

4) On the system properties dialog box click on select users button to select users in your computer

that would have remote desktop connection permission. Click Add and then click Advanced. To

locate the users click Find Now button and select the required user and click ok four times.

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The above steps will issue that your computer is ready to listen to any remote desktop connection

request. Specifically, the above configuration steps must be applied to your computer in your office if

you want to connect to it from home or from another office.

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The following steps must be followed to successfully connect to remote desktop computer (E.x

Computer in office)

5) Click Start and then All Programs.

6) Select Accessories and click on Remote Desktop Connection

7) Type the address of the remote computer (IP address) in the Computer: text box, and click

Connect.

8) Now the connection is established Sign-on to the computer when prompted for credentials. Note:

Here the user selected in the step 4 is expected to sign on.

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File sharing on windows 7

In an environment where computers are connected through a campus wide network it is customary to

share files and other hardware parts like printers. In this section we will study and practice on how to

share files with other people.

We will start from scratch and basics. First you need to confirm that you have file sharing activated on the

connection (wireless or wired) you are using. To do:

1) Go to Start and click on Control Panel. Proceed to click View network status and tasks in Control

Panel window.

2) You will see option to change your Change adapter settings clicking on it and you will be able to see

the network cards installed on your system.

3) For example,right click on the Local Area Connection and then click Properties. In the

property dialog box make sure the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks check

box is selected and finally click OK.

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4) Let’s move back to Network and Sharing Centre window and click Change advanced sharing

settings.

5) Now navigate to Change Advance Sharing Settings and check options. First enable network

discovery so that others users will be able to see your share and next is to turn off password

protection because what is the use of sharing a folder if you have a password applied to it and

then apply the settings.

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6) Ok! Let’s start to enable file sharing in Windows 7, right click the file or folder you plan to share,

select Share with and click on Specific people....

7) File Sharing window will appear, and here you can select or key in the people you would like to

share the file/folder with and click Add. In this case, I added user Guest and also set the Read

permission level. Finally click Share to do sharing.

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Note: You can set 2 different permission levels for each people you selected:

Read - Can open, but not modify or delete the file.

Read/Write - Can open, modify, or delete the file.

8) The next window will tell you that your file/folder is shared, click Done to close the window.

Basically you have done file sharing in windows 7.

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9) You will notice there is no change on the shared file/folder icon, but if you right click the shared

folder and click on Properties. Then go to Sharing tab, it will show that folder is shared. Ok.

That folder and content can be accessed from other computers now by referring to that network

path.

To access shared files on another computer follow the following steps.

10) Click start and type in the address the computer where the shared files are. Use this syntax \\

192.168.0.1 and click Enter key

11) Then you will view the shared files.

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Session Four: Browsing for resources on the web

Introduction

Most of educators interface the web through the usage of search engines and Web search tools.

Understanding the types search engines and the operational principles of search engines call help a lot to

get the most out of them.

Objectives

By the end of this session participants will be able to:

Determine whether a research question is specific or explanatory

formulate an effective web search strategy to answer research questions

use web search engines, web directories, and web metasearch engines effectively.

Use Boolean logic and filtering techniques to improve your web searching

use advanced search options in web search engines

Assess the validity and quality of web search result

Types of search questions

Specific questions: questions you can phrase easily and one for which you will recognize and discern

the answer when you find it. Example what is the population of Ethiopia. Though the search results

for this query can be fetched from different documents, world population report, African population

report or etc, they can be easily filtered out.

Explanatory questions: open ended questions that can be hard to phrase: It is also difficult to

determine when you find a good answer. Example what are the causes of great depression?. It is

possible that different documents convey the answer for this query and all of them would be

presented as search results but it is hard to locate the one with higher weight for this query.

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Web search process

The following diagram depicts a specific web search process one might follow.

So what is repeating a search process?

You may need to formulate or state your question more clearly.

Try to think of synonyms for each word

Formulate and state the search query

Select the appropriate web search toolSearch engine Web directories

Evaluate the search results

Do the search results effectively convey the answer Are the search results from trusted sources?Is your answer available at 5,10 or 15 search result cut off points?

If your query was explanatory question type: repeat the previous steps until you have gathered enough information about the topic.

If your query was a specific question type: repeat the previous steps until you find the specific answers you seek.

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Identify unique phrases that related to your topic or question. Think of a typical word or phrase that

author of your topic might use.

Web search tools

There are different kinds of web tools that help users find answers for search questions. These tools differ

in the techniques they use to interpret search questions and in their searching mechanism.

Four broad categories of web search tools:

Search engines

Directories

Metasearch engines

Search engine

Search engine: A program that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of

documents or results where the keywords were found. Typically, a search engine works by sending out a

special program called spider to fetch as many documents as possible. Another program, called an

indexer, then reads these documents and creates an index based on the words contained in each document.

A search engine does not search the entire web to find a match for a user query; it only searches its own

database of documents that are collected and indexed. Hence, when we go to a search engine to locate

information, we are actually searching through the index that the search engine has created; we are not

actually searching the Web.

A search query is a word or a phrase users enter in to a search engine to find an answer for. This query

might also include some instruction that tell the search engine how to search or some procedures the

search engine should follow in trying to match the query with the documents. For example; users can

order for documents containing one specific word but not the other, or documents of .doc, .pdf or .ppt.

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Typically, a search engine works by sending out a spider to fetch as many documents as possible.

Another program, called an indexer, then reads these documents and creates an index based on the words

contained in each document.

In the majority of times the same search on different search engines produce different results. This fact

depends on what the spiders find or what the person submits. But more importantly, not every search

engine uses the same criteria or algorithm when indexing the web page information.

Algorithm: is what the search engines use to determine the importance of the information on the

web page to a given search term.

For example, one of the elements that a search engine algorithm scans is the frequency, location and

consistency of keywords on a given Web site. The more a keyword appears in a document the higher the

document relevance.

Another common element that algorithms analyze is the way that pages link to other pages. By analyzing

how pages link to each other, a search engine can both determine what a page is about (if the keywords of

the linked pages are similar to the keywords on the original page) and whether that page is considered

"important" and deserving of a boost in ranking.

No search engine can index the entire Internet. There may be overlaps but mainly each engine indexes a

different portion of the net. Thus, it is a very good idea to utilize more than one search engine when

searching on the Internet.

Tips in searching for resources using search engines

Selecting terms for an Internet search strategy is quite different from selecting terms for library databases.

There are two reasons for this:

1. Unlike a database that has individuals assigning subject headings and other related terms that assist you

in finding a source, a search engine uses an algorithm that presents search results according to popularity

(relevancy) or to the fees paid by the owners of the web page so that it is among the top results.

2. Databases searches are in the business of creating an environment that makes searching for relevant

information easy and effective. In contrast to this, Search engines are actually not in the search business

but in promoting web pages that have had a fee paid for it to appear in the top results.

In other words, although search engines are free, you do not receive the same quality of searching service

as provided by databases searching systems. Therefore, when considering terms, you need to think like

the author of the web page.

What terms would the author use to describe what you want?

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What specialized vocabulary would be used?

What regional language and/or slang would be used?

What unique words would describe the information you need?

Another good Internet searching practice is to give yourself a time limit. For example, after 15 minutes of

searching without any success, re-think your search strategy or consider searching somewhere else, such

as another search engine. For example you may try locating the definition of your keyword by typing

Define:your_key_word in Google search engine. Or Consider the following sites for your internet

searching. At least give them a try.

http://www.slideshare.net – for slides and presentations in .ppt and .pdf formats (registration is required)

http://www.pdfgeni.com – for .pdf format documents (no registration)

http://www.4shared.com – for books (no registration)

http://gigapedia.com – for books (registration required)

Web directory

This is a listing of hyperlinks to web pages that is organized into hierarchical categories. The difference

between a search engine and web directory is that people select the web pages to include in a web

directory. In this way many directories allow a web page to be indexed in several different categories. The

main weakness of a web directory is that users must know which category would most likely yield the

information being desired. Yahoo !(http://dir.yahoo.com)

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Metasearch engine

It is a tool that helps search several search engines at the same time. Unlike other search engines, it

doesn’t have its own database of web information.

It accepts a search query and disseminates it to several search engines which run the query against their

database and then return the result to the metasearch engine, which then reports consolidated results from

all of the search engine it required.

Boolean logic in web searching

The most important factor in obtaining good results in a web search is careful selection of search terms.

When a search topic is straightforward one or two words can be chosen and can work well. But more

complex search questions require more complex queries which the user can use along the Boolean logic

which is search expression operators or filtering techniques to broaden or narrow users search expression.

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Basically, these Boolean operators or logic operators specify the logic relationship between the elements

they join. Three basic Boolean operators –AND, OR, and, NOT- are recognized by most search engines

and users can include them with search terms to formulate their query.

The following table presents the behaviour of search results when the Boolean operators are used.

Search expression Search returns pages that include

Export AND France AND Japan All of the three search terms

Export OR France OR Japan Any of three search terms

Export NOT France NOT Japan Exports but not if the page also include the

terms France or Japan

Export AND France NOT Japan Exports and France but not Japan

Search result filtering techniques

These are techniques used to eliminate web pages from a search result list. The filtering criteria can

include web pages attributes such as language, data, domain to look for only, host, or page component.

Many search engines allow users to restrict searching by using them.Most search engines implement

many of the operators and filtering techniques discussed so far. Some search engines provide separate

advanced search pages for these techniques. Some search engines allow users to use advanced

techniques such as Boolean operators on their simple search pages.

Filtered search in Google

1) Open the Google search engine page in your web browser.

2) Click the advanced search link

3) Formulate and set appropriate search filters

4) Click the Google search button

5) Evaluate the result and if necessary, revise your search expression.

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Evaluating web resources

The web is characterized to have an enormous number of documets that are written and published by

anonymous developers. The information on the web is seldom subjected to a review and editing

processes. Hence, the risk of obtaining and relying on inaccurate or unreliable information can be

significant and imminent.

Users must reduce the risk by carefully evaluating the quality of any web resource on which they plan

to rely for information related to important judgement or decision. One can evaluate the web page’s

authorship, content and appearance in the effort to reduce the potential risks.

Author identity and objectivity

Web pages should identify the author(s) and present the authors’ background information and

credentials.

Check secondary sources for corroborating information.

Author’s contact information should be provided.

Examine the domain identifiers in the URL (Uniform resource locator). Subject specific

Information from .com domain has usually less weight than information from .edu domain.

Consider whether the qualifications presented by the author pertain to the material that appears

on the web. Don’t trust a literature web page written by a computer professional.

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Information about the author’s affiliation should be provided.

Content

Determine timeliness of the content by checking the publication date.

Read the content critically and evaluate whether the included topics are relevant to the research

question at hand.

Determine whether important topics or considerations were omitted

Assess the depth of treatment the author gives to the subject.

Form and appearance

Many pages that contain low –quality or incorrect information are poorly designed and not well

edited.

A web page that contains spelling errors might indicate a low-quality resource

Loud colour, graphics that serve no purpose, flashing text and excessive animations are all

web page design elements that often suggest low-quality resource.

Evaluating the quality of a web site

1) Open a web page in your browser

2) Identify the author, if possible. If you can identify the author, evaluate his or her

credentials and objectivity

3) Examine the content of the web site

4) Evaluate the site’s form and appearance

5) Draw a conclusion about the site’s overall quality

For example let us evaluate the quality of information on Wikipedia

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org) is a web site that hosts a community–edited set of online

encyclopaedia in more than a dozen of different languages. Even if the form and appearance of the pages

in this site are well formatted and there is no unnecessary graphic usage Wikipedia’s content is only as

good as its contributors, and consequently some of the information on the site is inaccurate, incomplete,

or is biased.