Online research has been around for years, and for me they have been a lively hood in most of my education. Online searches for me were mainly about going to Google and typing in what I needed and using the first thing that pops up. I had the idea that if it was the first thing to pop up it had to be the best. Another search tool I used was Wikipedia, which is not always true. The Wikipedia site can be updated by anyone and they can put anything on there. I never used multiple search engines or even tried to limit my search. I knew that the extensions meant were the website was from but I thought it was directly from that place. I had no idea that a person could also make a website for .edu for example. My search tactics were and until recently still were prehistoric.

                Through the lesson I learned better ways to get better results for my search. Such things as country codes and file extensions can be used to limit your search for things that you can use. Credibility of a site is another thing I’ve learned. Instead of using the first site you get and guessing that is true I now can do in-depth research on the site to find its credibility. There are sometimes links that give you thoughts and comments on the site. These help you make sure it is a good reference. Though I have only used Google for a long period of my life I now know what I can and cannot use on different search engines, because each search engine displays its information differently you may get more useful sites. Not all things that search engines pop up are useful so another useful tool is to find out who the publisher is to have accountability for the site.

                In high school it would have been lovely to have these tips. While it is more work to use these tools and research a search engine it gives far better end results. I think that my habits with Google have been broken. Being more specific has actually given me more time, because I am not looking through junk. In the classroom I believe this will make me more prepared because now I will know what I am teaching is appropriate and credible. I can now search for things only for a certain category or age. As far as my students I will try o give them these skills through instruction.  I know that they will not have as much use for it then as they will in the future, but they are useful habits to have.