Finding a Good Website
There are tons of websites on the Internet that have information about our countries in Central America. However, all websites are not created equal. This means that some websites will have better information and be more accurate. Below, I have provided a list for finding out if the website you are using is a good website to use. Please make sure that you consider these tips when you are doing your research.
Tips
1. Think of Key Words: Think of a couple key words about the topic you want to research. This means that you need to narrow down your topic into a few words.
2. Search: Type in your key words on a search engine. You can use Google.com, Goodsearch.com, or others that you have heard of. If you are not sure, just check with one of your teachers.
3. Look Through Your Options: A ton of options will pop up when you type in your key words. It is important to look through more than one of the websites. The first few websites are the most common websites, it does NOT mean that they are the most reliable.
4. Check Your Source: Before you click on any of the websites, look at the name of the website. Use your best judgment when determining if you think it is a good website or not. You can ask yourself questions like "Have I heard of this website before?" "Is this an education website?" and "Was this website made by the government?"
5. Is This Website Valid?: Remember, not everything on the internet is true. You need to make sure that the website you are using seems to be true. You will need to use your best judgment. Ask yourself questions like: "Is there an author or creator?" "Is there contact information on the page?" "Is it made by an organization that I trust?"
6. Purpose: Determine the purpose of the website. If you think the website is trying to sell you something or has too many advertisements, use a different website.
7. Cite Your Sources: If you use information from a website, make sure you record it on the back of your flip book. We need to make sure that we give people credit for the work that they did. If you copy someone's work in their exact words, make sure you put quotation marks around it and write their name after it in parentheses.
For more tips, you can visit: http://primarytech.global2.vic.edu.au/2012/05/29/tentips-for-teaching-students-how-to-research-and-filter-information/
*Remember to keep these tips in mind as you research your country!*
Tips
1. Think of Key Words: Think of a couple key words about the topic you want to research. This means that you need to narrow down your topic into a few words.
- For example, when researching about the culture of a country, you might want to be more specific. You could narrow it down to food, dance, game, or more.
2. Search: Type in your key words on a search engine. You can use Google.com, Goodsearch.com, or others that you have heard of. If you are not sure, just check with one of your teachers.
3. Look Through Your Options: A ton of options will pop up when you type in your key words. It is important to look through more than one of the websites. The first few websites are the most common websites, it does NOT mean that they are the most reliable.
- I would recommend looking through two to five websites before you choose one!
4. Check Your Source: Before you click on any of the websites, look at the name of the website. Use your best judgment when determining if you think it is a good website or not. You can ask yourself questions like "Have I heard of this website before?" "Is this an education website?" and "Was this website made by the government?"
- For example, a website titled "Facts about Central America" might be much more reliable than "Stuff I think are true about Central America."
5. Is This Website Valid?: Remember, not everything on the internet is true. You need to make sure that the website you are using seems to be true. You will need to use your best judgment. Ask yourself questions like: "Is there an author or creator?" "Is there contact information on the page?" "Is it made by an organization that I trust?"
- For example, if there is a website without an author or creator, no contact information, does not reference a reliable source, and you do not feel confident in the information, do not use the website.
6. Purpose: Determine the purpose of the website. If you think the website is trying to sell you something or has too many advertisements, use a different website.
- For example, you find a website that you want to use to research fast facts about your country, but the website has 15 advertisements that take up most of the page. I would use a different website that focuses more on the information and less on advertisements.
7. Cite Your Sources: If you use information from a website, make sure you record it on the back of your flip book. We need to make sure that we give people credit for the work that they did. If you copy someone's work in their exact words, make sure you put quotation marks around it and write their name after it in parentheses.
- For example, if you find a sentence about the food in Belize that you really like, you can use it! You just have to give the website credit. If you are reading and find, "It might best be described as both similar to Mexican/Central American cuisine and Jamaican/Anglo-Caribbean cuisine" on Wikipedia, you would need to cite the information.
- That means you would write, "It might best be described as both similar to Mexican/Central American cuisine and Jamaican/Anglo-Caribbean cuisine" (Wikipedia, 2013).
- In other words, you write the source or author's name and the year it was written.
For more tips, you can visit: http://primarytech.global2.vic.edu.au/2012/05/29/tentips-for-teaching-students-how-to-research-and-filter-information/
*Remember to keep these tips in mind as you research your country!*