Decoding the URL Uniform Resource Locator/World Wide Web Address

1. Decoding the URLUniform Resource Locator/World Wide Web Address What does the slash (/) represent? http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ Indicates the beginning of a sub-directory – treeoctopus is a subdirectory of this site HOW DOES THIS SUPPORT CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS?

2. An essay on the Holocaust northwestern.edu is the domain name. Sometimes it may be an acronym (yrdsb). The edu extension indicates that this is an educational site for higher learning such as university. pubweb is a common term in a URL. It means public web server. This is a clue that this is a personal site. http://pubweb.northwestern.edu/~abutz/di/intro.html The name after the tilde indicates that this is a personal directory of abutz. The / indicates a file or folder within another folder. di refers to the name of the folder in abutz’s directory where the intro page of the site is stored. The tilde ~ is the second clue that this is a personal site. The tilde indicates a personal directory. November, Alan. Empowering Students With Technology.  Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press, 2001.

3. Extensions .com domain designated for businesses/for-profit organizations .org usually non-profit organizations .gov government organizations .canada.gc.ca Canada’s Federal Government .ca geographic location (Canada) .dk geographic location (Denmark) .jp geographic location (Japan) .edu.on.ca education sites combined with province and country code .ac.uk academic site combined with country code

4. Search Engines and Search Results • Sites that appear at the top of the list are not necessarily the most useful • Only a portion of available sites appear for a given search • Read carefully – some sites search within the site and others search the entire Web • Use several search engines such as Google, Yahoo, All the Web, etc. • Sample many sites and THINK CRITICALLY

5. Getting to the Top • Companies can outbid one another to get to the top • Placement of key words or tags on the website can affect the result • Links from other sites affect search engines such as Google (it’s a popularity contest) • Results are sorted by pre-assigned categories (Yahoo)

6. Using a Search Engine Try: • specific search terms and keywords • terms “AND” “OR” “NOT” • quotation marks (“alberta camping reservations”) • the + or - commands (+alberta +camping +reservations), but this does not guarantee the words will be together • a search engines’ help features, for example: Google Advanced Search and Google Helphttp://www.google.ca/advanced_search and http://www.google.ca/help/index.html

7. "Google Advanced Search." 20 Mar. 2006 < http://www.google.ca/advanced_search?hl=en >.

8. Search Engine vs. Directory • Search Engines • Google www.google.ca • Directories • Kids Click! www.kidsclick.org/ • Encyclopedia • Wikipedia www.wikipedia.org

9. Looking for Clues(a.k.a. Critical Thinking) www.easywhois.com (Who owns the site?) • registration area • who owns the Web address • can only be used with top level sites

10. Wikis, Blogs, WebQuests, and Podcasts A wiki is a web application that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content. Wiki also refers to the collaborative software used to create such a website (see Wiki software). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIKI “WikiPedia – The Free Encyclopedia" 17 Mar. 2006 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page >.

11. Wikis, Blogs, WebQuests, and Podcasts A blog or weblog is similar to an online dictionary and is generally open to the public and updated on a regular basis. “Ontario Blogs – Fall 05" 17 Mar. 2006 < http://blogs.enoreo.on.ca >.

12. Strategies for Reading Online • Which link should I follow? • try a search engine think aloud based on grammar of the Internet • How do I navigate within a Web site? • stop, think, and anticipate (do not click just yet) • scan menu choices • skim and scan the homepage to locate links and keywords that may contain desired information Coiro, Julie. “Making Sense of Online Text" Educational Leadership. Oct. 2005: 30-35. 

13. Strategies for Reading Online • How do I navigate within a Web site (cont’d)? • explore interactive features (scroll bars, images, pop-up menus, pull down menus) • About This Site • notice any internal search engines or site maps • question further exploration Avoid random clicking – remember to stop, think, and anticipate! Coiro, Julie. “Making Sense of Online Text" Educational Leadership. Oct. 2005: 30-35. 

14. Strategies for Reading Online • How Do I Know This Is True? • Does the information make sense? • check the URL • author • links coming and going (remember linked sites do not mean an endorsement) • site history • create a Web site evaluation check list Coiro, Julie. “Making Sense of Online Text" Educational Leadership. Oct. 2005: 30-35. 

15. Strategies for Reading Online • How Do I Synthesize Without Copying? • copy and paste relevant text • include the citation • summarize, in your own words • information connection to other information • personal impressions/changes in thinking • synthesize the information – include personal impressions and facts learned from the reading Coiro, Julie. “Making Sense of Online Text" Educational Leadership. Oct. 2005: 30-35.