Transcript Internet Uses for Counselors

Using the Internet: Guidelines for
Counselor Educators and
Students
Jodi Mullen
Michael LeBlanc
Topics
• Evaluating a Web Site
• Effective Strategies for Searching the Web
• Innovative Uses of the Web
– Extending the Classroom
– Creating Listserves
Session Goals
• Provide strategies for evaluating websites
• Demonstrate strategies for effectively
searching the Web for information
• Provide Counselor Educators and Students
with innovative uses of the Web
I. Evaluate the Source
• Can the author be identified?
• Are the author’s qualifications listed?
• Is contact information supplied?
Evaluate the Source
• Who is the sponsor?
• Domain names
• .edu: educational institutions
• .gov: government institutions
• .com: commercially sites.
• .net: Internet Service Provider
• .org: Organizations (non- profit)
Evaluate the Source
New Domain Names
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.aero: air transport industry
.biz: business
.pro: professional i.e., doctors, lawyers, accountants
.info: general
.museum: museums
.name: for individuals
.coop: cooperative
Evaluate the Source
• A tilde followed by a name in the URL may
not be officially monitored by the sponsor
www.oswego.edu/~leblanc
II. Evaluate the Site
• Does the page offer new or unique
information?
• Is the information important?
• Is the page dated
• Is the page current?
• Is the site what it appears to be?
www.gwbush.com
www.georgebush.com
Evaluate the Site
• What does the site offer that is not found
elsewhere?
• What is the value of the information
presented?
• How thorough is the information?
Ritalin 1
Ritalin 2
III. Evaluate the Content
• Is the purpose of to provide information or
change opinion?
• Is bias apparent?
• Is the site selling something?
• Is the information reliable?
• Are references present?
Searching the Web
• How engines work
– Databases compiled with use of “spiders”
– Spiders index words from site on database
– When you search for words you are searching
the database for sites with words that match
your request
– Currency depends on search engine
Searching the Web
• What are you searching?
– If you want specific information use the general
search engines such as Google, AltaVista,
HotBot, or Exite
– If you have a broad topic, use a directory such
as Yahoo to find information in a topic area
– To browse lots of information, use a metadirectory such as Dogpile or do same search on
several search engines
Search Tips
• If you need to refine a search
– Excite suggests word lists to refine your first
search
– Yahoo lists useful categories
• Good general purpose search engine is
Google:
Search Tips
• Advanced searching strategies includes
• + searches: Putting a plus sign before a word
insures it will not be ignored
• Star Wars Episode +I
• - searches: Putting a minus sign before a word
insures it will be ignored
• +attention +deficit -hyperactivity
Search Tips
• “ ” searches: Using quotations around a phrase
will search for a all enclosed words together
• “counselor supervision”
• Wildcard searches: Using * to in a truncated
word
• counsel* searches for counselor, counselors, and
counseling
• Use advanced searching pages to find out
search engine possibilities e.g., google
General Search Tips
• Be specific as possible
• The more words in the search term, the
smaller the results
• Make phrases enclosed in quotation marks
when possible
• Place most important words first in search
phrases
Extending the Classroom
• Cooperative Learning
• Threaded Discussions
Creating Listserves