According to a study by Pew Research Center, 94 percent of instructors surveyed said that students equate research with using Google. Indeed, the internet and technology are significantly influencing the education system.
Individuals - especially students who are taking IELTS courses need to upgrade their online research skills to keep up with the fast-changing digital world.
Having good research skills is an advantage in the IELTS online course. It helps you discern which IELTS review center to enroll in and find quality online resources to hone your English proficiency. Listed below are strategies to help boost your online research.
1. Know what to ask. Before you start searching, it’s important that you must have a research question in mind. Create a rough outline for your chosen topic to save time. You can write in bullets, graphs, or charts – anything, as long as you have a guide.
Another tip is to stay focused. Do not swerve from one topic to another as this will only lead to confusion.
2. Search smart. Use established search engines such as Google and Bing. Through this, you can obtain better and credible list of sources. Another important technique is to search for specific terms. For instance, if you are looking for training materials, you can type "IELTS practice tests” or “IELTS online materials.” Use unique but specific keywords to reduce the number of results.
3. Maximize Boolean search operators. Learning about search operators refines returned pages. Boolean Logic was named after its inventor George Boole. This system was created to show associations between sets by using AND, OR, and NOT.
AND (+) - Adding another concept narrows down search results. For instance, you can just type “IELTS AND PTE" to obtain information distinct to these two terms such as comparison of the two exams. You can also use the addition symbol (+) instead of the word.
OR- Listing alternative or related terms broadens returned pages. If you are looking for online mock tests about specific components of the IELTS online course, you can just type "IELTS listening test OR IELTS reading test.”
NOT (-) - This search operator eliminates irrelevant information about specific words. For instance, type "IELTS NOT TOEFL to obtain particular results. You can also use the subtraction symbol instead of NOT.
4. Utilize quotation marks. This helps obtain exact results based on the keywords/phrase. Keep in mind that search engines only show pages that contain relevant keywords. For instance, you will acquire more precise results if you type "IELTS online review” vs. IELTS online review.
5. Verify sources. Learning about domain names is an advantage in online research. Government sites end with .org, educational sites end with .edu, and commercial sites end with .com or .not. However, digital advancements clear the line between industries. For instance, some website owners can now create customized domain names. The key is to research wisely. Furthermore, you need to maximize the hyperlinks to get to the source.
Another consideration is to always cite your sources. Plagiarism or copying other people’s work without properly citing them is a punishable offense. You can look for online citation machines to veer from the manual method.
According to a study conducted by Pew Research Center, 60 percent of educational instructors believe that digital transformations affect how students obtain credible information. Avoid misleading information. Become a better online researcher by following the above mentioned tips.
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