Assignments



=**Assignment One**=


 * Survey of Internet Usage by Students**

1) According to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, many students rely on the Internet to help them in their academic work. Survey five students to find out how they use the Internet for their studies. Listen for their answers to see if they mention items a through e, as outlined in step 2.

2) Tabulate how many of the five students use the Internet for each of the following purposes:

a) To look up information, to act as a reference library, or to get sources for reports, presentations, and projects b) To plagiarize content or cheat c) To collaborate with classmates on projects, or to study or share class notes with classmates d) To keep track of class schedules, assignments, and syllabi e)To choose a university, major, or future career path

3) Ask the students whether they have access to the Internet during class time under teacher direction or only outside of class or during lab time. As a follow-up question, ask how effective they think that approach is. 4) Find out whether they feel there are differences between students who have Internet access at home and those who do not. Write a paragraph explaining what those differences are and how they might impact academic work.

5) Summarize the importance of the Internet to students, according to the results of your survey.

=**Assignment Two**=


 * Survey of Internet Usage by Older Folks**

You may type up this homework assignment on your wiki instead of handwriting it, typing and printing it out, or emailing it to me. Create a new page on your wiki and name it HW2. Type up this assignment on that page.

1) For this survey, you will interview older folks (could be teachers or parents, grandparents, etc. - the older the better), not high school or college students. Survey five people who have Internet access in their homes. Try to survey both men and women but avoid surveying students in college or high school. If one of your interviewees DOES NOT use the Internet, you have to find someone else to interview.

2) Ask them to define the Internet and tell you what year they first began to use the Internet.

3) Ask them if they remember what life was like before the Internet. For example, ask them if they remember how they got along without email or without being able to compare prices and products when shopping for cars or refrigerators or anything they might like to purchase. Ask them if they can remember ANYTHING about the world before the Internet. (Remember, the older the better. I want you to learn what life was like before the Internet).

4) Ask them to estimate how much time each week they spend online for each of the following purposes:


 * To browse the Web for work or school
 * To browse the Web for entertainment or leisure
 * To send e-mail
 * To chat or send instant messages
 * To play games
 * To download music, software, or other files
 * To create and publish their own Web pages or Web sites
 * To compare prices and look for product information
 * To buy or sell items
 * To share information, photos, links, and thoughts with other online

5) Ask them if the time they spend using the Internet has affected the time spent on other activities, such as watching television, reading books, shopping in stores, socializing, and so on.

6) Summarize the differences in how older folks, compared to the students you surveyed, use the Internet. Answer this question in your summary: Is the Internet more important to students who use it for school work, or is it just as important for older folks who use it for anything?

=**Assignment Three**=


 * Online Scavenger Hunt**


 * Scenario 1:** Your cousin Ted recently moved to a new condominium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You want to send Ted a nice green plant as a housewarming gift. Locate the name and telephone number of three local Albuquerque florists. Write down the URLs and list at least three green plant gifts offered by the florists and a price range for the gifts. Note whether you can order the plant from the florists' Web sites.


 * Scenario 2:** Your teacher assigns some independent reading for a business class. The professor could not remember the title of author of the book, but told you that a former CEO of Scandinavian Airlines wrote it. Find the title and author of the book and find out how much it costs at an online bookstore. If possible, see whether the book is available in your school's library or the local library or obtain the library telephone numbers so you can call to ask about availability.


 * Scenario 3:** Your older sister tells you that her friend recently had a baby, and she wants you to see if you can find a picture of the newborn online. Check the local hospital to see if it has a virtual or Web nursery, choose a baby with a first name you like, and view the picture.


 * Scenario 4:** Your teacher is a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan, and you would like to impress her by finding something positive to say about the baseball team. Find the first and last time the team won the World Series, and list the names of a few notable players who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Also, find the name of the current manager.


 * Scenario 5:** You decide to go to the movies. Find out what film is the current number one box-office hit. Read a critic's view of the movie. See whether it is playing at a local theater and the times of the showings.


 * Scenario 6:** A friend wants to go on a white-water rafting trip through the Grand Canyon and wants you to go along. Find out what time of year is best, what experience is necessary, what river rafting companies are available, how much such a trip costs, and how far in advance you have to make a reservation for the trip.


 * Scenario 7:** You are the maid-of-honor (or best-man) in your sister or brother's wedding. They have decided to get married in Hawaii. Price the airfate and determine a range of prices for wedding packages for up to 25 guests. List the requirements for a marriage license. Find the name of a person to officiate the ceremony in Hawaii.


 * Scenario 8:** You and your friends have been discussing roller coasters, and now you want to know more about them. Find the origins of roller coasters; the oldest one in the United States, Canada, and Europe; as well as the highest and fastest ones.

=**Assignment Four**=


 * Searching for Health Information**

1. Choose a disease or health condition to research.

2. Determine the keywords you will use in the search query.

3. Time how long it takes you to find the information you are seeking using multiple search engines.

4. Evaluate how well you performed the search:


 * Record how many sites you visit.
 * For each site you visit, evaluate the quality of information and credibility of the site. List the qualities that make the site more or less credible.
 * For the health condition that you choose, find out the symptoms, cause, duration, and treatment.
 * Find the name of one medication used in the treatment of the disease. Look up any side effects and the contraindications that specify when not to take that medication.
 * Write down what further steps you should take to evaluate the quality of the information.

=**Assignment Five**=


 * Job Search**

1. Choose a search engine, e.g. Google, Bing, Yahoo!

2. Determine the keywords you will use in the search query.

3. Time how long it takes you to find the information you are seeking.

4. Evaluate how well you performed the search.


 * List several occupations and some information about each.
 * Research average salaries for each occupation.
 * Find out whether your chosen field is a fast-growing one.
 * Select a city to which you would like to relocate. Determine the climate by researching the average temperatures, rainfall, and snowfall.
 * Research school districts in the area and find out which one seems the best.
 * Find the prices of a two-bedroom apartment and a four-bedroom home in that community.
 * Find the difference in the cost of living between your current location and the destination.
 * Get an estimate of how much it would cost to move the contents of a two-bedroom apartment from your current location to the destination.

=**Assignment Six**=


 * Internet Archive**

1. Go to Internet Archive.

2. Use the Wayback Machine to search for earlier versions of frequently used Web pages of your choice.

3. Write a brief summary that describes the Internet Archive. What was its purpose? How valuable is the Internet Archive as a resource? Would you use the Internet Archive as a source? If yes, why? If no, why not?

=**Assignment Seven**=


 * Visual Search**

1. Open the home page for each of these search engines and explore the features offered by each using the search query of your choice:

Lycos Kartoo Search-Cube Searchme

2. Write a brief paragraph describing each search engine and the presentation of its search results list. Indicate how useful you find visual search results compared to traditional text-based search results. Which reviewed search engine do you prefer? Why?

3. Use the preferred search engine to search for Web pages containing information about the slow food movement. Review several pages and then write a short paragraph describing the slow food movement.

=**Assignment Eight**=


 * Video Search**

1. Open the home page for each of these search engines and explore their features:

blinx Yahoo! Video Google Video Mamma Video Dogpile Video

2. Write a brief paragraph describing each search engine and its features. Which reviewed search engine do you prefer? Why?

3. Use the preferred search engine to search for video clips on the topic of your choice. Write a brief paragraph describing the relevancy of the search results list of videos to your keywords. How many videos were listed in the search results list? How relevant were the top 10 videos in the list?

=**Assignment Nine**=


 * Shopping Search**

1. Use the three shopping search engines below to search for the same consumer electronic product of your choice.

DealTime BizRate NexTag

2. Review the top-rated product and the ratings of the stories that offer the product presented by each shopping search engine.

3. Write a brief summary of your shopping experience using each shopping search engine.

=**Assignment Ten**=


 * People and Business Search**

1. Visit each of the links below:

Yahoo! People Search Lycos WhoWhere? whitepages.com superpages.com AnyWho Reverse Lookup 411.com Reverse Lookup

2. Is your name or the name of a relative listed in an online white pages directory?

3. Which white pages directories list information for you or your family members?

4. Which white pages directories list your information correctly with the most current street address and telephone number, and which ones list outdated information?

5. Write down your feelings about having your name, street address, and e-mail address listed in the white pages directories.

6. Review and list the resources offered at the superpages.com site.

7. Compare superpages.com with other white pages directories you have used.

8. Use a reverse lookup to find the owner of a telephone number, using the telephone number of your choice.

=**Assignment Eleven**=


 * News Search**

1. Visit each of the links below:

Yahoo! News Google News Bing News

2. Use news-oriented search at each site to search for the same news or current-event topic of your choice. Compare the results from each news search engine. How are the results alike? How are they different?

3. Write a brief paragraph describing your search experiences at each site.

=**Assignment Twelve**=


 * Social Media Search**

1. Visit each of the links below:

Digg Newsvine Technorati

2. Look for information on a topic of your choice using each of the social media search engines.

3. Write a brief paragraph describing the focus of each search engine and your search experiences using each search engine.

=**Assignment Thirteen**=


 * Using Search Engine Shortcuts and Advanced Search Forms**

1. Using one of the directories, search engines, or metasearch engines below:

Google Directory Yahoo! Directory DMOZ Open Directory Project Business.com Business Directory
 * Directories**

Google Yahoo! Search Ask.com Gigablast Bing Searchme AOL Search
 * Search Engines**

metacrawler Dogpile KartOO Mamma Ixquick
 * Metasearch Engines**

create a complex search using search engine shortcuts or an advanced search form to find:

a. jobs in the .gov TLD (top level domain) b. the product of 12983*7 c. the current weather for your city d. the conversion of 200 U.S. dollars to Mexican pesos e. a map of Springfield, Missouri f. a bookstore in your city g. Web pages with page titles containing the word //baseball// h. .PDF files published by businesses in the .com TLD containing information about Bluetooth technologies i. 6,5000 meters converted to miles

=**Assignment Fourteen**=


 * Library Collections and Electronic Resources**

1. Visit your school's Web site and examine the resources available at the school's online library page.

a. List the main electronic collections and the topic each covers. b. List the resources that are restricted to faculty, staff, and students at your school. c. List items that are available through the Internet versus the ones that must be accessed within the library.

2. Visit the Web site for your local public library. List the main electronic collections and the topic each covers. List items that are available through the Internet versus those that must be accessed within the library.

3. Schedule an interview with a school or public librarian to discuss the online research capabilities offered through the library that go beyond those available to any user on the Web.

4. Visit a school or public library and use one of the databases to search for articles.

a. Write or print a list of available articles. b. Print the abstract from one of the articles.