Blog Post #2

Search Engines

It is very important to have safe, reliable search engines for students to use.  When researching search engines I look for relevant search engines that I can use with my math students, my elementary age children, and my library media internship.

1.  WolfmanAlpha Search Engine WolframAlpha is a search engine that focuses on math topics, definitions, equations, and examples. It is a great website for secondary and higher education students who need help with complex math concepts. For younger students learning basic concepts, I think parent help would be a better alternative to this search engine.

 2.  Infotopia Search Engine infotopia is a search engine alternative for students. The websites part of this custom search are approved by teachers. I like how results can be narrowed by subject (science, history, literature, etc.) because even though it is a custom search, results can still be overwhelming.

3.  L!braryTopia Search Engine L!braryTopia is a custom search for librarians. The site also contains several direct links to library lesson plans and activities.

4.  Bing Search Engine bing is a search engine that is very similar to google. I prefer the aesthetics (pictures, graphics) of bing over other similar search engines.

5.  Socialmention Socialmention is a search engine that searches real time social media. Included in the search are social media comments from twitter, videos, questions, etc. The search engine is slowest of all the search engines mentioned in this blog, but the uniqueness of the results made it worth mentioning.

6.  Wikipedia for Kids Search Engine Wiki for Kids is a wiki search engine for students with content and images appropriate for students. The site also contains direct links to “Safe Image Search” and “Google SafeSearch”.