Internet Research
Study Techniques

These study techniques will improve the speed and quality of your internet research. It’s far too easy to waste loads of time on the internet. It can sometimes seem like a massive black hole of information. Once again clear and well thought out planning will make the whole process much quicker and less annoying.

Google is big:

If you type the word dyslexia into Google it will return about 13 million results. Of course, there is no way you can look through everything it brings back. You wouldn’t want to anyway a lot of it is rubbish. The internet study techniques below will help you find the best information.

Don't look too deep into Google:

Generally people don’t look any deeper than page 3 of Google's search results. This is a good limit to set yourself when searching the net. After the first few pages of search results you are very unlikely to find high quality websites.

Google of course, tries to put the sites with the best content at the top of their results. Therefore for each search you do on Google only look at the first three pages. This will be the first 30 websites it links to.

How to get the most out of Google:

The way to find the maximum amount of quality websites in the shortest period of time is to vary the keywords you use to search. For example if you are researching the topic of dyslexia start with a pen and paper and brainstorm all the phrases that are related to dyslexia:

• Dyslexia
• Reading help
• Literacy difficulties
• Dyslexia help
• Dyslexia intervention

Etc.

Then all you need to do is go through the list and do a search for each of the phrases.

Don’t waste time on rubbish websites:

Once you’ve got into the habit of using Google quickly and effectively you don’t want to waste time by reading loads of irrelevant rubbish on the websites themselves. Your goal when you click through to a site is to quickly establish whether or not it has the information you need.

Let's use BeatingDyslexia.com as an example. As soon as you click through to any page on the website the first thing you’ll see is the title BeatingDyslexia.com. This instantly tells you what the website is about. Just from the title you know this website is about overcoming dyslexia.

OK so we know what the broad topic of the website is about, but how does it tackle it? What sections of information does it offer? If you look down the left-hand side of BeatingDyslexia.com you will see all the different sections of information.

For example

• Information
• Test
• Reading help
• Spelling help
• Spelling lists

Etc.

Therefore just by looking at the names of the sections you have a clear idea that the website offers lots of practical help and information about dyslexia.

You want to do this quick assessment on every website you look at. If it doesn’t seem like it offers the information you are looking for don’t waste your time with it. You may miss the odd bit of useful information here and there but the amount of time you will save is so much more important.

Conclusion:

These study techniques will save you time when researching on the internet. Fundamentally always be thinking about what you are looking for. The internet is filled with millions of distractions don't let them waste your valuable time.

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