Online search trick by Alan November

Photo credit: L. Brown

Before the start of school this year, our staff joined the neighboring school district to spend the morning with Alan November. He is a captivating speaker and knows a wealth of information on how to search the web and tap into sources based which eliminate bias. Find his website HERE for additional information and resources.

Another aspect about that web that he showed us was how to search according to file types.  The one I have used lately is the powerpoint filetype.  By using the following method, you can very quickly search only for powerpoints on the subject you choose.

For example:
1) Because I love fairytales, especially in Spanish, I searched:
   filetype:ppt Los tres cerditos

This provided a long list of powerpoints. In the list I found one that had the entire story in Spanish with photos at a level my students will be able to understand without problems.

To refine your search to powerpoints:
Simply type:  filetype:ppt + the topic which interests you
Type the topic in your target language for best results.
With some of the powerpoints I found, I was able to make changes for my specific purposes.

Other examples of my searches:
2) filetype:ppt tapas españa 
3) filetype:ppt el camino de santiago
4) filetype:ppt la navidad en españa
5) filetype:ppt los incas de Perú

The sky is the limit!

One suggestion from Alan November on using the results from these searches is for the students to compare the information from several powerpoints. 

Next time, before you spend time making a brand new powerpoint, check online with this quick search to see if someone has already shared their work online.