Computer Skills

Advanced

60 mins

Teacher/Student led

+80 XP

What you need:
Chromebook/Laptop/PC or iPad/Tablet
IWB/Projector/Large Screen

Search: Traditional Search, AI Search, and Knowing Which to Use

Learn when to use traditional search operators versus AI search tools, and how to verify any answer an AI gives you by checking its sources before trusting it.

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1 Introduction
2 Key Concepts
3 Step-by-step Task
4 Common Issues
5 Portfolio Build
6 Reflection
7 Lesson Summary

1 - Introduction ~5 mins

Welcome

Search in 2026 is really two tools sitting side by side. Traditional keyword search (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo) hands you a ranked list of links, while AI search (Perplexity, ChatGPT search, Claude, Gemini) writes you an answer and cites its sources. Being fluent in both, and knowing when each lets you down, is exactly the skill your Module 4 investigation needs.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Use traditional search operators such as site, filetype, exact-phrase, exclusion and OR to sharpen results
Write AI search prompts and ask the tool for its sources
Verify an AI answer by opening a cited source, because AI confidently invents things

Warm-up

Think about the last time you searched for something and got a wall of useless results. Did you change your words and try again, or did you give up? What would have helped you find the right thing faster?

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Key Concepts ~8 mins

Today's lesson works in two worlds. Traditional search rewards precise keywords and operators; AI search rewards clear questions and follow-ups. The one rule that spans both: you own the truth of your findings, so anything an AI tells you must be checked against a source you can open.

Concept	Why it matters	Example
Site operator — `site:` restricts results to one website or domain	Cuts out unreliable noise when you only trust one source type for your investigation	`apprenticeship pay site:gov.ie` returns only official Irish government pages on apprenticeship pay
Filetype operator — `filetype:` limits results to one file format	Official reports and datasets are often PDFs, so this finds the primary document not a news summary of it	`youth employment filetype:pdf site:cso.ie` finds CSO PDF reports directly
Exact-phrase quotes — wrapping words in " " forces an exact match	Stops the engine from scattering your words across unrelated pages	Searching `"digital age of consent" Ireland` keeps the phrase together
Exclusion operator — a minus sign `-` in front of a word removes results containing it	Clears out a common but unwanted meaning that keeps polluting your results	`apprenticeship pay -jobs` drops job-advert pages so you see the pay information itself
OR operator — the word `OR` in capitals returns pages matching either term	Catches both ways a topic might be worded so you don't miss good sources	`apprentice OR trainee pay Ireland` returns pages using either word
AI search prompt — a clear question you ask an AI tool, then follow up on	Good for a fast overview and for finding starting sources you then verify	Asking Perplexity "What is the standard VAT rate in Ireland and give me your sources" returns an answer plus links to check
Verification — opening at least one cited source before trusting an AI answer	AI hallucinates confidently; an unchecked answer can be completely wrong in your KA evidence	An AI names a statistic; you open its cited link and find the figure is actually different — you catch the error before it reaches your investigation

Using an AI tool for search

For search you use the AI as an Explainer: you ask it to explain a topic and point you at sources you can open and check for yourself.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Step-by-step Task ~20 mins

Work through a short comparison: run the same information need several ways using traditional operators, then run it through an AI search tool and check its sources. You'll build your reusable cheatsheet as you go. If you haven't picked your investigation topic yet, use apprenticeship pay in Ireland for this task.

+15 XP

4 - Common Issues ~3 mins

Common Issues

Issue	Solution
My operator returns no results at all	Check there is no space after the colon — it must be {{code:site:gov.ie}} not {{code:site: gov.ie}}. Also try a broader domain like `.ie` if the specific site has nothing.
My OR operator didn't work	OR must be in capital letters. Lowercase 'or' is treated as an ordinary word, not an operator.
The AI didn't give me any sources	Ask again and explicitly add "list your sources with links". Some tools only cite when you ask directly. If it still won't, treat everything it says as unverified.
The link the AI cited doesn't exist or won't open	This is a hallucinated source. Do not use the AI's claim. Search the fact yourself using traditional operators to find a real source.
My exact-phrase quotes still return loose results	Make sure you used straight double quotes " " not curly quotes. Retype the quotes directly in the search box.

+10 XP

5 - Portfolio Build ~12 mins

Independent Practice

Your goal: Finish a reusable Search Cheatsheet for your Something Real investigation so you can find reliable sources fast and never get caught out by an unchecked AI claim.

Time:~15 minutes

Task: Open the {{code:101_search_cheatsheet_v1.docx}} file you started in the step-by-step task, inside the {{code:sm4}} sub-folder of your Project Portfolio. Finish the operator table with at least three of the operators you learned, each with a real example built from your own investigation topic. Then add two AI search prompts for the same topic, and for each one write a single line saying whether the AI's answer held up when you opened a cited source. If you have time, add the remaining operators and a third AI prompt as bonus rows.

Success criteria:

At least three operators are listed, each with a real example built from your own investigation topic
Two AI prompts are written for the same topic, each with a one-line verification note
At least one verification note honestly records whether the AI matched its source or not
The cheatsheet is saved as {{code:101_search_cheatsheet_v1.docx}} inside your {{code:sm4}} folder and is easy to scan

+15 XP

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