Search Tips

Doing a search on ExploreLearning is easy. Simply type one or more search terms (the words or phrase that best describe the Gizmo you want to find) into the search box located at the top of every ExploreLearning page then hit the 'Enter' key or click on the 'Go' button.

In response, the Explorelearning search engine creates a results page consisting of a list of Gizmos, with the most relevant page appearing first, then the next, and so on.

Each Gizmo in the search results page is represented by a 'Gizmo Listing' consisting of the following: The Gizmo Thumbnail image, The Gizmo Title, a link to the Gizmo Details page, Gizmo Preview icons, and the Launch Gizmo Link.

Choosing Search Terms

Choosing the right search terms is the key to finding the Gizmo you need.

Start with the obvious – if you're looking for a Gizmo on fractions, try fractions.

But it's often advisable to use multiple search terms; the more information your provide, the better the search results. For example, if you're interested in ordering fractions, searching on ordering fractions will return just those Gizmos that deal with ordering fractions rather than all the Gizmos dealing with fractions.

You might also ask yourself if your search terms are sufficiently specific. The ExploreLearning search engine looks for the search terms you chose, so comparing ordering fractions will deliver better results than help me learn about fractions.

Capitalization

Gizmo searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case. For example, searches for quadrilaterals, Quadrilaterals, and quAdRiLAteRalS will all return the same results.

Automatic "or" Queries

By default, ExploreLearning adds an "or" between all of your search terms and, consequently, returns pages that include any of your search terms. So searching for dividing fractions will return all Gizmos that include the keywords dividing or the keyword fractions.

Explicit "and" Queries

To get search results that include all of your search terms you need to include "and" between your search terms. So searching for dividing and fractions will return just those Gizmos that have both the keywords dividing and fractions. Keep in mind that the order in which the terms are typed will affect the search results.

Phrase Searches

Sometimes you'll only want results that include an exact phrase, i.e., a portion of a Gizmo title. In this case, simply put quotation marks around your search terms.

For example, searching for "elapsed time" will return just the Gizmos that have the phrase elapsed time as part of their title, whereas searching with the keywords elapsed time, without the quotes, will return every Gizmo that is keyword indexed on elapsed and time.

Word variations (stemming and wildcards)

The ExploreLearning search engine uses stemming technology. Thus, when appropriate, it will search not only for your search terms, but also for words that are similar to some or all of those terms.

The STEM operator searches for words that derive from a common stem. For example, a search for instructional returns files that contain instruct, instructs, instructions, and so on.

The STEM operator works on words, not word fragments. A search for instrument returns documents containing instrument, instruments, instrumental, and instrumentation, whereas a search for instru does not. A wildcard search for instru* returns documents with these words, and also those with instruct, instructional, and so on.