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There is an ocean of information available on the Web that
can be put to pedagogical purposes. It is our task as educators
of the Italian language to select resources that are suitable
in terms of both grammatical and cultural content. Bear in
mind that it is advisable to select materials that are at
or perhaps just beyond the degree of linguistic competence
of your students.
It is impractical to list all of the possibilities for use
of web materials in the classroom here, we can only scratch
the surface at best. Below you will find information to help
you search the net and some indication of news sources. Remember:
you are the best resource available to locate web sites tailored
to your classroom. Use the tools listed below to enrich your
curriculum with all-important authentic materials.
Search Engines and Portals
One of the most important tools for finding information
on the internet is the search engine which is usually associated
with a portal, or major gateway to the internet, which offers
many services. There are numerous search engines on the web,
some of which you undoubtedly know well:
To find web sites that relate to a given topic, type the
topic (in Italian) in the appropriate box and click on the
appropriate button. The engine will produce a list of web
sites that in theory should help satisfy your search criteria.
An advantage that AltaVista has for the purposes
of finding material in Italian is that searches can be limited
to a particular language. This is useful when searching for
a term that is shared by Italian and other languages, for
example "shopping," "sport," "camion," or "cinema." Other
search engines may also have this feature.
Some of the well known engines have Italian counterparts.
Try to find some on your own by substituting the .com
with a .it at the end of the URL. Here are a few examples:
Note that there are many techniques that can be employed
when using a search engine that can help you narrow the results.
These can be found on the individual search engine pages by
clicking on a "Help" button and are too detailed to describe
here.
Remember to bookmark sites you wish to return to frequently.
If you need help doing this refer to the guide or manual for
your browser.
Italian Search Engines and Portals
There are quite a few Italian / Italian language search
engines and portals. They tend to allow you to search for
Italian-only web sites but then offer the option to search
the entire web. You will undoubtedly find more of these while
surfing for sites in Italy.
Server Map
Here is a great resource for locating servers in Italy by
using a map of the country. This is helpful for finding regional
information. There is also a useful search function.
News and Media
It is useful to expose students to the language and culture
of Italy by using current events, review articles, and other
information that can be found in the media. You will be able
to find various Italian newspapers, magazines, television
stations, radio stations and other news services by using
search engines. However, there are also sites that list names
of media organizations. Some of these are included below:
Geography and Tourism
There are numerous sites dedicated to tourism in Italy. Many
of them utilize a clickable map of Italy which can help to
familiarize students with the various regions, provinces and
cities of Italy. While some have tourist-oriented information,
others go into greater depth:
Universities
Search engines will enable you to find web sites for particular
universities in Italy, however, a useful page on the Università
degli Studi di Bologna web site provides links to a multitude
of Italian university servers with the help of a map:
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