Great tools to use for research, whether it is for doing assignments, lesson planning, homework or just to stretch your own curious mind.
A search engine which reflects results visually. Use the nodes around the central topic to explore a topic further.
Website: http://www.instagrok.com/
Free iPad app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/instagrok/id777873941?mt=8&uo=4&at=10l6SU
Google Apps for Education app: https://www.google.com/enterprise/marketplace/viewListing?productListingId=17789+13349884249762973052
Google Chrome app: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/instagrok/flonaffkffjppejcafgpdgilebfikemd
Edmodo app: http://www.edmodo.com/publisher?uid=7493337
Use this to find more academic information - great for PIPs and IRPs - and other major projects, results often contain journal aricles, theses and research reports. Not all results will be freely available, but if you can access a PDF link from the right hand side of your search result, you will generally be taken straight to the document.
Website: http://scholar.google.com/
This is a kid-friendly search engine. The filters are pretty good, but not water tight.
Website: http://www.kidrex.org/
A great tool to access a wide variety of digitised resources, e.g. books, journals for research. Access is restricted unless you are willing to pay, or a member of a library with access rights (usually your State Library will have this).
Website: http://www.jstor.org/
Website: http://www.youtube.com/education
Your encyclopedia is now online! A great spot to start looking up information for your assignment and to get your head around the basics of a topic.
Free iPad app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/encyclop-dia-britannica/id447919187?mt=8&at=10l6SU
Free iPhone app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/encyclop-dia-britannica/id447919187?mt=8&at=10l6SU
Website: https://www.britannica.com/
Website: http://noodletools.com/
This database is subscription only, which many public libraries pay for you to use free of charge. It is a great all round research tool.
Website: https://ebscohost.com/
While many things can be said of Google (some good, some bad), it certainly has changed our lives. Use Google's own tutorials to learn how to search smarter, and definitely take advantage of the advanced search options for really optimising your search results.
Website: https://www.google.com/
Free iPad app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-search/id284815942?mt=8&uo=4&at=10l6SU
Free iPhone app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-search/id284815942?mt=8&uo=4&at=10l6SU
Free Android Phone app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox
Google Chrome app: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-search/coobgpohoikkiipiblmjeljniedjpjpf
Website: http://duckduckgo.com/
Google Chrome app: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/duckduckgo-home-page/ljkalbbbffedallekgkdheknngopfhif
Free iPad app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/duckduckgo-privacy-browser/id663592361?mt=8&at=10l6SU
Free iPhone app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/duckduckgo-privacy-browser/id663592361?mt=8&at=10l6SU
Free Android Phone app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duckduckgo.mobile.android
Free Android Tablet app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duckduckgo.mobile.android