Domain
Applies To
Microsoft Teams for EducationDomains are indicated at the end of a URL. You will likely recognize many common three-letter domains like .com and .gov. Domains can help you understand the type of site you are visiting. Our research indicates that this is the main way educators teach students to look for reliable sources.
In Search Coach, we highlight .edu, .gov, .org, and .com domains along with country-specific domains. Students can select which domains they would like to retrieve information from before conducting a search and see how to replicate this type of search in more common search engines like Bing or Google.
1. Select Domain to open the filtering options. Searches will automatically include all domains, but you can narrow your search by specifying which domains you'd like to find.
Note: You can do this in any search engine by typing site: and the type of domain you want results from in the search bar. When you use the Domain filter in Search Coach this will be modeled in the search bar.
2. Next, choose which types of sites you'd like to receive information from.
.com stands for commercial, which means those sites are likely selling something. There may be good information here but use other sources to verify.
.org sites are traditionally non-profits, but anyone can purchase one, so they can sometimes be inaccurate or hateful. Make sure to evaluate a site's agenda before using it as a source.
.gov sites are run by United States governments and agencies, like the CDC or NASA. Information here is usually reliable.
.edu sites are run by colleges and universities in the United States, so information here is usually reliable.
You can select All to re-check all of the options and broaden your search.
Country and Regional Domains can be used to explore results that were created in other countries. Generally, search results come from the United States or the country you're in.
Select More to open a list of some of the most prevalent country and regional domains.
When you select a location from the checklist, the search bar will demonstrate how to modify searches manually in other search engines.
If you're unable to find your location of interest, select Find more country and regional domains, then find your desired location's 2-digit Alpha-2 code.
Insert your Alpha-2 code after site: to narrow your search results to websites from that location.
3. Enter your search terms, then tap Enter. Your search results will be limited to articles from the domains you've selected.
Tip: There are many domains and subdomains not included in our list. Subdomains modify domains. For example, Australian government sites have the subdomain gov.au. To ensure resources from the Australian government are included in your search, you would add site:gov.au. As another example, if you’ve found relevant resources on NASA.gov you can use the same pattern to add site:NASA.gov to your search, narrowing your results to just resources from NASA. Paying attention to domains and subdomains can help your students perform efficient searches and identify domains that are relevant and reliable.
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