Getting around online
Getting around online
What's coming up?
In this activity, you will find out about how to access the internet through a browser, find the website you are looking for, bookmark them, and how to move around a website using links.
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Getting started
There are different ways to open a web browser depending on what device you are using, but they're all basically the same.
Find the icon (small picture) for the browser and select it. The browser will open and display a 'home page' from where you can access the internet.
eSafety tip
Be sure to install updates to your web browser regularly. Some of them do this automatically. If you're not sure how to do this, ask a relative or friend to help you.
Find out more about using web browsers and how they can keep you safer online in our Understanding web browsers course.
Finding websites
There are a few different ways to find a website.
If you know the website you're looking for and the web address, you can just enter this into the address bar of your browser.
If you don't know the address of the website you're looking for, or if you just want to look for websites about a specific topic, you can find them using a search engine like Google or Bing.
Moving around
The most common way of moving around a website on the internet is to use links. These are basically pieces of text or buttons that you select to take you to another web page, download files or send an email.
Links are often just underlined pieces of text, sometimes in a different colour.
Sometimes they are buttons or images that you can select.
If you're using a mouse, links sometimes change colour or appearance when you roll the cursor over them. The cursor sometimes changes to look like a hand.
eSafety tip
Be cautious about clicking on links in unfamiliar web pages, as they can take you to other unsafe websites.
Another good tip is to keep your browser software up to date, as it can help you avoid known scam websites by warning you that the site is unsafe.
Bookmarks
Once you've found the website you're looking for, you can get back to it quickly by using a bookmark (also called a favourite). Bookmarking a website is like bookmarking a page in a book - it helps you find the page you want quickly in future.
The following three panels show how to bookmark a web page using Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome and Microsoft's Edge web browsers.
The benefits of bookmarking
What are the benefits of adding a website to your bookmarks or favourites list?
You don't have to remember every website address
Click to flip
Well done! You can click on the bookmark name to open the web page.
The bookmarked website will open automatically when you open the web browser.
Click to flip
Sorry, that's not right
However bookmarks do make revisiting a site easier.
You can get to your favourite sites more quickly
Click to flip
Yes! That's right! A quick way to get to your favourite sites.
Printing
Sometimes you might need to print a web page, for example as proof of payment for something you've bought or sold online.
Some browsers have a Print button that you can select to print the web page you are on.
You can also print by selecting the Print option from the File menu in your browser.
Some websites have a Print button on the web page too.
Well done!
You've come to the end of the Getting around online activity. You've learned how to launch a web browser and how to find and save a website. You've also learned how to use link and print a web page.
In the next activity, Playing by the rules, we'll take a look at internet copyright, as well as website terms and conditions.