Network and Internet Fundamentals
Senior 1 · ICT
Network and Internet Fundamentals
Lesson 3 of 5
22 min
The web holds billions of pages. To use it well you need three skills: working the browser, reading a web address, and finding good pages with a search engine. A student who searches well can find a reliable answer in two minutes; a student who searches badly can spend an hour and still copy a wrong answer.
Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari look slightly different, but they all have the same main parts. Here is a simple drawing of a browser window:
Every page has a unique address. Take this invented address for a school's timetable page:
| Part | In the example | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Scheme (protocol) | https | The rules used to fetch the page. The s means secure: the data is encrypted (scrambled) on the way, and the browser shows a padlock. |
| Domain name | www.example.rw | The name of the website, and so of the server that holds it |
| Path | /news/timetable.html | The folder (news) and the file (timetable.html) on the server, separated by slashes |
| Parameters | ?class=s1 | Extra information sent to the server (here: show the S1 timetable) |
| Anchor | #monday | A place inside the page to jump to |
The last part of a domain name is the top-level domain. It often tells you what kind of organisation, or which country, the website belongs to:
| Ending | Usually means |
|---|---|
.rw | Rwanda (a country-code domain) |
.gov.rw | The Government of Rwanda |
.ac.rw | A university or college in Rwanda |
.com | A company or business (now used by anyone) |
.org | An organisation, often a charity |
Warning: the padlock only means the connection is encrypted. It does not prove that the website is honest; scam websites can have a padlock too. Still, never type a password or a PIN on a page whose address does not start with https.
A search engine is a website that helps you find pages on other websites. Examples are Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo. It works in three steps:
Do not confuse a search engine with a browser. The browser is the program on your device; the search engine is a website you open inside the browser.
| You type | What it does |
|---|---|
Nyungwe national park birds | Use a few key words, not a whole sentence |
"Lake Kivu methane" | Quotation marks: find this exact phrase |
jaguar -car | Minus sign: leave out pages containing car (so you get the animal) |
scholarships site:gov.rw | Search only Rwandan government websites |
These tips work in Google and Bing.
Mugisha searches national parks of Rwanda for a project. These are the first three results, shortened:
Each result shows a title (the link), the website address, and a short snippet of text from the page. Mugisha thinks it through:
Some search engines now show an AI-written summary at the top. It can be wrong, so always open and check the pages it is based on.
Tip
Check every source with 4 Ws: Who wrote it? When was it written? Why was it written (to inform, to sell, to persuade)? Where else can I confirm it? And remember: the browser shows pages, the search engine finds pages.
In the address https://www.example.rw/sports/results.html#football, name (a) the scheme, (b) the domain name, (c) the anchor.
Solution: (a) https; (b) www.example.rw; (c) #football, which jumps to the football section of the page.
Umutoni clicked a link and wants to return to the page she was on. Which browser button should she use?
Solution: The Back button (the arrow pointing left).
Write a search that finds pages containing the exact phrase umuganda day but only on Rwandan government sites.
Solution: "umuganda day" site:gov.rw. The quotation marks keep the phrase together, and site: limits the search to government websites.
A results page shows a "Sponsored" link at the top and an article from a .gov.rw website below it. Which should a student researching a school project trust more, and why?
Solution: The .gov.rw article. It comes from an official source whose purpose is to inform. The sponsored link is an advert whose purpose is to sell.
Why should you check that an address begins with https before typing a password?
Solution: With https, the password is encrypted on its way to the server, so someone watching the network cannot read it. Without it, the password travels as plain text.
Summary
https), a domain name, a path, and sometimes parameters and an anchor. The top-level domain (such as .rw or .gov.rw) gives a clue about the owner.site:.Sources and credits
The browser drawing, the example addresses, the invented results page, the 4 Ws check and the practice items were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| [ School news x ] [ Irembo x ] [+] | <- tabs and new-tab button
| <- -> C (home) | https://www.example.rw/news | (star) : | <- navigation bar
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| the web page itself is shown here |
| |# | <- scroll bar
+----------------------------------------------------------------+https://www.example.rw/news/timetable.html?class=s1#monday