Learners comparing jobs, training, public services, scholarships, or other opportunities who want to separate a useful lead from a confident-looking but unsupported claim.
Course 55 · Digital course 08
Search, Verify, and Submit Information Online
Find trustworthy job and training information, preserve sources and deadlines, complete online submissions, and protect your privacy while doing it.
Before you start
Choose a real question but use public, non-sensitive information; do not enter login credentials or identity numbers in the exercises.
See everything you’ll needWhat you’ll leave with
A verified resource brief and non-sensitive mock application with source notes, deadline record, simulated file-selection and confirmation records, and follow-up script.
Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.
Your project
Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.
Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.
- Get your materialsDownload the practice worksheetUse the downloadable worksheet or toolkit alongside the lesson instructions.
- Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
- Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Optional course overview
Watch an introduction.
This overview from Discovery Education introduces ideas you’ll practice in the lessons.
Watch directly on YouTubeDiscovery EducationEvaluating Digital SourcesYouTube
Course handbook
Know the route before you begin.
Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.
- Choose a real question but use public, non-sensitive information; do not enter login credentials or identity numbers in the exercises.
- Prepare a source log with columns for claim, source, date, definition, contact, deadline, and next action.
- Use the supplied fictional Cedar Skills applicant and file cards for the paper submission practice; no portal, account, upload or message sending is required.
Finish with proof you can use.
Create a verified opportunity brief comparing three current resources. Separately complete the supplied fictional Cedar Skills paper application with applicant-source notes, corrected validation errors, privacy check, simulated file-selection log, review checklist, simulated confirmation and an unsent follow-up draft. Keep the fictional simulation separate from the real-resource brief.
Save a project record in My ProofSee project checklist and review criteria
- A search brief with three queries, decision criteria, and the evidence each answer must include.
- A source-quality table for five opportunity or training claims.
- A verified opportunity record for three jobs or training options with a fit decision and unknowns.
- A source-and-deadline tracker with at least five entries and two follow-up reminders.
- A completed Cedar Skills paper form with applicant-source notes, two corrected validation errors, a SIMULATED file-selection log, review checklist and SIMULATED confirmation CEDAR-PRACTICE-001.
- A privacy checklist, follow-up email, and two-step contact log.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas
The rules behind the steps.
Search for the original
A summary, screenshot, or repost is a lead; the official page, document, or program contact is the source to verify.
Record what the claim means
Dates, population, location, eligibility, definitions, and exceptions determine whether information applies to you.
Submit with proof
A final review and confirmation record protect against avoidable omissions while preserving privacy.
What do these words mean?
Key words
Key terms worth knowing.
- Primary source
- The original agency, institution, employer, program, data set, or document responsible for the information.
- Lateral reading
- Opening independent sources to evaluate who made a claim, what evidence supports it, and whether others agree.
- Eligibility
- The conditions a person or organization must meet to access an opportunity or service.
- Confirmation
- A receipt, reference number, email, timestamp, or saved page showing what was submitted and when.
Your route6 lessons.
6 lessons.
One useful project.
Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.
- 1Up next
Turn a vague need into a search question
Turn a broad goal into a search question that names who it is for, where, what you need, when you need it, and which sources could answer it.
- 231 min
Evaluate authority, date, and evidence
Judge whether a source is current, relevant, transparent, and supported enough for the decision at hand.
- 329 min
Verify job and training information
Compare a job or training lead using requirements, dates, outcomes, contact, and risk checks.
- 422 min
Record sources, contacts, and deadlines
Create a durable record that lets you return to a changing opportunity without relying on memory.
- 534 min
Complete a safe online submission
Complete a paper simulation of entering a form, selecting a PDF, fixing validation errors, reviewing answers and saving a clearly labeled simulated confirmation.
- 622 min
Protect privacy and follow up professionally
Use a privacy boundary and a concise follow-up message after an application, inquiry, or information request.
Use the tools
See all tools Tools to help you practice.
Source transparency
Sources and further study.
Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.
Ready when you are
Start lesson one Start with the first useful move.
You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.
Open collaboration ideaHelp keep this complete course free.
Potential collaboration: Libraries, workforce navigators, colleges, career centers, and public-information programs
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