A pathfinder is a tool that can help your students navigate particular websites. To help guide them, a pathfinder can be a structured (or semi-structured) list of sites you want them to visit during an activity.

While it is important to teach students information literacy skills, which includes analyzing information found online for validity and relevance, we know that this is a process. We don’t let students surf the web without guidance until they have the skills needed to do so independently.

So, a pathfinder can
- Limit access to content that may not be appropriate
- Provide an opportunity for students to make choices within a limited, pre-determined list of resources
- Save time by giving students easy access to online resources (and save YOU time from having to help students navigate to a specific site!)
- Help students begin to understand information literacy skills in a structured and safe environment

There are lots of different ways to create a pathfinder for students.

The list and descriptions listed in this document are not intended to be all-inclusive. Some are simple, while others may be more complex, but may also offer additional features. You may find that some pathfinder options fit one type of activity better than another.


Creating Pathfinders by Donna Murray is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.