KS2 Computing: Networks and the Internet Guide

What is a network?

A network is a group of connected devices that can share information with each other, ranging from a small home network to the whole internet.

The internet vs the World Wide Web

The internet is the global network of connected computers. The World Wide Web is a collection of websites and pages accessed over the internet — the internet is the network, the web is one of the things that runs on it.

How information travels

Information sent over the internet is broken into small pieces called packets, sent separately (sometimes by different routes) and reassembled at their destination.

Search engines

A search engine looks through indexed web pages to find results matching your search terms, ranking them by relevance — but not every result is reliable, so it's important to check a source before trusting it.

Common mistakes

• Using "the internet" and "the web" as if they mean exactly the same thing.
• Assuming information travels as one whole piece rather than in packets.
• Trusting search results without checking whether the source is reliable.