netTrekker Blog

netTrekker Hits the Hill

This week was an exciting one for the future of educational technology.  “The Future of Learning: How Technology is Transforming Public Schools,” the first in a series of Congressional hearings, was held on Capitol Hill to showcase the role that technology plays in improving education and student achievement.  Those of you who work with students every day are well aware, I’m sure, of the powerful impact technology has – especially when it comes to engaging students in the learning process.  And when they’re engaged – they learn, right?  Aren’t we all more active participants in whatever we’re doing or learning when we truly feel connected and engaged.  Technology is that key to making a connection with today’s digital students – and this was a great opportunity to get these points across loud and clear (we hope!) to policymakers and education leaders.

The hearing was followed by the “Bringing the Future of Learning to Schools Today” showcase where the policymakers and education leaders were able to see first hand how technology is transforming education.  They heard from educators and students about how technology is helping them in their classrooms every day.  And, companies who are dedicated to the mission of helping every student achieve with technology were also able to demonstrate what their solutions are doing to support students. netTrekker was honored to be invited to participate in this event and to share how we’re working to use technology and digital resources to support differentiated instruction to help every student learn.

This video from the hearing explains what Delaware is doing with technology and why it’s so important to keep educational technology as a top priority in improving education.

If you had the chance to speak with these important decision makers on Capitol Hill, what would you tell them about why technology in education is so important?

Tags: Capitol Hill, congress, educational technology, netTrekker

Connect with Us

Connections are made when two or more people have a common thread that ties them together, and are often made at an event of some sort.

netTrekker Village has several events listed on the calendar, including both online and onsite events. At NECC this summer, we are proud to feature six special guest speakers who each will be presenting a 15- minute session in the netTrekker booth #931 on how they use netTrekker or on a special feature in netTrekker. Marci Campbell, Jill Allen and I (Danielle Abernethy) will also be presenting in the booth at NECC, so there are plenty of opportunities to make a connection and learn from other educators about how you can get more from your netTrekker subscription. We are also pleased to announce that our two scholarship winners, Ryan Evans and Teresa Diaz, along with Teryl Magee, Chad Lehman, Jill Hobson, and Tom Turner will also be presenting in our booth, sharing insights about netTrekker from an educator’s point of view.

Our Sunday Night event at NECC, which was announced on the Village, is already full. We announced this one through the Village Message System and were pleasantly surprised by the quick number of people that signed up. But don’t fret, we have more events planned! If you’re in the Ohio, Indiana or Kentucky areas, there’s a netTrekker Fest happening on August 13th that is definitely worth checking out. Check the calendar for details.

Other events are online, including free webinars. Currently we have free webinars for how to make the most of netTrekker Village and the new Customer Resoruces section of netTrekker.  More of these events will be announced, and through mid June. We will also have many other free webinars on how to use netTrekker’s My Portfolio, special guests sharing how they use netTrekker, and more!

It is important that you RSVP for any of the events you are interested in. The RSVP feature is found on the right side of the event.

So join us at an event, and connect with us!

Tags: connect, NECC, netTrekker, netTrekker Fest, netTrekker Village, village, webinar

Earn a Scholarship to NECC ’09

We want to help you get to NECC ’09 in Washington, D.C., June 28-July 1!

A few months ago, I was calling customers who have attended NECC for years to ask about co-presenting with netTrekker. I was getting the same response, “I’m sorry to say that I won’t be attending because our out-of-state travel has been eliminated due to funding issues.”

NECC is such a wonderful conference where you can learn new technologies, connect with friends, share what you’ve learned, and diligently seek out the latest classroom tool in the exhibit hall. If that’s what you love about NECC, we want to help you continue that experience.

netTrekker is offering two $1500 scholarships to educators to apply toward NECC travel expenses and registration. Earning one of the scholarships is simple. Create a project-based assignment for your students within netTrekker’s My Portfolio and submit the URL by April 15. You may submit up to 5 entries. Be creative! Encourage your students to use 21^st century skills by building in collaboration; have your students to create a podcast or post a blog comment; add external resources like a link to a BrainPop video.

Not familiar with My Portfolio? We make it easy for you to learn.

• Review our free tutorials. Scroll past Atomic Learning videos.
• Register and attend a free 30-minute webinar to learn how to build your project in My Portfolio.
• See examples on the NECC Scholarship website.
• Follow the discussion on netTrekker Village.
• Check out the Blog Series dedicated to the My Portfolio

If you’re selected as one of the winners, we ask that you spend 30 minutes in the netTrekker d.i. booth at NECC sharing your project with others.

Can’t wait to see you in D.C.!

Tags: My Portfolio, NECC, scholarship

Trek With Us

netTrekker d.i. has some of the BEST customers! Our educators are down to Earth, creative, and a joy to get to know. Yesterday in the booth we met quite a few of these great users and last night we howled with a few as well.

I would like to introduce you to a few of our customers from Henrico County, VA. These guys stopped by the presentation side of our booth and we played tag with teaching each other a few things. Jill and I taught them about the admin tools and the teacher code, and they taught us about Virginia. These guys are really dedicated to their state and have started their own curriculum building for teaching everyone about Virginia.

They call themselves the VirginiaTrekkers and you can find their website by visiting VirginiaTrekkers.com. There you will find podcasts, activities, SOL Correlation, and more links to learn about their great state.

Three of them were available for a quick interview, and you can find that interview on our new netTrekker Village.

Tags: FETC, netTrekker d.i., netTrekker Village, VirginiaTrekkers