Online Learning for netTrekker Search
Are you looking for a convenient flexible option for learning how to get the most out of your netTrekker Search subscription …
Then be sure to check out Online Learning - your one stop shop for all online opportunities to learn about netTrekker Search.
Check out the FREE online videos, FREE webinars, FREE Moodle Class, and more extensive non-facilitated and graduate level Moodle Class.
Tip Tuesdays - Join us each Tuesday at 4:30 PM EST for a FREE 30 minute webinar as we share ideas on how to use netTrekker in your classroom
Connection Wednesdays – Join us each Wednesday at 4:30 PM EST for a FREE webinar co-hosted by netTrekker and one of our valued partners as we demonstrate the connection between our products including BrainPOP, NSTA, Weekly Reader Express, and Teachers Domain.
netTrekker TV (Tutorial Videos) – View netTrekker TV, our library of FREE Tutorial Videos for targeted training on netTrekker features. If you ever need that just-in-time learning, or if you are a visual learner, our set of FREE online video tutorials will help acquaint you with netTrekker features and tools.
FREE non-facilitated Online Courses (1.5 hours)
NT001 – Learn to Search and Differentiate digital resources using netTrekker features and tools
NT001S – NT001 with Scantron Integration
Advanced non-facilitated Online Courses (2 hours) – under construction
NT002 – Learn to Organize and Integrate digital resources using netTrekker features and tools
NT002S - NT002 with Scantron Integration
Graduate Level facilitated Online Course (30 hours with optional 3 graduate credits)
NT101 – Explore netTrekker features and tools, to share best practices for implementation into teaching and learning, and to create standards-based projects, all in the context of differentiated instruction. Discussion boards, an interactive webinar, and a variety of 21st Century Learning resources are included in this collaborative learning community.
Make Your Vote Count!
With the new netTrekker voting feature, students and teachers can give each of their favorite resources their seal of approval and more efficiently choose resources!
When you open a netTrekker resource, a frame will appear at the top of the page featuring the read aloud button and the voting buttons. If you like the resource you’re viewing, you can click the thumbs up button, and if you dislike the resource you can click the thumbs down button. Depending on whether you are registered as a teacher or a student on netTrekker, your vote will be counted respectively.
Now, when you conduct a keyword search, your search results may contain student and/or teacher recommended resources. The sort menu can be used to sort search results by teacher or student recommended resources. Resources with more student and teacher thumbs up recommendations will be bumped up to the top of your search results. If none of the resources returned by your search results have been student or teacher recommended yet, your search results page will return the same resources in the same order as a regular keyword search.
Check out the Help section on Voting for more information.
netTrekker Spotlight User: Marie Pearson Discusses netTrekker Search’s Collaborative Opportunities
netTrekker is excited to introduce this week’s Spotlight User. Marie Pearson is the Technology Research Teachers at Campbell County Schools in Virginia. Marie shares how netTrekker Search’s My Portfolio has opened up additional collaborative opportunities for her teachers.
We have had netTrekker Search in our division for about two years and have primarily used it as a safe, educationally-based search engine. But, wow, after seeing the potential of collaboration that exists through the use of the My Portfolio options, I can see that we will market netTrekker Search differently this next school year. I was impressed to see all the resources that could be saved in a Portfolio account and, with the addition of standards, one could have their units of study all set up for instruction. I found the My Portfolio features very user friendly and look forward to using them as we prepare for the school year.
As a technology resource teacher, I plan to use the My Portfolio features to train teachers on the expanded uses/benefits of netTrekker Search . I’d also like to assist them in setting up units of study and assist in the classrooms when they are introducing netTrekker Search to their students. Our division’s focus is on differentiated instruction and netTrekker Search provides many resources for this instructional method; therefore, I plan to emphasize to the teachers how netTrekker Search can help them accomplish this goal.
ELL Channel Brings World Culture Experience to All Learners
Described in this article are two lesson plan ideas created by NT101 Summer Session participants, Ryan Cummings (Jennings, IN) and Rachel Erickson (Aurora, CO). Both educators used resources from netTrekker’s ELL Channel and the literary tales, The Bear Prince and Jack and the Beanstalk to design an interdisciplinary cultural exploration.
These lessons, through the use of resources from the ELL channel take students to China, France, Mexico, Spain and the United States to learn about mathematics, literature, people and the cultural traditions that surround these countries.
Rachel’s lesson is geared toward primary and elementary students. The lesson is centered around the Mexican folktale, The Bear Prince. Students explore the Sierra Madre Occidental region of Mexico through Google Earth and the eyes of Rosa, a Mexican girl who is forced to marry a mysterious bear. Using interactive websites, videos and images from netTrekker’s ELL channel students will sketch cultural items and work with a partner using Microsoft Paint to create a visual representation depicting the cultural items/traits they researched in My Portfolio folders Rachel compiled.
For secondary students, Ryan brings fun, practical application, and thorough understanding to the complex skills of calculating currency exchange and crop yields.
Students in Ryan’s class will research using netTrekker resources to decide what type of currency Jack takes from the giant depending upon a teacher-assigned geographic location of Jack’s origin. Students will research and decide during which season, in different countries Jack could have planted and grown the beans to yield the best monetary crop. Students will work in groups to design a graph of their choice and present a two-minute debate about where Jack should live to be most successful in his business.
Thanks to Ryan and Rachel for sharing these wonderful lesson ideas for all netTrekker learners. Enjoy reading reflections below from these NT101 Alumni and visit the ELL Channel to explore the amazing tools and resources in the ELL Skill Development and Multicultural Pavilion areas.
“I absolutely love using netTrekker. The different uses I can get out of netTrekker for my everyday lessons are remarkable. The ELL Channel is a feature that is going to help me enhance my students’ knowledge of world culture as I am teaching them mathematics. My students will have a more enriched learning environment because of the ELL Channel in netTrekker.
My Jack and the Beanstalk lesson is going to allow me, using features inside of the ELL Channel, to enrich my students’ understanding that the world we are apart of is much bigger than the town we live. It will allow them to research different areas of the world while sitting in their local classroom. They will be able to experience different cultures that they may not normally get to study. The more I can let my students see what similarities and differences there are in different parts of the world, the more I am going be able to prepare them for their future lives.
The ELL feature also allows them to get help with the understanding and meanings of different words and different languages. With the different options they can use in netTrekker, students will be able to learn at their own reading level and move at their own pace. The other thing I like about this feature is the read aloud button. If an article is a little too difficult for a student to read, then they can use this feature to help them get the understanding they need. What a great feature for all of our students. Each student now has the opportunity to push the limits of their own learning.
Net trekker is a tool that I am so glad our school has for me to use and the ELL Channel is just one part of it that will help me to diversify my students’ learning.”
Ryan Cummings
Secondary Teacher and Coach
Jennings, IN
“The increase in ethnic and language diversity of students in our schools requires educators to teach students to value diversity and understand cultural differences in order to be successful participants in a global society. People don’t often recognize the impact culture has on behavior until they interact with someone whose culture differs from their own. netTrekker’s Multicultural Pavilion within the English Learners’ channel gives both teachers and students a window into various cultures. The resources found provide a means to increase cross-cultural awareness, which will lead to a greater understanding of the world. I am grateful that netTrekker has included the Multicultural Pavilion as part of the English Learners channel so educators and students may benefit from the variety of resources that help us reflect on our own values, beliefs, and perceptions while gaining perspective on cultures that differ from our own.”
Rachel Erickson
Instructional Technology Coach
Aurora, CO
netTrekker Spotlight User: Jan Williams Shares How netTrekker is a Hit with Teachers!
netTrekker is excited to introduce this week’s Spotlight User. Jan Williams is the Educational Technology Coordinator for Youngstown City School District in Youngstown, Ohio. Jan shares how teachers have enjoyed exploring netTrekker through integration with other technology and professional development.
This is the first year we have had netTrekker in our schools. It has been a huge hit among our teachers, and we have had many workshops to roll out the training for the teachers. Everyone loves the efficient way to drill down the results according to readability and the other options. The opportunity for differentiation is phenomenal and easy to use. Since we have many teachers using Promethean Boards, they love that they can search for flipcharts in netTrekker and be sure they are good ones!
We have asked the district to provide the money to renew the subscription for next year due to the high use and high satisfaction. There are currently 5 people taking the nT 101 online course right now, so each of those folks will become our next netTrekker trainers in their buildings and in the district.
netTrekker Spotlight User: Linda Steward Shares Her Favorite netTrekker Tools and Features
netTrekker is excited to introduce this week’s Spotlight User. Linda Steward is a Standard Support Specialist at Knollwood Elementary in Rapid City, South Dakota. Linda shares how netTrekker’s personalized learning tools have been an asset to her and her students.
I use netTrekker everyday! I like it because I can always find something that fits what I am looking for – whether for the students or as a teaching aide. Once I set up My Portfolio and add sites, finding and using them is a piece of cake. I have found many sites that I use over and over by searching netTrekker!
The search result icons are fantastic – I always know just what the site offers. I’ve also used the Read Aloud feature more often and shared it with my students. This feature enables all kids to use the site, no matter their reading ability!
Check Out What’s Happening at ISTE!
netTrekker will be featuring several workshops presented by educators as well as the netTrekker professionals to talk about how netTrekker can help you access the most relevant digital resources for engaging students in a learning experience that supports their unique needs. Workshops will help users explore netTrekker’s advanced features, hear best practices from other educators, get integration tips and strategies, and more.
See the full schedule at http://www.nettrekker.com/pages/iste-2010
Unable to attend ISTE? Be sure to check out netTrekker Village for workshop highlights, tips, strategies, and more! Find it all at www.nettrekkervillage.com
Be sure to check out all the NEW netTrekker Search features, available for back to school 2010!
Creating a netTrekker Search Box
Have you ever wanted to add a netTrekker Search Box to your school’s website? We make it easy by providing the HTML code! Teachers and students with IP authentication will be able to do a netTrekker Search from anywhere on the site without usernames. If there is no IP access in place, then the user will be prompted to log in and then will receive the search result.
Simply follow the steps below to add this netTrekker Search box to your school’s website!
1. Edit the HTML file to which you want to add the search section.
2. Copy and Paste the section of code below where the search dialog is to appear.
3. When the dialog appears, the user enters a search term and clicks Search to display netTrekker Search Results page.
<img src=”http://school.nettrekker.com/images/login/nT_Logo.gif” alt=”netTrekker Search” border=”0″ />
</div>
<div>
<form action=”http://school.nettrekker.com/searchKeyword” method=”GET” rel=”external” name=”kwdbar”>
<label style=”color:#663399; font: bold 16px Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;” for=”id_query”>Keyword:</label>
<input type=”text” value=”" style=”font: 14px Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: middle;” maxlength=”60″ size=”25″ name=”query” id=”id_query” />
<input type=”image” src=”http://school.nettrekker.com/images/btns/search.gif” style=”vertical-align: middle;” border=”0″ title=”Search” alt=”Perform a search” name=”go_kw” />
<input type=”hidden” value=”/goPage?np=/home.ftl&pp=/home.ftl” name=”nextService” />
<input type=”hidden” value=”/webresults.ftl” name=”np” />
<input type=”hidden” value=”/webresults.ftl” name=”pp” />
<input type=”hidden” value=”Middle” name=”al” />
<input type=”hidden” value=”WEBCONTENT” name=”searchType” />
<input type=”hidden” value=”8″ name=”limit” />
<input type=”hidden” value=”1″ name=”start” />
<input type=”hidden” value=”M” name=”HOMEPAGE” />
</form>
</div>
netTrekker Spotlight User – Julie Bowline Uses netTrekker to Personalize Learning for 8th Grade Students
netTrekker is excited to introduce this week’s Spotlight User. Julie Bowline is the Director of Instructional Technology and Library Services at Adams 12 Five Star Schools in Thornton, Colorado. Julie shares her experience using netTrekker with 8th grade students.
Our district piloted netTrekker as part of our inquiry-based assessment of 8th-grade students’ technology and information literacy. Instead of spending hours digging through the massive amount of information returned by standard search engines, our students used netTrekker to quickly uncover information that was relevant and at their reading level.
To save even more searching time, teachers created folders with resources that could be used by many different students. As a result, students had more time to analyze and evaluate resources that were key to answering their inquiry question, and more time to synthesize their research as they created a digital product to share.
Recent budget cuts have reduced our teacher librarian support at the middle level, so we’re training classroom teachers to use all of netTrekker’s tools. As everyone tries to do more with less, netTrekker will help us organize Internet resources, differentiate instruction, and address the language needs and reading levels of our diverse student population.
Top 10 Reasons Future Teachers Love netTrekker
Shared by Education Students
Dr. Douglas Hazlett’s Integrated Instructional Systems Class
Thiel College Education Department, PA
1. “netTrekker allows future teachers to use materials and resources that are credible and reliable – saving us valuable time planning our first units.” (Saves Time)
2. “netTrekker is a resource for materials that are based on standards AND provide differentiated instruction.” (Standards-Aligned)
3. “Searches for photos and videos are safe, unlike a general search engine such as Google™.” (Safe Searching)
4. “Organized resources that can be individualized for student needs, including gifted and special needs students.” (Personalize Learning)
5. “netTrekker pulls together all the aspects necessary for learning to take place while making instruction more engaging.” (Engaging Students)
6. “netTrekker helps incorporate technology into the classroom while accommodating all learning styles.” (Technology Integration)
7. “netTrekker is organized and easy to navigate which means less of a headache for teachers.” (Easy to Use)
8. “The Read Aloud and Dictionary/Translation tools will dramatically help ELL/ESL students.” (Support for ELL/ESL Students)
9. “Ideas and information for classroom management, professional development, learning styles and strategies, special education, and more.” (Teacher Tools)
10. “netTrekker provides a lot of tips and resources for helping our students become 21st century global players.” (21st Century Learning)
“From freshman students investigating education topics through seniors doing their student teaching; Thiel’s educaiton students made great use of netTrekker. Thiel College requires all education majors to develop standards-based lesson plans using engaging pedagogy (like Marzano’s instructional strategies) in fun creative ways using a variety of instructional strategies for all learners. netTrekker is a tremendous digital assistant in this process. netTrekker provides all the answers for college students to design standards-based lessons using engaging pedagogies to increase student achievement for all learners. Special features like timeline are very popular with students especially history majors. Science majors love all of the interactive websites that are suggested with a keyword search. All students use the image search feature. netTrekker is just a tremendous resource for college education majors and K-12 teachers alike.”
Douglas R. Hazlett, Ph.D.
Chair and Associate Professor
Education Department
Thiel College
Paperless Trails
An image of the Auroras Dancing in the Night from the NASA JSC Digital Image Collection in the Reference Section of netTrekker.
Earth Day is right around the corner, so we decided to dedicate this week to Earth Day topics. Today is a topic that has been hot on Twitter, Paperless Classrooms.
This topic was hot a few years ago, with one classroom going paperless in 2001 and creating one of the first sites about being paperless. With the introduction of handhelds, netbooks, the 1:1 computer initiative and now the iPad, paperless classrooms are still on everyone’s mind. Think about it. A student can create the written document/presentation in Zoho or Google and share it with you as a way to turn it in. Teachers have access to tools like Quia, DiscoveryStreaming’s Quiz Builder, or even handheld clickers you can administer a quiz/test that way. (There’s even a program for the iTouch to become a handheld clicker!)
Then, as I started this blog, I saw a Facebook posting from netTrekker’s CEO Randy Wilhelm about how netTrekker is helping Canada transition to digital resources. Here’s one of my favorite quotes, “With the growing movement toward interactive whiteboards, laptops and mobile computing in schools, augmenting traditional print resources with digital education solutions is now a viable opportunity in K-12 education. Educators need high-quality digital content that is appropriate for classroom use and leverages the benefits of Web technologies such as up-to-date information and rich multimedia.”
Don’t live in Canada? Would like to use netTrekker to digitize your classroom so you can go paperless? Let’s talk about some of the possibilities.
Start by using netTrekker’s My Portfolio to create a project folder. Using the refinement tabs, find resources that are primary documents, video, interactive media, or from some of our great content partners like BrainPOP or Globio. Don’t forget to add a link to your Promethean or SMART Board resource for the students to use as a review. Need to add a link to another subscription your district offers? Go for it with the “Add a Link” button in My Portfolio.
Speaking of “Add a Link”, there are some paper resources that you might enhance your project in the media center. Share that printed resource using a tool like Scholastic Book Wizard. Again, once you create the list, share that link in the My Portfolio.
Next, in your new project folder, add a quiz to check for knowledge gained. Again, use tools like your DiscoveryStreaming Quiz Builder or QuizStar by adding a link to your computer quiz. Or, check out the quizzes found in BrainPOP. The work’s done for you, and the quizzes go along with their great movies featuring everyone’s favorite robot, Moby.
Now, I don’t like relying on a quiz alone for the grade. I want the students to do something with that knowledge to show their true understanding of the standards and the ability to transfer their new knowledge to a new situation. Create a VoiceThread for students to use to debate a topic or share information. How about a Glogster where they present their information in a multimedia format? Or a Kerpoof story, movie, or picture? The students can share their Glogster link with you in the MyPortfolio Folder as a way to electronically share it with the other students and turn it in.
In the end, your entire project is in My Portfolio. Nothing needs to be printed. You have the directions, the electronic resources found in netTrekker and the links to the extra useful subscriptions your district provides to you, and a link to where they will electronically build their project and take their quiz. Now you can share this folder in the school or district area for your students to access. And, you’ll have it for next year too! The added benefit of using the My Portfolio is that you still have access to the Read Aloud and Dictionary Hot Key tools that really help engage and enable students in their learning process.
If you would like to take the pledge to go Paperless this Earth Day, check out this online site.
Amy’s got more information on Earth Day tomorrow. Then on Wednesday we’ll talk about how to raise money for your school while reducing waste. Thursday and Friday have other surprises to be shared. So tune in!
Butterfly Garden of Words
A Glogster about the word butterfly.
This weekend Amy Ellisor, our netTrekker 101 instructor, and I talked about a project some of her teachers were working on about etymology. There was a bit of frustration for some of her teachers because they couldn’t find all of the resources they wanted on the topic of etymology. If that ever happens to you, and you have great resources to share, please consider suggesting those websites to netTrekker through our suggest a link form on netTrekker Village, or via twitter by using #netTrekker along with the URL of your suggested resource. The other thing that you can do is add a link in your My Portfolio Project. This link will not appear in netTrekker as a whole, but rather in just your folder and will only be available to the people you give the rights to see that folder.
The other tip I’ll share is to check out the reference section. In the high school reference section I found quite a few great resources under the English Language area about word origin and meaning. My favorite, that I had not clicked on before today, was the iTools! and I did find a few resources there that would be very beneficial to this group of students in nT101. (I love it when I learn something new!)
But what in the world do you do with etymology? It’s interesting to discover the origin of words, but what do you do with that knowledge besides winning the next game show? I took the word butterfly and applied it to Glogster. It’s not a complete project, but definitely one that can be replicated. I added the definition, some other ways the word is being used, along with the origin of butterfly. I could definitely add some more information, but for a start, I’m feeling pretty good.
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