netTrekker d.i.
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.
VirginiaTrekkers love netTrekker d.i.
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.
Getting the Message Out
Your project folder is complete, and now it’s time to share it with your students. You can share your folder either in a class folder (that you create) or the existing school or district folder.
The District folder and the “Create a Class” feature were introduced in December of 2007. The District folder makes it possible to share your project folders with any other teacher or student within your district. The class feature allows you to create a class that your students can join by entering the secret word (that you assign). You can learn more about creating a class with this video tutorial.
In order to get your folder into one of those areas, you have three choices. You can move, copy or bookmark. Everyone has their preference of which one, but I personally prefer the bookmark method. Here are my reasons:
· If you move your folder to the district or school, the admin has the right to delete it. It wouldn’t be done on purpose, I’m sure, but accidents happen. There’s no way to retrieve a deleted folder.
· If you copy a folder to the district or school, and then update your original folder later, you’ll need to make sure you update the copied folder as well. I know I would forget to do this.
· If you bookmark a folder, you are actually creating a shortcut to your project folder. If you update the folder, then everyone will be able to see the update. If the bookmark gets deleted, you still have your main folder. Your work would not be lost.
Here are the steps to bookmarking a folder:
1. Open the folder you want to share.
2. Click on Edit
3. Click on Advanced Options (in the Edit Window)
4. Select who you want to view and who you want to have the rights to change the folder. (I usually select everyone in the district to view, but I don’t change the rights to the change the folder unless it’s a collaboration project.)
5. Save the changes (that window will go away)
6. Click on Bookmark (middle of the folder window)
7. A new window will appear asking if you’re sure this is what you want to do. Click Save.
8. The bookmark will appear in your main portfolio. Go back there and put a checkmark next to the BOOKMARK.
9. Click on MOVE and select the destination.
One quick important note, you will need do the advanced options for each subfolder of the main folder you are bookmarking. You will not need to bookmark the subfolders.
For the videos on netTrekker d.i.’s My Portfolio, check out our HELP section.
Template Test Drive
How’s the folder coming along? Shaping up pretty nicely? Which websites did you add to your portfolio?
Today’s tip is how to use the Templates in the My Portfolio. Next to the ADD WEBSITE button is another button that says ADD TEMPLATE. netTrekker d.i. has two templates available. These templates allow you to add details to your portfolio which comes in handy when dealing with research or project based learning.
The first one is a Digital Literacy Template. This template has five questions a student should ask themselves before they decide to use a website for research. What a great practice for 21st Century Literacy! Now with each template, you must add a title. The description is optional, but is a great place to add directions. With the Digital Literacy Template the five questions are already in place, but there is space for you to add more details. For example, the first piece of information a student should question is the author or creator’s level of authority. What does this mean? The space below gives you a place to put prompts or more details for the students, such as “what level of educational degree do they hold? Are they an enthusiast, hobbyist, or do they work in the field?” Or you could tell the students to look for a biography of the creator and tips on what to investigate.
The second template is a USER DEFINED TEMPLATE. This is a blank page for you to add your own content. You must add the title, but the rest of the information is up to you. I like to use this page to write the project directions, to create a Web Hunt or WebQuest, or to list the printed material you want students to use in the project. The possibilities are endless! Here is a PDF of the template I used for the science fair project. Another possibility for the blank template is for students to collect and save their research notes. They don’t have to keep track of the paper and pen or remember where they put their file. All of the details they need for that project are contained in one space.
The template is not a worksheet, but rather a digital reference or guide for the students. It can be printed off if needed.
Share with us how you use the templates by leaving a comment below. If have one that is extraordinary, send it to Danielle at dabernethy@nettrekker.com. She’ll share them on the blog for others to use.
Linking outside of netTrekker d.i.
Did you get your folder started? I hope so, because today we’re going to look at how to add websites not found in netTrekker d.i.
netTrekker d.i.has over 300,000 digital resources that are relevant and aligned to your state standards, but there are bound to be websites not in netTrekker d.i. that you would like to add to your Portfolio. You may wish to add the link to an online quiz, your personal website, an online document or a link to another subscription provided to your students. Any of these links may be easily added to your netTrekker d.i. portfolio.
Steps to add a website not found in netTrekker d.i.
First, click on My Portfolio and open up the folder you want to add the link to. You will see several buttons running across the top of that folder, including a button that says “ADD WEBSITE”. Click on that button and a new window will pop up. This is where you will add the URL (I recommend copying and pasting the URL so there’s no mistake), the Name of the website you are adding and then a description of the website.
Please note that Read Aloud, Dictionary and Readability will not work with links originating outside of netTrekker d.i.
Some of the items that I like to add to folders include Quizzes from Quia, a book list from Scholastic’s Book Wizard, a link to my blog or wiki, or BrainPop videos. What websites will you be adding to your portfolio?
On a side note, if you have a great link that should be added to netTrekker d.i.’s database, you can send it to us via the CONTACT US TOOL. The CONTACT US TOOL is located on the right hand side in the yellow MY TOOLS box.
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Educator Blog Roll
- Backroom Educational Technology by Michelle Morely
- Cliotech, by Jennifer Dorman
- Educational Technology by Palm Beach
- etechplace: Henrico’s FETC Blog
- Geeky Momma, by Lee Kolbert
- Moving at the Speed of Creativity, by Wes Fryer
- NCS-Tech! by Kevin Jarrett
- Randomly Speaking, by John Lien
- Southgate Technology Blog
- Teach 42 Blog by Steve Dembo
- Teach the Civil War with Technology by Jim Beeghley
- Tinkerings, by Tim Childers