netTrekker Blog

New Science Professional Development Resources from the NSTA Learning Center

Recently, President Barack Obama launched the “Educate to Innovate” campaign, a nationwide effort by public and private organizations to improve the participation and performance of America’s students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).  What is your school or district doing to address this renewed focus on STEM education? Are you looking for ways to help your teachers expand their science knowledge and easily integrate STEM teaching into their classrooms?

To help you improve science education and to give your teachers the science professional development they need,  netTrekker has partnered with the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) to offer seamless access to high-quality online PD resources from the NSTA Learning Center on a wide variety of science topics directly from netTrekker.

A small sample of NSTA Learning Center resources will be freely available to all netTrekker subscribers as part of your netTrekker subscription.  The free resources include:

• 1 SciPack
• 1 SciGuide
• 64 Science Objects
• 132 Archived Web Seminars
• 600+ Free Journal Articles
• 179 e-book Chapters
• Click here to download a PDF with complete descriptions of these resources.
• Click here to learn how to access the free resources within netTrekker.

Schools and districts can also provide extended professional development opportunities by purchasing additional licenses to access to the complete set of more than 4,400 NSTA Learning Center online PD resources.  The resources will be easily accessible, 24/7 from your netTrekker search results.

Click here to learn more about the complete NSTA Learning Center professional development package or ask your netTrekker Account Manager for more details.

Tags: netTrekker, NSTA, NSTA Learning Center, professional development, science, STEM

Scholastic: You Innovate 21

21^st Century Skills and STEM together?  Sure!  netTrekker makes that connection and supplementary resources quick and easy to find.  For example, do a keyword search for “science”.  Check out the Subject Refinement Menu and look for “21^st Century Skills” in the list.  When you refine by that choice, the resulting resources are based on the curricular area of Science and focused on the 21^st Century Skills framework.  Today’s Site of the Day, You Innovate 21, is a great example of this example search in the high school tab:

This multimedia website helps students explore the relevance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) topics in their lives today, and encourages them to consider a career in STEM in the future. After launching “You Innovate 21,” students will be taken to an animated city block where they can read an interactive graphic novel, view museum exhibits, enter virtual city shops, and answer brain teasers – all while applying and expanding their STEM knowledge!

Click here to login to netTrekker and access the Site of the Day.

Login to netTrekker before midnight (eastern) today to access the netTrekker Site of the Day and add it to your “My Portfolio” for easy future reference.  After midnight, the new Site of the Day will go up and you’ll have to look for today’s site using netTrekker’s search tool. Need help with My Portfolio? Easy, handy instructions can be found here.

Not yet a netTrekker subscriber? Visit www.nettrekker.com and click on the Free Trial link at the top right of the page for 14 days of complimentary access to netTrekker.

Tags: 21, 21st Century Learning, site of the day, STEM

HubbleSite: Way Out!

Who says STEM concepts are always dry and boring?  If you use netTrekker’s Refinement Menu to refine your search by Subject and Interactive Media, you can find sites like today’s Site of the Day! Can you help a cow plot a path out of the Milky Way? This space game is fun for all ages and is offered by HubbleSite. Users may pick their level of expertise and can choose from novice, pretty smart about space, or astrobrainiac levels.

Click here to login to netTrekker and access the Site of the Day.

Login to netTrekker before midnight (eastern) today to access the netTrekker Site of the Day and add it to your “My Portfolio” for easy future reference.  After midnight, the new Site of the Day will go up and you’ll have to look for today’s site using netTrekker’s search tool. Need help with My Portfolio? Easy, handy instructions can be found here.

Not yet a netTrekker subscriber? Visit www.nettrekker.com and click on the Free Trial link at the top right of the page for 14 days of complimentary access to netTrekker.

Tags: science, site of the day, space, STEM

TeachEngineering with a Special Touch

In a recent article from eSchool News about building momentum in STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), there was an urge to not forget the T and E in the curriculum.

“One of the findings is that discussions of STEM tend to be focused on science, sometimes math, rarely both together–usually they’re siloed, and the T and especially the E are really just left out of the discussion in policy, education, and classroom practice,” Greg Pearson, an NAE program officer, said.

“Even though we use that acronym, in terms of what’s really happening and what people really mean, engineering is the silent letter.”

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Tags: design, netTrekker, special olympics, STEM, teach engineering, teachengineering