Using netTrekker

Level 2 Tool

No data is shared:

Access to this tool does not require any user to share information about themselves

Grades:

  Primary

  Intermediate

  Middle

  High

Terms of Use

This information last checked: 12/02/2018

Digital Content SNAPSHOT & SUPPORT RESOURCES

Overview

netTrekker delivers more than 330,000 educator-vetted, standards-aligned active learning resources that enable students and teachers to explore digital content quickly and learn differently. netTrekker is the leading educational search tool for schools, trusted by more than 1 million K-12 educators and 27 million students since 2000. netTrekker curates the best educational resources from the web and makes searching safe and effective with unique learning tools to reach every student.

Target Audience: Elementary, Middle, and High School students

Content Connections:   Reading/English Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science, Art, Music, World Languages, Technology, 21st Century Skills, Health & Physical Education, Philosophy & Religion

Introducing netTrekker from Knovation on Vimeo.

Standards Alignment 

• Browse for content aligned to 21st Century Skills.
• Read about How netTrekker Supports Common Core State Standards Implementation

Content & Features 

• Search: Users can search for web content, images, or famous people.
• Web Content: Access to 330,000 educator-vetted, standards-aligned active learning resources.  This includes websites, databases, images, videos, simulations, and learning games.  
• My Portfolio:  A very powerful feature of netTrekker is the ability to save any resource from a Search Result, an Image Result, a Timeline, or Standards Result , then share those results with others in your class, school or district. All these functions involve using My Portfolio, which you access from My Menu at the top every netTrekker page.

Navigation

• Search: Using the Search function simply involves entering a keyword or phrase into the search box . But with netTrekker, you can be more specific about the kind of result you want. By choosing Web, Image, or Famous Person, you can fine-tune the types of resources which will be delivered in your Search Result.
• Browse: The Browse function allows you to target your search based on types of resources rather than on keywords or phrases. To access the Browse function, click on the Browse tab on your home page.  The Browse options are arranged in two sections - Subjects and Themes.
• Tools: The Tools tab gives easy access to the Famous Person Tool, the Timeline Tool, and the Reference section (also available from Browse/Themes).
• Featured: The Featuredtab lets users access Featured content such as BrainPOP, Defined STEM, and Learnetic resources. Availability of Featured content sometimes depends on a school's or organization's subscription.
• User Controls:  The User Controls are introduced on the Home Page and are available throughout netTrekker. Your username, role, and organization (usually your school) are displayed here. This area also contains the log out button. Clicking this checks you out of netTrekker, and you should make it a habit to log out every time you finish using netTrekker.
• In addition, the User Controls offer three helpful buttons: the Video button - , the Help button - , and the Home button - . The Video button accesses several quick tutorial videos. The Help button brings you to this Help document. The Home button returns you to your home page from anywhere within netTrekker.
• Header Bar:  The Header Bar, which is also available throughout netTrekker, provides you with the Academic Level Toggle, the On/Off switch for Text Help, and My Menu.   

Learning Supports & Tools 

• Academic Level Toggle: Depending on how you and/or your organization have registered as a netTrekker user, your home page will default to Elementary, Middle or High academic level. Choosing a different academic level will change the context of netTrekker to one that provides suitable websites for the selected grades.
• Text Help: When you turn on the Text Help Feature in netTrekker, it will open a menu bar at the bottom of the window. The Text Help feature in netTrekker provides text-to-speech functions for all information on netTrekker pages, for text on web resources accessed from any Search Result (through the netTrekker frame), and definitions accessed by using the Dictionary Hot Key.
• Read aloud- Using a highlight-to-read approach, users simply highlight a passage of text using their mouse and press the play button at the bottom of the page to hear the text read aloud through their computer speakers.
• The Dictionary/ Translation option allows a user to view the definition of a word (and hear it read when they press the speaker icon), view a picture image and a translation of the word into Spanish.

Lexiles/Reading Levels: 

• Content is rated by a netTrekker Readability score (#2-5); click View Details beside the Readability Score to see corresponding readability measures, including Lexile.
  See also netTrekker Readability Measures
• For more information about Lexile, visit the Lexile Resource Page on this wiki.

Tutorials & Guides

• Interactive Orientation Guide
• Quick Start Guide: Provides a quick overview of the netTrekker interface.
• Video Tutorials 
• Also available inside netTrekkerfrom the  , which in the User Control section at the top of each netTrekker page gives you access to a series of videos designed for your specific role (teacher or student).
• Help Button:  -  provides the user with an index rich with support topics. 

What's New in netTrekker [Student] from Knovation on Vimeo.

Educator Resources 

• Teacher Home Page:  When teachers have registered with a username and password, and switched their user type to "teacher", they are able to search for resources by Standard in the Tools tab. 
• Direct Linking: Directions for creating a direct link to a specific article or resource for curriculum materials or digital learning environments.