See what's new in netTrekker d.i.!

• 21st Century Tools with resources that focus on collaboration, communication, multi-media and productivity have been added to the ICT Literacy pathway within 21st Century Skills channel. Tools within this section can assist you with everything from designing a classroom blog to downloading open source software.

• 21st Century Integration Models, also within the ICT Literacy pathway, are designed to provide examples that teachers can use as they appear, or as frameworks for developing their own lessons which combine their current curriculum with the development and assessment of 21st century skills. While many of the lesson plans within netTrekker d.i. may incorporate both core curricular and 21st century skills, this set of models has been deliberately chosen and gathered in one place to make them particularly easy to access.

• Additional PBS TeacherSource resources bring the total number to just over 5000! PBS Teachers is PBS' national web destination for high-quality preK-12 educational resources. Here you'll find classroom materials suitable for a wide range of subjects and grade levels. We provide thousands of lesson plans, teaching activities, on-demand video assets, and interactive games and simulations. These resources are correlated to state and national educational standards and are tied to PBS' award-winning on-air and online programming like NOVA, Nature, Cyberchase, Between the Lions and more.

• GLOBIO resources were added to Elementary and Middle School and can easily be found by performing the keyword search GLOBIO. Glossopedia is a multimedia online interactive encyclopedia, connecting kids to the world by supporting discovery of nature, animals, science, and culture. Many articles are accompanied by professional photographs, audio clips, and video footage.

• New Canadian-specific digital resources now total 8,000. The new resources are aligned to provincial outcomes and expectations for Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.

• Assessments have been added to our list of website resources. You'll notice an Assessment icon in the legend and a corresponding Assessments refinement tab. The Assessments tag signifies that a particular resource contains an item that can be used to assess students on a particular skill. This may include, but is not limited to, tests, quizzes and worksheets.

netTrekker d.i. Reaches 10 Millionth Student Mark in Pflugerville, TX!
netTrekker d.i. is now used by over 575,000 teachers and 19,000 schools throughout the U.S., an 84% increase in safe searches from school year 2006 to school year 2007 and an increase of one million students and two thousand more schools since Spring 2007.

In recognition of the school district that brought the student population using netTrekker d.i. to 10 million, Thinkronize presented Pflugerville Independent School District in Texas with five $1000 college scholarships that the school can bestow upon students of its choosing.

“The search is on!” said Thinkronize CEO Randy Wilhelm. “As teachers and students embrace the Internet for educational tools and resources, we are thrilled to see a meaningful upswing in schools investing in web-safe tools like netTrekker d.i. that provide safe, relevant, contextual search. It is our honor to recognize Pflugerville ISD which has put us over our 10 millionth student mark!”

“Not only does netTrekker d.i. make online searching safe and easy for our teachers, students, and parents - it also provides access to web content that is differentiated for all learners, including our expanding ELL population,” said Kathryn Ives, coordinator, Instructional Technology, Pflugerville Independent School District. “Importantly, the web sites in netTrekker d.i. are tied directly to Texas Standards by grade level, have been reviewed by an educator, and are age appropriate. With netTrekker d.i., our teachers can enhance the content of their lessons with rich web content!”

23 Districts Reach 1 Million Page Views
Summer usage put several districts over the mark to reach 1 Million netTrekker d.i. Page Views for the 2006-2007 school year! Congratulations to the following districts, ranging from 14,000 to 206,000 student enrollment, for reaching the milestone of 1 Million Page Views. Each district will receive a plaque to honor their achievement. Districts are listed alphabetically by state:

California: Sacramento City USD, Stockton USD
Colorado: Aurora School District 28-J, Cherry Creek School District 5, Denver Public School District 1
Florida: Orange County Public School District, Sarasota County School District
Georgia: Atlanta Public Schools, Cherokee County School District, Cobb County School District, Forsyth County School District
Maryland: Montgomery County Public Schools
Nebraska: Lincoln Public School District 1
Texas: Austin ISD, Clear Creek ISD, El Paso ISD, Fort Bend ISD, Harlandale ISD, Houston ISD, Round Rock ISD, Ysleta ISD
Utah: Davis School District
Virginia: Hampton City School District

What do these districts have in common? Training, communication, and ongoing support. Kudos to each district for successful district-wide implementation in each of these areas. Twenty of the twenty-three districts utilized netTrekker d.i. professional development during rollout. With netTrekker d.i. professional development, instruction and hands-on training are combined to guide staff through basic functionality, assistive searching features, standards searching, and effective use of collaboration tools and 21st century teaching and learning skills. netTrekker d.i. trainers combine methods for assisting students and teachers in finding and using standards-based online resources that are age and grade appropriate and educationally relevant to meet challenging state standards. Communication with parents and staff are equally important with the ongoing support of netTrekker d.i. in the classroom.