netTrekker

NetTrekker d.i. Training Resources

Create Accounts and get training resources at this page:
http://middle.nettrekker.com/userinfo/pa.epl
An IU keyword is required. Please contact Yvonne Holman yholman@mciu.org for this information.

Set up your saved search folders

Each teacher will have to set up their own saved search folder because no one can move items into a folder created by someone else. Please use the following convention for creating saved search folders: District-School-Teacher Name (e.g. LM-LMHS-Holman for Lower Merion-Lower Merion High School-Teacher named Holman). Other folders can be created inside this folder to help each teacher organize saved searches for their classes.

FAQ

Q: Is there a way to monitor the websites that students add to a Saved Search; or to turn off that link? The concern is that students might create a Saved Search, use the Add a Website feature to include a non-academic or inappropriate site to a Saved Search, and then Share that search so other students will have access to the inappropriate site.

A: There are no restrictions on the Saved Search feature by role (student, teacher, parent). Due to several requests like yours, netTrekker’s Product Development team changed the porn filter to run every Monday through Friday. This porn filter checks all websites added by users via the Saved Search and Shared Search functions. The filter does not check website names. The administrator can remove any inappropriate names in the Shared Search folders.

Q: If a student creates a saved search, they can add a URL to it...any URL they wish. And if the "white list" option that was suggested to avoid filter problems is employed, the URL's the students add are referred by netTrekker, and hence would be permitted by the filter. Students could then utilize netTrekker to bypass their school's filtering service. Is there a way to disable or limit the add-a-URL feature? Many schools in our area will not white list netTrekker-referred sites specifically for this reason.

A: netTrekker's porn filter runs Monday-Friday and checks all URLs added by users via the Saved Search and Shared Search functions. If the student added the URL for Playboy but named it Solar System, the filter doesn't check the name the user gives it but it does check the URL and site itself. So any appropriate site would be deleted even though you've white listed netTrekker.

We'd love to hear any ideas you have for improving the Saved Search and Shared Search features to maintain their user friendliness and at the same time prevent or discourage possible inappropriate activities.

Q: Can elementary students' access to middle school and high school content be turned off?

A: This ability exists on an individual school basis, though it does not function in the current Pennsylvania set-up. We added the option two years ago in response to a request similar to the one you mention, and we find that it is almost never used. Aside from lack of need for the block and difficulty in implementing it over a system such as that in Pennsylvania, there are other drawbacks to this type of restriction. One is that it prohibits use of secondary resources not just for students but for teachers as well. Another is that some upper elementary teachers and students find it useful to expand their searches into netTrekker’s middle school resources, something they would not be able to do with an elementary-only restriction.

Q: Are websites included in a netTrekker Saved Search cached or loaded with each visit?

A: netTrekker does not cache any sites. Saved Searches are saved to the account and are available every time the user logs in. The user will need to manually delete a search for it to no longer appear as a Saved Search. If a Saved Search contains a website that netTrekker deletes from the database, the user will see a message that indicates the website has been removed and is no longer available.

Q: Are there any limitations on either space or number for Saved Searches within netTrekker? Our teachers are concerned that a barrage of Saved Searches in individual accounts will exceed space limitations on the netTrekker server and impact web performance as a result.

A: There is no limit on the number of Saved Searches. In the past, the only situation where we’ve noticed a slowdown is when a large quantity of searches are Shared. Shared Searches, however, can be maintained by an administrator. We monitor our usage levels daily and even with the increased usage from Pennsylvania, there is ample space on the servers.

A: There are no restrictions on the Saved Search feature by role (student, teacher, parent). Due to several requests like yours, netTrekker’s Product Development team changed the porn filter to run every Monday through Friday. This porn filter checks all websites added by users via the Saved Search and Shared Search functions. The filter does not check website names. The administrator can remove any inappropriate names in the Shared Search folders.

Q: Is there an automatic logout after a certain period of inactivity?

A: A session timeout is after 60 minutes.

Q: A teacher is trying to create an account and it’s telling her that the username she wants to use is already in use. When I search our usernames, it does not come up. What could be the reason for this?

A: A username must be unique across the entire netTrekker database, not just your IU or the teacher’s school. An option would be to create the same username in uppercase or combination of uppercase and lowercase.

Q: How do I lock a password?

A: Email your IU contact and ask them to lock the account. Be sure to include the username of the account. You'll see that Profile and Preferences in the My Tools box has a lock icon beside them meaning the user cannot edit those items.

Q: How can give extra help to those learning to use netTrekker?

A: There is a Flash tour that highlights many features of netTrekker d.i. It’s a great way to get users familiar with the features and how netTrekker benefits teachers and students.
http://www.nettrekker.com/di/tour/index.html

Flash demo:
http://video.nettrekker.com/demo/diDemo.swf

The 9-minute video gives an overview of the features of netTrekker d.i. The control buttons in the bottom right can be used for Replay, Previous, Play/Pause, Next, and Exit to maneuver within the video.

There are terrific Atomic Learning videos in the Help section that show you exactly how to use many of the features.
http://www.nettrekker.com/help/DI/customers/profdev.epl#online

Q: Can I provide a link to netTrekker on my school’s homepage?

A: Absolutely! We encourage schools to provide the link to http://school.nettrekker.com o your users can easily access netTrekker d.i. directly on the login page. We prohibit, however, the posting of any username or password on any publicly accessed website.

Below is the link that contains varying sized logos for your use. Think link is available in PDE Training Resources > Implementation Resources > netTrekker d.i. logos
http://thinkronize.com/press/logos/netTrekker_di.html

Q: The training binder has outlines of trainings of 1 hour or 3 hours and scavenger hunts. Are these materials available on the web site?

A: They are available on the PDE Training Resources page under Training Resources. http://www.thinkronize.com/training/pde_train_resource.html

Q: I am planning my training sessions for our school districts and wondered if you could provide any t-shirts or hats as random drawing prizes for the participants.

A: Per our contract with PDE, all training materials/items are to be provided as online resources. All items in your Train-the-Trainer manual are available on the PDE Training Resources link from the registration page. http://www.thinkronize.com/training/pde_train_resource.html
Also on this page is the Promotional Items Order Form (next to last item) that can be used to order t-shirts, hats, mouse pads, etc. for training. All items are shipped UPS Ground.

Q: Are images in netTrekker d.i.’s Image search copyright-free?

A: Thinkronize locates and displays the thumbnail images, with links to these images as a service to educators and students. It does not own copyrights in these works, and cannot grant any license or permission to use the images. These rights belong to the copyright owners. If the owner of a copyrighted image wishes to have the thumbnail images removed, please contact Thinkronize at webmaster@nettrekker.com.

Q: Is there any way for schools to obtain a database of netTrekker websites to approve them so their content filter doesn't block them?

A: The sites are being blocked based on "established rules" in your content filter. A simple way to allow the websites in netTrekker d.i. to get through the filter is to update the Content Filter to “white list” any site with a referrer from the nettrekker.com domain.

Q: How would our tech person set up this “white list” with our new filter, WebSense?

A: Because each filtering device is different, please check with WebSense on updating the Content Filter to “white list” any site with a referrer from the nettrekker.com domain. There should be an interface with WebSense that allows you to list the websites or referrer information for the sites you want to allow.

Q: Which browsers are recommended? We held our training in our Mac Lab last night. People using I.E. experienced problems. We switched to Safari and we were fine. Any testing done on a Mac with Firefox?”

A: netTrekker d.i. is compatible with versions of Internet Explorer 5.x and above, Netscape 6.x and above, Safari 1.x and above and Mozilla 1.x and above. http://school.nettrekker.com/help/all/DI_basics/browsers.epl

We did test Mac OSX/Firefox combination. Here are the combos we tested:

Mac Classic
·        Internet Explorer
·        Netscape
Note: Firefox and Safari are not supported on Mac Classic

Mac OS X
·        Safari
·        Firefox
·        Netscape
·        Internet Explorer

Q: What are the accommodations for special needs students?

A: The Readability feature will assist in finding resources appropriate for special needs students. We also have resources in Teacher Tools specific to special needs.
http://www.nettrekker.com/subject/?ctgry_id=X599896
The Special Education section of Teacher Tools:

·        netTrekker provides resources on more than 40 types of special needs conditions, including AD/HD, dyslexia, and autism.

·        There are resources on teaching strategies, needs assessment, inclusion, legislation, and organizations.

·        Also in the Special Education section is a collection of resources dealing with various aspects of the IEP (Individualized Education Program).

Q: As far as Saved Searches, won't students see the Shared Searches of every teacher throughout the entire IU?

A: Saved Searches can only been viewed by the user who saved them, providing they used an individual login and not a shared login. A user can choose to Share a folder of Saved Searches. When he Shares that folder and a star appears on the folder, that Shared folder can be seen by all users in that IU. Users should only Share items they want others to see, not all of their Saved Searches. Also keep in mind that a Shared folder can only be edited by the person who created and shared it. The exception is that an admin login can unshared and delete Shared Folders.

An option is to use Email To A Friend. This works exceptionally well for teachers who want to share saved searches and timelines yet don’t want the students to see them as well.

Q: What’s the difference between search results via keyword search and famous person search?

A: Here is an example of the difference between the search results for Famous Person search and Keyword search: If you Keyword search George Washington, you’ll get results on George Washington and other topics that relate to him such as Valley Forge, the White House, and Gilbert Stuart. If you Famous Person search George Washington, you will get fewer results because they directly pertain to him such as his biography, his military career, his presidency.

Q: Can the Search History be cleared?

A: No. It’s one of the advantages of each user having their own login.

Q: What are the criteria for the timeline reflecting the death of a famous person?

A: netTrekker’s timeline shows when famous people lived and died. The timeline would not reflect recent deaths until the next year. The personal timeline of a Famous Person in netTrekker shows a birth date but not a death date until the year after their passing. We are discussing with our programmers the best way to improve this so that death dates are reflected more immediately.

Q: How are state standards determined and how often are they updated in the program?

A: netTrekker receives our state standards data from Academic Benchmarks. They provide the exact text of state-adopted standards, which are updated in netTrekker within a few weeks of adoption by any of the 50 states.

Thanks to Molly Dugan for asking the following questions:

Q: If a saved search contains dead weblinks does netTrekker flag them within your search and notify you somehow (ie: w/ a flag)?

A: I am sorry but we do not Flag dead weblinks - if they are reported to us as dead weblinks, we pass this on to our Content Editors, who in turn researches the site. If the dead link can be resolved, then the web resource URL will be updated to reflect the change. If the site no longer exists, the Web Resource will be removed from netTrekker.

To report a problem, click on Report Problem <http://school.nettrekker.com/results/deadlink.epl?link_id=252114> found in the in the bottom right corner of a Search Result
http://school.nettrekker.com/results/deadlink.epl <http://school.nettrekker.com/results/deadlink.epl>

Q: Is there any text to audio option for accessibility by special populations?

A: Your suggestion on Text-Speech option is currently being researched.

A comment about correlation of resources with Pennsylvania standards.

The standards for all states are correlated to the core subjects, Visual Arts, and Technology. It’s necessary for the user to enter a User Defined Keyword for resources correlation outside those subject areas, as Nancy describes below.

Comment from user:

I was again looking at your site. I find it hard to believe that philosophy does not have a conneciton to the PA Academic Standards for the Arts and Humanities since 9.4 is all Philosophy. Our PA defination used it the Standards... Aesthetics: A branch of philosophy that focuses on the nature of beauty, the nature and value of the arts and the inquiry processes and human responses they produce. Please correct. I will try and help you make the appropriate connections to the arts and humanities when it is possible to tfind the time. Many are connected to literature, history and geography but no the arts. Many are not listed and again I will need them to introduce this to tthe field this spring.

netTrekker Response:

netTrekker’s state standards correlation process is so far completed for the core subjects (Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science), for Visual Arts, and for Technology . So from Pennsylvania’s Arts and Humanities standards, the list of “Web Resources in netTrekker” will include only visual arts topics. No Philosophy topics are offered because the Philosophy section has not yet undergone the correlation process.

For example, standard 9.4.12D (“Analyze and interpret a philosophical position identified in works in the arts and humanities.”) offers Web Resources in netTrekker for “Analysis of Art” and “Interpretation of Art,” both in the Visual Art section. For resources from Philosophy, you could type “philosophy in art” into the User Defined Keyword box on the standards page and click Submit. On the resulting page, choose high school and then click “13 Results in Philosophy and Religion.”

We do plan to include state standards correlations for all subjects, but do not have a time table for additional subjects at this time. In the case of Pennsylvania’s Arts and Humanities standards, there are fortunately some parts of the Visual Art section having to do with Art History, Universal Themes in Art, and Art in World Cultures that match up well with the aesthetics topics.