| Press Release |
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For Immediate Release CONTACT: Charlene Blohm |
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‘netTrekker d.i.’ Helps Educators Differentiate Instruction with Standards-Based Internet Resources
New search engine helps every child
learn with online resources
according to his or her special needs
Cincinnati, OH - In today’s classroom, every child is using the Internet to learn yet every child learns differently and needs access to unique learning resources. That’s why Thinkronize, Inc., creator of the award-winning netTrekker academic search engine, introduces a new safe Internet search tool that allows educators to more easily differentiate their instruction for each student. netTrekker d.i. matches educator-selected, standards-based online resources to individual students’ learning needs.
Because of the fundamental principle behind No Child Left Behind, many districts have redoubled efforts to educate all students and have adopted new tactics to reach this goal. This means supporting a wide variety of learning styles and needs, including the general education student, ELL/ESL students, those working below or above grade level, children with reading challenges and special needs students.
“netTrekker d.i. meets two major needs in our district providing resources to help our teachers differentiate their instruction, which is key to student learning, as well as finding materials to help our ELL students succeed,” said Linda Morrell, Director of Instructional Technology for Cobb County School District, Ga.
“Using netTrekker d.i., our teachers can filter their search results by readability level, which helps them match resources to individual students’ needs. netTrekker d.i. also helps our English language learners translate learning resources so the material actually makes sense to them, minimizing their frustration,” Morrell added.
netTrekker d.i. delivers more than 180,000 educator-selected online resources that align with each state’s academic standards and support the complete K-12 curricula to every desktop. Each of the search engine’s 180,000 resources has been assigned a readability measure based on Lexile® ratings and eight other popular methods, allowing educators to target search results to find grade-level content at an appropriate reading level for every child.
The new product also incorporates several features that address pressing issues in education. An entire section of. netTrekker d.i. resources is devoted to helping instruct English language learners. Educators are directed to sites in multiple languages, where they can use the new dictionary/translation hotkey to find the definition or translation for any word selected on a website. A new multicultural pavilion contains resources for teaching about the many backgrounds that comprise a school community. A third new component is the netTrekker d.i. image database, which provides suitable, school-friendly images for use in multimedia projects or classroom presentations.
Districts using the award-winning netTrekker classic search engine are already anticipating the new learning possibilities that will be opened with the netTrekker d.i. upgrade. More than 90 percent of current netTrekker classic customers who have previewed netTrekker d.i. have upgraded before seeing the final product.
“The unique features in netTrekker d.i. are really going to help us meet the individual learning needs of our diverse student population,” said Lou Greco, Director for Media Services, St. Johns County School District in St. Augustine, Fla. “Being able to sort websites by readability level provides our teachers with options they've never had before for finding grade level content that matches the individual students' reading skills.”
netTrekker d.i. will be available for district use on Sept. 1, 2005. Introductory pricing for netTrekker d.i. as low as 86 cents per student annually is now available through October 15th. Affordable pricing options, including volume discounts, are based on a district’s total number of buildings or student enrollment, allowing districts to choose the option that best meets their needs.
For more information, visit www.netTrekker.com.
About netTrekker
netTrekker classic is the award-winning academic search engine specifically
designed for school use. Unlike ordinary search engines, netTrekker classic
provides fast and easy access to only the best educational resources from the
entire Internet in a safe, organized, standards-aligned format, helping to
increase student achievement. Using netTrekker classic, educators,
school librarians, students, and parents save valuable time because their Internet
searches are powerfully productive. They receive only safe, relevant educator-selected
results, allowing them to spend less time searching and more time focused on
learning.
To learn more about netTrekker classic, visit www.netTrekker.com.
About Thinkronize
Thinkronize, an Internet developer of award-winning K-12 educational products,
was founded by Robert Reinders in
July 1999 and grew out of a passion and commitment to enhancing teaching and
learning with the Internet and standards-based online resources. The company’s
premier product, netTrekker classic, the trusted search engine for
schools, was launched in October 2000. Since netTrekker classic’s
launch, Thinkronize has enjoyed continued growth, success and industry recognition
and awards. netTrekker classic is being adopted by key districts nationwide
and is known to be one of the best products in the education industry. For
more information visit www.thinkronize.com
or phone 877-517-1125.
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