| Press Release |
|
For Immediate Release CONTACT: Charlene Blohm |
 |
Michigan Virtual University Partners With Thinkronize
netTrekker d.i. provides Michigan educators with
new online resources that inspire classroom learning
Cincinnati, OH - As part of a new three-year agreement with Thinkronize, developer of the award-winning netTrekker search products serving more than seven million students and their teachers nationwide, Michigan Virtual University will now provide Michigan educators with powerful online resources that aid instruction and stimulate learning. As part of an ongoing commitment to professional development and technology integration, the state’s educators will now have free access to over 180,000 high-quality online educational resources that align with the Michigan state benchmarks from the netTrekker d.i. search engine.
"The Michigan Department of Education is pleased to provide a powerful educational resource like netTrekker d.i. to every Michigan educator," said Jeremy Hughes, Chief Academic Officer for the Michigan Department of Education. "Today's classroom teachers need access to Internet search tools, like netTrekker d.i., that save them time and locate meaningful resources and materials that are aligned to the state's benchmarks."
Michigan Virtual University (MVU; www.mivu.org), a private, not-for-profit corporation, was established in 1998 to deliver online education and training opportunities in Michigan. To support this mission, MVU’s latest endeavor is the development of Michigan LearnPort, a professional development Web portal designed to help Michigan teachers, administrators and paraprofessionals access, manage and track professional development.
"Michigan Virtual University, through a partnership with the Michigan Department of Education, has developed the eLearning portal, Michigan LearnPort, for our state educators," said David Myers, Director of Michigan LearnPort for MVU. "In order to meet our objectives of driving awareness and strong participation in Michigan LearnPort, netTrekker d.i., an acclaimed educational search engine, was recently added."
"Michigan educators can access netTrekker d.i. at no cost through their free Michigan LearnPort account. The power and usability of netTrekker d.i. will give Michigan educators a compelling reason to use Michigan LearnPort on a regular basis. To sign up for a free account, Michigan educators can visit www.learnport.org."
Using netTrekker d.i., Michigan educators can access more than 180,000 educator-selected, standards-based online resources, and can then match those resources to individual students' learning needs. Because each resource has been assigned a readability measure based on Lexile® ratings and eight other popular methods, educators can target search results to find grade-level content at an appropriate reading level for every child.
Additionally, netTrekker d.i. incorporates several key features that will help Michigan teachers address pressing issues in education, including an entire section of customized resources devoted to helping instruct English language learners.
"netTrekker d.i. will empower Michigan educators with standards-based resources that can be matched to individual students' learning needs, ultimately helping every Michigan child learn and achieve," said Christine Willig, president of Cincinnati-based Thinkronize, netTrekker d.i.'s developer. "We're pleased to partner with a forward-thinking organization like the Michigan Department of Education that understands the value of technology and the significant impact the Internet can have on the educational process."
For more information about Michigan LearnPort and netTrekker d.i., visit www.learnport.org and www.netTrekker.com.
About the netTrekker Product Suite
The netTrekker product line includes award-winning educational search
products for both the school (netTrekker classic and netTrekker
d.i.) and consumer markets (netTrekker home). Unlike ordinary
search engines, products from the netTrekker suite provide fast and
easy access to only the best, pornography-free, educational resources from
the entire Internet in a safe, organized, standards-aligned format. Using netTrekker
search engines, educators, school librarians, students, and parents save valuable
time because they are directed to relevant, reliable, educato-selected websites
every time - meaning less time spent on searching and more time focused on
learning. For more information about the netTrekker suite, visit www.netTrekker.com.
About Thinkronize
Thinkronize, an Internet developer of award-winning K-12 educational products,
was founded in 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 flagship product, netTrekker
classic, was launched in October 2000 and has won 11 industry awards for
excellence since its inception. Thinkronize currently serves nearly 7 million
students in 48 states, including adoptions by key districts and states nationwide,
making it one of the fastest growing companies in the education industry. In
recent years, the company has expanded the netTrekker product line
to include netTrekker d.i., designed for use in schools to help educators
meet individual students' learning needs, and netTrekker home, available
for purchase by parents whose district or school has not yet purchased a netTrekker
school subscription. For more information visit www.thinkronize.com
or phone 877-517-1125.
# # # #