Start-Up Guide

Welcome to netTrekker! http://school.nettrekker.com We are thrilled to announce that the Pennsylvania Department of Education is now providing access to the award-winning search engine, netTrekker d.i., at no cost to your school or district. Pennsylvania Intermediate Units will provide the training and registration information.

You may use this tool to quickly access standards-based web content organized by grade level, subject area, and reading ability. The online resource is intuitive so you spend more time on task and less time searching. Also, every netTrekker d.i. website and image is evaluated and selected by educators so that students receive only safe, relevant results. Access is granted to every Commonwealth Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12 student, educator, librarian, parent, as well as those enrolled in or providing instruction in teacher preparation programs.

We're very excited about the learning opportunities that netTrekker d.i. provides to our schools and students. We look forward to providing additional resources in the future to help every child in Pennsylvania succeed.

Michael Golden, Deputy SecretaryOffice of Information & Educational TechnologyPennsylvania Department of Education

Contents Page I. Contact Information 2

II. Registration, Login & School Access 3

III. Home Access Method 5

IV. Help Section 6

V. Newsletter Sign-Up 7

VI. Professional Development Options 8

VII. Administration Tools 9

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Start-Up GuideI. Contact InformationIf you have questions, please contact the netTrekker customer relationship specialist team at Thinkronize, the developers of netTrekker. A specialist is available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays EST. We welcome feedback from our customers and look forward to hearing from.

netTrekker Link click Contact Us in My Tools within netTrekker http://www.nettrekker.com/feedback/

Emailcustomersupport@netTrekker.com

Phone877-517-1125 toll free513-731-4090 local

Fax866-886-3409 toll free513-731-1710 local

MailThinkronize 15 Triangle Park DriveCincinnati, OH 45246

Delaware County Intermediate Unit Contacts

Anne MosakowskiDelaware County IU200 Yale AvenueMorton, PA 19070610-938-9000 ext. 2091amosakowski@dciu.org

Mary Beth CliftonDelaware County IU200 Yale AvenueMorton, PA 19070610-938-9000 ext. 2096mclifton@dciu.org

II. Registration & Login

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Start-Up GuideStudents, teachers, and parents have the ability to create their own usernames and passwords from our registration page. Please follow the

instructions below to complete registration.

Login as a Registered User

1. To log on as a registered user go to http://school.nettrekker.com

2. For the user name type in the login that was created for your school entity by the DCIU and for the password use student. User names and passwords are all lower case.

NOTE: accounts have been set-up for each school entity at the 3 user levels of elementary, middle, and high schools.

3. User Tips: For Students – Most students will use the shared school login. For students

wishing to save searches or to customize their Preferences, it is recommended that they register an individual username and password.

For Teachers & Staff – All teachers should register an individual username and password.

For Parents – Most parents will use the shared school login. They can register a personal login if they have the IU Keyword.

4. For the user name type in the login that was created for your school entity by the DCIU and for the password use student. User names and passwords are all lower case.

NOTE: accounts have been set-up for each school entity at the 3 user levels of elementary, middle, and high schools.

Username: __________________

Password: _student __________

Steps to Create a New User1. Log on to the PA Page website at http://middle.nettrekker.com/userinfo/pa.epl .

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Start-Up Guide2. The “Create New User” Please contact DCIU for the Keyword (See pg 2 for contact information)

Your IU's Keyword*:

3. C r e a t e a u s e r n a m e . T h i s c a n b e a n y c o m b i n a t i o n o f l e t t e r s o r n u m e r a l s y o u w i s h , but cannot contain any spaces or special characters. The username field is case sensitive.

4. Create a password with a 5 character minimum. The password field is case sensitive. Re-enter your password for verification.

5. Question and Answer. Choose a question from the drop-down menu and provide an answer that you will easily remember. If you forget your password later and use the “Forgot Your Password?” feature, netTrekker will ask you the question you chose. When you type the response that matches the Answer you typed during registration, netTrekker will reset your password.

6. Choose your school role as student, teacher, or parent. Click Done. Welcome to netTrekker.

Individual Login with Username/Password- Users register a unique username and password. - A netTrekker login allows full access to the product from any computer with Internet

access in any location.

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Start-Up Guide- We recommend that you conduct the registrations in group sessions to make sure all teachers and students complete all

steps successfully.

Username: __________________

Password: __________________

III. Home Access Method

Options for accessing netTrekker from home:

Individual Login with Username/Password- A username/password is required to access netTrekker at home. - The same individual username/password can be used at school and home.

Shared Login with Username/Password- A username/password is required to access netTrekker at home.- Some schools create a username/password to be shared by all users. - The netTrekker Administrator should “Lock” the password before it is distributed to

students or teachers.

Note on Sharing Usernames: The use of a single username is permitted in netTrekker. Any username that is shared should have the password “locked” by a netTrekker administrator at your school before it is distributed to students or teachers. The ability to track individual user history will not be available. Others’ saved searches can be inappropriately deleted. Please note that usernames and passwords should never be posted on websites or in any public medium. Communications of this type promote the use of netTrekker by those who have not paid for the privilege of using the product.

IV. Help Section

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Start-Up GuidenetTrekker’s Help section is located in My Tools on the right side of the page. Help contains information on netTrekker Basics, Searching,

Features, and Teacher & Classroom Guides to provide assistance for your users.

The Help section also includes a Customer Resource Center and Implementation Items to assist you with creating awareness, launching, and promoting ongoing use of netTrekker in your school community. Be sure to check out the resources available to you. http://www.nettrekker.com/help/

V. Newsletter Sign-upnetTrekker publishes a bi-monthly e-newsletter that contains helpful tips, product news, feature articles, and links to netTrekker Help.

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Start-Up GuideSign up for the netTrekker newsletter in the Help section under Customer Resource Center. We encourage all your teachers and staff to sign up

for the newsletter. http://www.nettrekker.com/newsletter/

VI. Professional Development Training TopicsA netTrekker training hands-on training with your staff can range from 1-3 hours.Topics include:

Getting started – school access options, registration process, home access Search features – all search methods, current events, timeline, famous person Search results – search results tabs, dictionary hotkey, readability, legend State standards – keyword, drill down, benchmark, user defined keyword Advanced topics – refined search, saved search, folder and email options English Learners – ELL Skill Development, Multicultural Pavilion, results tabs Tools – reference tools, teacher tools, admin tools, user history, help, feedback Question and answer period Individual exploration that allows time for teachers to explore areas of personal

interest and to apply the skills they have learned

VII. Administration ToolsYour netTrekker administrator has exclusive access to Administration Tools that will aid in managing users and monitoring school usage. Administrators have the ability to reset

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Start-Up Guidepasswords, change the status of usernames, and gauge the level of registration and usage in your school community.

Access to Administration Tools:

1. The Pennsylvania Department of Education has notified netTrekker of the designated Administrator’s username. Your netTrekker customer relationship specialist will assign administration rights to that username. If you are the netTrekker Administrator for the entire district, you will need to create a unique username and password for each school. This will allow you to access individual school-based information.

2. The Administrator has exclusive access to an additional tool set listed as Admin Tools in the My Tools section on the right side of the netTrekker page.

3. If there is a need for an additional Administrator at a school, the initial Administrator may assign administration rights to another user. The second Administrator needs to complete their registration and provide their username to the main Administrator.

Administration Tools:

1. School & District Usage Reports - These reports are updated nightly and display usage information at the school and district level.

2. User Count Summary – This report provides information on the number of registered students, teachers, and parents within your school.

3. User Management – This tool allows the Administrator to view the list of usernames and their roles, change or lock a username’s password, view and alter a username’s status and ability to login, view the most recent login, assign and revoke administration rights to other users, and delete shared folders.

Your netTrekker Start-Up is complete!

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