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May 15, 2003
Quick Picks
Nettrekker
Emphasis: Web research tool.
Grade level: K-12 and teachers. Platform: Web-based.
Price: $1,295; volume discounts available.
Publisher: Thinkronize; (877) 517-1125
NetTrekker is an extensive database of preselected Web resources for K-12 students and teachers. Well-organized, education-specific, and easily searchable, it gives free competitors such as Google and Yahooligans a run for their money.
Users can search for sites via keyword, grade level, or subject area, with each subject divided into subcategories for easy navigation. With one click, users can narrow results to primary sources, pictures, maps/charts, or lesson plans, or filter by subject area, type of source (e.g., nonprofit site), grade level, and language. A time-saving results page delivers a brief description of each site's contents, an overall quality rating, and a link to information about the teacher-evaluator who reviewed it.
Teachers will appreciate the Cross-Curricular button — which connects such content as mythology and stargazing to help them build interdisciplinary lesson plans. What's more, educators can match sites in the database to specific standards for their state, grade level, and subject area.
Sites that are educational but may contain controversial points of view are flagged, though unfortunately the controversial material itself is not; teachers must search the site themselves to determine what's suitable. Also, grade level search results were occasionally uneven — yielding algebra sites in an elementary math search, for instance.
However, the vast majority of the sites in the netTrekker database are age-appropriate, educationally relevant, and of high quality. This, combined with additional features such as an interactive time line and Famous Person Search, make it a solid research tool for busy educators and students.
Evaluator: Michelle Thatcher, managing editor of T&L.
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