TrailGuide can research a topic, show you a short list of current sources, and use your choice in Nest. It can find articles, educational videos, and podcast episodes. It can also use researched articles to create an original Deep Dive, HomeTrail podcast, or another suitable on-demand pack for the student.
Research a topic
- Tell TrailGuide the topic and student.
- Say whether you want articles, videos, podcasts, or any useful format.
- Review the numbered shortlist. TrailGuide returns up to five options without assigning anything.
- Reply with one or more numbers to send those sources, or ask TrailGuide to turn the research into a pack.
Helpful details include:
- The topic
- The student or students
- Whether you prefer an article, video, podcast, or any format
- The date it should appear when it is not today
For example:
Find Charlie podcasts and articles about mountain lions and other animals around Rocky Mountain National Park.
After TrailGuide sends the shortlist, you can reply:
Send 1 and 3 to Charlie.
Turn those sources into a Deep Dive for Charlie.
Make Charlie a short HomeTrail podcast from that research.
Choose what TrailGuide makes
- Selected articles become a Newsworthy pack.
- Selected videos become a YouTube Videos pack.
- Selected existing episodes become a Podcast Pick in the Podcast pack.
- A Deep Dive is an original, age-appropriate explanation based on up to three cited articles.
- A HomeTrail podcast is an original, approximately five-minute audio explainer. TrailGuide can create one from research, an article, or a recent Newsworthy or Deep Dive card.
- When another active on-demand pack better fits the request, TrailGuide can use the researched topic to create that activity, such as a word search or coloring page.
TrailGuide uses Compass to check grade fit, the parent's request, saved family preferences, and relevant learning context. That context may include the student's current stage, interests, and support needs. These checks do not guarantee that every external source is accurate or appropriate, so review the title, source, and preview before approving it.
Exclude publishers
You can exclude a publisher or domain for one search:
Find Charlie a podcast about mountain lions, but don't include Example Media.
You can also save the preference for future research:
Don't use Example Media for learning-material research anymore.
TrailGuide asks you to confirm before saving the family preference. You can later ask it to remove an exclusion or replace the list.
How podcast playback works in Nest
After you approve a Podcast Pick, the student chooses Listen in Nest. Nest requests the audio through HomeTrail instead of opening a Podscan player or giving the child app the publisher's audio address. HomeTrail rechecks the student, family, card visibility, approval, and audio host before streaming it.
A publisher can change or remove an episode after it was selected. If the audio is no longer available or its host does not pass HomeTrail's checks, Nest shows that the episode cannot be played instead of opening an outside site.
Material selected from a research shortlist remains hidden from Nest until a parent approves its preview. TrailGuide sends the finished preview when generation completes.
If you send a specific URL, TrailGuide can prepare it directly instead of searching. If no suitable result is available, a source is blocked, the matching pack type is unavailable, or another draft is already being prepared, TrailGuide explains the problem instead of silently assigning material.
