How K–12 Schools Can Future-Proof Their Technology Solutions

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught K–12 schools anything, it’s that circumstances can change quickly — and that technology can play a big role in adjusting. 

But pandemics recede, and schools continue to teach students. What lessons will K–12 districts learn from the past two years? If they’re like The Lincoln Academy, a new K–12 public charter school in Beloit, Wis., they learn to prepare for the future — not necessarily for the next health emergency, but for anything that could affect how they deliver quality education: curriculum changes, larger class sizes, student tastes, innovative pedagogies, new technologies, you name it.

Learn how The Lincoln Academy built an IT infrastructure that meets its current and future needs.

Most Popular Funding Opportunities Last Month

In the previous month, educators were looking for funding opportunities in the areas of STEM, the arts, and project-based learning. Check out which grants GetEdFunding educators viewed the most in the month of May.

Toshiba America Grant Program for Science and Mathematics Educators

Toshiba America Foundation accepts applications from teachers who are passionate about making science and mathematics more engaging for their students. The foundation seeks to support teachers by providing funds to support classroom projects. The foundation strongly encourages projects planned and led by individual teachers or teams of teachers for their own classrooms. 

Deadline: Requests for grants less than $1,000 for kindergarten through grade 5 are due October 1, annually. Requests for grants less than $5,000 for grade 6 through grade 12 are due March 1, June 1, September 1, and December 1, annually. Requests for grants of more than $5,000 for grade 6 through grade 12 are due May 1 and November 1, annually.

Education Grants, Fluor Foundation

Fluor Foundation makes grants that support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in communities where the company operates. Priority is given to programs that inspire and prepare students to excel in STEM and are committed to developing the next generation workforce, improving teacher effectiveness with emphasis on STEM student proficiency and persistence, and cultivating leadership skills in youth.

Deadline: Letters of Inquiry are accepted year-round.

Johnson Scholarship Foundation Grants

The Johnson Scholarship Foundation makes educational grants that support people with disabilities. Funding is particularly focused on indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, and people who are socially and economically disadvantaged. Recent grants have been made to colleges and universities, school districts, and graduate programs.

Deadline: Letters of Inquiry are accepted year-round.

Educational Assistance and Training Programs

The Cruise Industry Charitable Foundation (CICF) encourages the creation and expansion of learning experiences and opportunities at the primary, secondary, and higher education levels, particularly for minority and disadvantaged students. Areas of special interest to CICF include educational and training programs designed to improve literacy, teach basic life skills, promote good citizenship and public services, and increase reading, mathematics, and science proficiencies.

Deadline: Applications are accepted year-round.

Grants for Arts Projects (Formerly Art Works)

The Grants for Arts Projects (formerly Art Works) supports organizations deploying artistically excellent public projects in the areas of artist communities, arts education, dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literary arts, local arts agencies, media arts, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting and multidisciplinary works, theater, and visual arts. Proposals are accepted for new or existing projects of any size and in all phases from planning through implementation.

Deadline: Applications are due February 10 and July 7, 2022.

Bring the Classroom Outdoors

How K–12 Schools Are Bringing Classroom Technology to Outdoor Learning

If you stumble across a group of K–12 school students outside using laptops to track soil levels and search for monarch eggs or observing birdhouses with video cameras, you may have discovered an outdoor learning space.

From informal hammock gardens to high-tech tents, outdoor learning spaces have become markedly more popular over the past few years because of the pandemic. Educators say these spaces give students a chance to breathe fresh air, experience a change of scenery, and, most importantly, gain opportunities for increased learning engagement.

Read more about bringing education outdoors.

Most Popular Funding Opportunities Last Month

In the previous month, educators were looking for funding opportunities in the areas of STEM, athletics programs, and professional development. Check out which grants GetEdFunding educators viewed the most in the month of April.

Supporting Effective Educator Development Program

The Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Program supports evidence-based and replicable program models that prepare, develop, or enhance the skills of early learning and kindergarten through grade 12 educators across the continuum of their careers.

Deadline: Applications are due June 3, 2022.

Equipment Grants for Grades 6 through 8

The Justin J. Watt Foundation offers support to middle schools that do not have sufficient funding for after-school and athletic programs. The foundation offers Equipment Grants for after-school programs, such as athletic teams for grade 6 through 8. Examples of eligible items include uniforms with school name or numbers; safety equipment, such as helmets, pads, or mats; balls, bats, or nets; and storage equipment.

Deadline: Applications are accepted year-round.

Literacy Grants

The Nora Roberts Foundation makes grants in the areas of literacy, children’s programs, arts, and humanitarian efforts. Literacy Grants are intended to empower people through literacy.

Deadline: Entries are due June 1, 2022.

Toshiba America Grant Program for Science and Mathematics Educators

Toshiba America Foundation accepts applications from teachers who are passionate about making science and mathematics more engaging for their students. The foundation seeks to support teachers by providing funds to support classroom projects. The foundation strongly encourages projects planned and led by individual teachers or teams of teachers for their own classrooms. Successful projects tap into the natural curiosity of students, enable students to frame their own scientific questions, and incorporate the expertise of community partners. Applications must be for project-based learning.

Deadline: Applications are due June 1, 2022

Small Grants Program

Grays Harbor Community Foundation (GHCF) awards Small Grants to support qualified organizations looking to make an immediate impact on a small scale. Types of funding requests include small-scale technology needs, educational supplies for early learning programs and schools, small renovation or improvement projects, and capacity-building activities, among others.

Deadline: Applications are due June 1, 2022

Is Dated Technology Contributing to the Great Teacher Resignation?

With 55 percent of educators ready to leave the profession earlier than planned, according to a recent survey from the National Education Association, school leaders are struggling to recruit and retain them. The most common reasons stated for leaving were burnout, limited staffing, and, of course, the pandemic.

Could upgrading the technology teachers use every day in their classrooms help make their work easier — and stem the tide of educators leaving school districts? According to some educational technology experts, it certainly can’t hurt.

Read more about what experts say regarding upgrading technology and its contribution to job satisfaction.

Most Popular Funding Opportunities Last Month

In the previous month, educators were looking for funding opportunities in the areas of STEM, literacy, and extracurricular programs. Check out which grants GetEdFunding educators viewed the most in the month of March.

Lead4Change Challenge

The Lead4Change Challenge is the contest component of the Lead4Change Student Leadership Program that provides middle and high school students and their adult sponsors with opportunities to complete leadership development lessons and community projects aligned to learning standards and twenty-first century skills. Student teams create and execute service-learning projects for the benefit of nonprofit organizations or schools.

Deadline: Applications are due May 13, 2022.

Advancing Informal STEM Learning Equity Resource Center

The National Science Foundation (NSF) seeks proposals to establish and implement a resource center that envisions, designs, and develops creative strategies for actualizing equity in the field of informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning. Targeted participants are educators, librarians, museum personnel, media producers, policymakers, practice innovators, researchers, and related informal STEM learning program partners and stakeholders.

Deadline: Applications are due May 10, 2022.

Advancing Informal STEM Learning Equity Resource Center

The J.W. Couch Foundation awards Education Grants as part of the foundation’s mission to “plan for the future.” Funding priorities address three primary areas: early childhood education, twenty-first century education, and teachers. 

Deadline: Entries are due June 17, 2022.

Environmental Education Grants

The Jacob and Teresa Hershey Foundation awards Environmental Education Grants to promote environmental literacy, with funding for elementary and secondary schools, museums, and nonprofit organizations. Requests may be for operating, project, or capital grants, with emphasis on innovative ideas that produce multiple benefits and measurable impact. 

Deadline: Online applications are accepted January 15 through April 15, annually.

Education Grants, Richard S. Reynolds Foundation

The Richard S. Reynolds Foundation provides assistance to organizations as part of its mission to build strong communities. The foundation makes grants in the areas of education, the arts, health, science, history, the environment, and those in need. 

Deadline: Applications are due April 30 and October 31, annually.

The Evolution of Technology in K–12 Classrooms: 1659 to Today

In the 21st century, it can feel like advanced technology is changing the K–12 classroom in ways we’ve never seen before. But the truth is, technology and education have a long history of evolving together to dramatically change how students learn.

With more innovations surely headed our way, why not look back at how we got to where we are today while looking forward to how educators can continue to integrate new technologies into their learning?

Read more about the challenges of integrating tech in a modern learning environment.

Most Popular Funding Opportunities Last Month

In the previous month, educators were looking for funding opportunities in the areas of STEM, literacy, and extracurricular programs. Check out which grants GetEdFunding educators viewed the most in the month of February.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

The US Department of the Navy seeks proposals to improve education and training in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) for middle school students through to the current workforce. Expectations are to establish, build, or maintain research-informed educational pathways, outreach, and workforce opportunities aligned with Naval priorities in science and technology. 

Deadline: Applications are accepted through March 30, 2022.

Education Grants, Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation

Nonprofit organizations and schools are eligible to apply. Grants awarded reflect a variety of approaches for promoting and supporting the use of the i.t.a. for literacy, elementary and secondary school education, and remediation of reading and writing disabilities in older students. 

Deadline: Letters of Intent are due April 1, annually.

Siemens STEM Day: Possibility Grant Sweepstakes

ThroughThe Possibility Grant Sweepstakes supports educational activities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with STEM-related equipment, supplies, technology, and science lab makeovers in kindergarten through grade 12 schools.

Deadline: Entries are due April 22, 2022.

Academic Enrichment Grants

The McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation offers Academic Enrichment Grants designed to develop classroom and extracurricular programs that improve student learning. The foundation considers proposals that foster understanding, deepen students’ knowledge, and provide opportunities to expand awareness of the world around them.

Deadline: Online applications are accepted January 15 through April 15, annually.

Advancing Informal STEM Learning Equity Resource Center

The National Science Foundation (NSF) seeks proposals to establish and implement a resource center that envisions, designs, and develops creative strategies for actualizing equity in the field of informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning. Targeted participants are educators, librarians, museum personnel, media producers, policymakers, practice innovators, researchers, and related informal STEM learning program partners and stakeholders.

Deadline: Applications are due May 10, 2022.

What Is the Flipped-Classroom Model, and What Does It Look Like in K–12 Schools Today?

Armed with more educational technology and the professional development to meaningfully use it, more educators in K–12 are considering the flipped-classroom approach.

At the onset of the pandemic, schools found ways to make virtual learning work. They rolled out one-to-one device programs and made investments in educational technology. Educators learned to use new tools and found new ways of bringing content to students.

With the technology barrier broken down, some educators took the opportunity to shift their methodology to a flipped-classroom approach. Others, who already employed this model, found that it made the transition to and from remote learning easier on students.

Read more about how technology and teaching techniques brought about by the pandemic pave a natural path to flipped classrooms in school districts.

Most Popular Funding Opportunities Last Month

In the previous month, educators were looking for funding opportunities in the areas of robotics, wellness, STEM, and civic engagement. Check out which grants GetEdFunding educators viewed the most in the month of January.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

The US Department of the Navy seeks proposals to improve education and training in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) for middle school students through to the current workforce. Expectations are to establish, build, or maintain research-informed educational pathways, outreach, and workforce opportunities aligned with Naval priorities in science and technology. 

Deadline: Applications are accepted through March 30, 2022.

Improving Pandemic Recovery Efforts in Education

The US Department of Education invites proposals to establish research networks examining COVID-19 pandemic recovery activities in prekindergarten through grade 12 and in community colleges.

Deadline: Applications are due March 10, 2022.

Garden Grant Program

Through the Whole Kids Foundation’s School Garden Grant Program, schools and organizations turn outdoor spaces into powerful hands-on learning gardens that connect kids with food, spark their curiosity, and support classroom curriculum. Grants support new or existing edible educational gardens

Deadline: Applications are accepted February 14 through March 11, 2022.

Saxena Family Foundation Grants

The Saxena Family Foundation has a particular focus on initiatives that promote US science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and the empowerment of girls, female children, and young women so that they have equal rights later in life.

Deadline: Applications are accepted year-round.

Education Grants, The Charles Lafitte Foundation

The Charles Lafitte Foundation (CLF) supports innovative and effective ways of helping people help themselves and others around them to achieve healthy, satisfying, and enriched lives. The foundation supports organizations working in four main areas: education, children’s advocacy, medical research and initiatives, and the arts.

Deadline: Applications are accepted year-round.



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