Browse Tag: Technology

Without Supplemental Pandemic Funding, Digital Divide Risks Increase

The COVID-19 pandemic brought forth clarity on many pain points in education, especially with the digital divide. Many schools were still operating under a 19th century framework when the pandemic started, further exasperating the need for upgrades. Since 2020, $190 billion in federal funds have been distributed to help schools close the digital divide through updates and infrastructure. However, the challenge still remains of how schools can secure long-term funding to continue modernization efforts.

In this article, Ryan Petersen shares

  • the pandemic’s impact on the digital divide;
  • how schools are modernizing classrooms and infrastructure; and
  • the need for long-term funding solutions.

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Most Popular Funding Opportunities Last Month

In the previous month, educators were looking for funding opportunities in the areas of arts, technology, academic achievement, and more. Check out which grants GetEdFunding educators viewed the most in April.

Early Childhood Education Grants

The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood provides grants for innovative, creative projects and programs that significantly enhance the development, physical and mental health, safety, nutrition, education, and quality of life of children from birth through age seven. The foundation focuses its support in three areas: early childhood welfare, early childhood education and play, and parenting education. The foundation’s goal is to provide seed money for imaginative endeavors that address the needs of young children.

Deadline: Applications are due May 31, 2023.

Education Grants, I Could Do Great Things Foundation

I Could Do Great Things Foundation awards grants to help turn great ideas into a reality. Projects of any type will be considered and must have a charitable purpose and offer a fresh approach to the topic or need to be met. Priority is given to endeavors that relate to education, community, and Jewish causes.

Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Education Grants, Stanley W. Ekstrom Foundation

The Stanley W. Ekstrom Foundation awards grants for a variety of educational projects and programs with goals of improving education, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in local high schools and helping academically gifted students from financially challenged families to pursue higher education. Related areas of interest are support for women and children at risk and amateur athletics. Examples of previous grants include for “eco ambassadors” with a community garden, technology upgrades in classrooms, support for a charter school foundation, and school choirs.

Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)

The Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program provides prekindergarten through grade 12 students and their teachers with equitable and inclusive access to robust, rigorous, and effective learning opportunities using technology integral to a high-quality formal and informal education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Deadline: Applications are due August 11, 2023.

NSHSS STEAM Educator Grants

The National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) offers STEAM Educator Grants that support science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) activities; innovation; and classroom excellence. Grants may be used for supplies, materials, field trips, and other resources that enhance STEAM teaching and learning.

Deadline: Applications are due August 15, 2023.

Avoid These Four Pitfalls When Implementing Online Education Software in K-12

In 2022, ed tech adoption in K–12 settings increased by 99 percent. The demand for digital learning software shows that technology is not just an add-on in classrooms anymore, but a primary tool that allows teachers to create individualized education plans, interactive content, and repositories of course content. Despite the many benefits, there are potential hazards to avoid by following a few best practices.

In this article, Charlie Sander shares

  • how to vet digital learning software;
  • tools to reduce the risk of cyberattacks; and
  • strategies for proper software use, privacy compliance, and interoperability.

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Most Popular Funding Opportunities Last Month

In the previous month, educators were looking for funding opportunities in the areas of arts, technology, academic achievement, and more. Check out which grants GetEdFunding educators viewed the most in March.

Fruit Tree Orchard Donation Grants

The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation awards donations of edible fruit trees, planting resources, and supporting curriculum materials to eligible public schools, including colleges and universities, and private nonprofit schools and organizations. Fruit tree donations are provided for the purpose of benefiting people and the environment and, in the case of schools, for educating on the importance of trees for the environment and fruit in the diet.

Deadline: Applications are accepted year-round.

Racial Equity in STEM Education

The National Science Foundation supports bold, groundbreaking, and potentially transformative projects that advance the scholarship of racial equity and address systemic racism in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce development. Contexts may include prekindergarten through grade 12; two- and four-year undergraduate and graduate institutions; municipal organizations; STEM workplaces; and informal STEM settings such as museums, community organizations, and media.

Deadline: Applications are due October 10, 2023.

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.

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.

Digital Humanities Advancement Grants

The Digital Humanities Advancement Grants program supports innovative, experimental, and/or computationally challenging digital projects, leading to work that can scale to enhance scholarly research, teaching, and public programming in the humanities.

Deadline: Optional draft proposals are due April 17, 2023. Applications are due June 15, 2023.

Advancing Education Special Project Grants

Colibri Grants, Inc. awards Advancing Education Special Project Grants to kindergarten through grade 12 public school teachers across the nation. Competitive projects will significantly advance and influence student learning to meet the unfunded educational needs of students. There are no restrictions to a proposal’s subject matter or area of curriculum.

Deadline: Applications are accepted year-round.

laying-the-groundwork-for-esports-in-kindergarten

Laying the Groundwork for Esports in Kindergarten

The mention of esports typically conjures images of teenagers in headsets, positioned in front of colorful keyboards and brightly lit computer monitors. As competitive gaming grows popularity at high schools and colleges across the nation, it becomes even more important to lay the groundwork for these teams early on. Learn how to introduce game-based education to increase students’ skills.

In this article, Jen Dawson shares

  • the value of introducing esports in kindergarten;
  • potential tech strains and how to overcome them; and
  • how to build partnerships and forge a pipeline supporting students in esports.

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Most Popular Funding Opportunities Last Month

In the previous month, educators were looking for funding opportunities in the areas of arts, technology, academic achievement, and more. Check out which grants GetEdFunding educators viewed the most in February.

Brady Education Foundation Education Grants

The Brady Education Foundation seeks to close the achievement gap for children at risk for poor school outcomes due to environmental factors associated with living in poverty. The foundation is focused on the development and evaluation of programs that are consistent with a strength-based approach and show promise of being feasible, effective, and sustainable. 

Deadline: Stage one applications are due April 1, August 1, and December 1, annually.

Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation

The Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) is a phonemic alphabet based on the phonemic sound system of the English language. It was designed to present the beginning reader and writer with a logical and reliable reading and writing system. The foundation promotes literacy through the use of the i.t.a. to help students perform better in school, have a healthy self-image, and become lifelong learners.

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

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Program

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research supports educational and workforce development initiatives in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) targeting kindergarten through grade 16 and adult learners. Proposal plans in a range of size and complexity may establish, build, or maintain educational pathways and space-related workforce opportunities addressing the scientific and technical areas identified in the program solicitation. Applicants are strongly encouraged to consider underrepresented and underserved populations including women and minorities. Special audience priority areas may include, but are not limited to, military connected students, veteran initiatives, and education systems integral to Air Force science and technology.

Deadline: Applications are due April 14, 2023.

The Charles Lafitte Foundation Education Grants

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. CLF helps individuals gain access to schools, from preschool through college, by issuing grants and taking an active role in exploring new approaches to education.y. 

Deadline: Applications are accepted year-round.

Fluor Foundation Education Grants

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.

Teach Self-Management Skills

4 Ways to Personalize Learning and Teach Self-Management Skills

Although education has undergone rapid changes in the past few years, many of the processes have stayed the same. At this year’s Future of Education Technology ConferenceAlberto and Mario Herraez, also known as the eTwinz, opened with this thought starter in their Thursday session, “Fostering Self-Regulation Skills and Personalized Learning in an Elementary Setting.”

The Herraez twins noted that technologies have changed with time — from photocopies to Microsoft OneNote — but the delivery process remains the same for many schools. Teachers deliver information to students, who are expected to absorb and remember the lessons.

The Herraezes shared strategies they used when working as fifth and sixth grade educators in Utah. They argued that personalizing learning and teaching students self-management skills prepares them for the workforce they’ll one day enter. They cited data from the World Economic Forum’s 2020 report “The Future of Jobs,” which showed the increased demand for employees with self-management skills.

As they explained the ways they incorporated these pedagogies and skills into their classrooms, the Herraezes encouraged districts to follow their example.

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covid funding cliff

K-12 Schools Share Their Strategies for Addressing the Coming Federal Funding Cliff

The COVID-19 pandemic essentially ended the conversation about whether school districts should embrace one-to-one programs that put a computing device into the hands of every student.

“During COVID, a large number of individual devices were deployed,” says Amy McLaughlin, Cybersecurity Initiative director at the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). “We exited the conversation of, ‘Should we do one-to-one?’ and entered the conversation of, ‘How do we maintain one-to-one?’”

Historically, many school districts have struggled to build device refresh cycles into their operating budgets. Often, new interactive displays or laptops are bought with one-time, nonrecurring funds, such as bond money for a school building project. More recently, schools received multiple rounds of federal government funding from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, the Emergency Connectivity Fund, and other grants to make necessary ed tech purchases.

As McLaughlin notes, the lifecycle for mobile devices such as laptops and tablets is much shorter — about three years, she suggests — than the lifecycle of a school building. In a 2022 CoSN survey, 75 percent of districts said federal economic stimulus funds were significant for supporting hybrid learning. Of those that relied on emergency funding for IT initiatives, 60 percent used the money to purchase devices.

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Most Popular Funding Opportunities Last Month

In the previous month, educators were looking for funding opportunities in the areas of arts, technology, academic achievement, and more. Check out which grants GetEdFunding educators viewed the most in December.

Focus on Education & Technology/Innovation Grants

The Charles Koch Foundation awards General Grants that apply to all of the foundation’s key focus areas, which include Education and Technology/Innovation. Grants support research in the focus area, with emphasis on innovative solutions that spur social progress and widespread benefits. Education may address any aspect of helping individuals unlock their potential. Technology & Innovation proposals may also address a wide spectrum, including the challenges of adapting to change created by technology.

Deadline: Proposal applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative – Education and Workforce Development

The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative: Education and Workforce Development Program supports the development of the next generation of research, education, and extension professionals in the food and agricultural sciences.

Deadline: March 20, 2023.

Create Action Grants

The Sony Create Action program seeks grant applicants committed to serving their local communities in areas such as science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics; academic enrichment; workforce development; and nonprofit services for underserved and underrepresented groups.

Deadline: Applications are accepted monthly until the final deadline of March 31, 2023.

GroMoreGood Grassroots Grants

The ScottsMiracle-Gro Foundation provides Grassroots Grants to bring the life-enhancing benefits of youth gardens to communities across the United States. Awards provide funding for the development of new and expansion of existing youth garden programs and greenspaces serving 15 or more youth. Winners will be selected based on their commitment to the maintenance and sustainability of their garden program, including plans for growth and future fiscal stability.

Deadline: Applications are accepted from January 3 to February 10, 2023.

Technology Education Grants

The Rural Technology Fund awards Technology Education Grants to support projects in rural areas that deliver technology education resources for computer science and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education classes and extracurricular activities with the goal of enabling rural students to better recognize and explore technology careers and pathways to the computer industry..

Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

gamification and education

What Is Gamification, and Why Is It Trending in K–12 Schools?

Educators work hard to set students up for success in a world that is increasingly digital. A 2018 report by the Institute for the Future and Dell Technologies estimated that 85 percent of children entering today’s K–12 schools will eventually find themselves in jobs that don’t currently exist, making educators’ jobs even more challenging.

Add to that the new technologies vying for students’ attention in classrooms and on devices, plus the mental and emotional difficulties many students are facing following the pandemic. How can school districts engage students and set them up for success in a future world of advanced technology?

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