THE Journal — Funding
Microsoft 'DreamSpark' Makes Software Free for Students
Microsoft has announced a software giveaway program targeted to college and high school students. "DreamSpark" makes available, at no charge, a number of development and design programs for download. The program is now available to more than 35 million college students in Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the United States.
(2/19/2008)
OSLN Grant Focuses STEM Education on Low Income Students in Ohio
The Ohio Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Learning Network (OSLN) has received a $12 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote 21st century learning and STEM education. The grant, according to the organization, is part of a $50 million cooperative effort between public and private institutions.
(2/14/2008)
PA Educators Receive $100,000 Verizon Grant
The Verizon Foundation has awarded $100,000 to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The grant will be used to provide access to Thinkfinity resources and training for teachers in the use of those resources and to raise awareness of the Thinkfinity service.
(2/14/2008)
Sony Kicks Off High School Video Contest
Sony Creative Software, developer of the Vegas video production suite, has opened up its first Technology in Motion: Vision of the Future video contest for high schoolers. The competition includes $20,000 in prizes per winner for original video creations. Free software and other materials are being provided to participating schools.
(2/12/2008)
Bush Budget Cuts EETT
EETT is once again on the chopping block. In a proposed budget from the Bush administration released Feb. 4, the Enhancing Education Through Technology program (EETT) was listed among the programs recommended for zero funding. EETT is part of Title II D of the No Child Left Behind Act, designed to support the deployment and integration of educational technology into classroom instruction.
(2/4/2008)
Cash for Classrooms: AVerMedia Kicks Off Lesson Plan Contest
AV technology developer AVerMedia this week launched a new contest for K-12 and higher education: to develop a lesson plan centered around the use of a document camera. An AVerVision document camera and $1,000 (to be used for classroom technology purchases) will be awarded to the winning lesson plan in each of six subject areas.
(1/30/2008)
Are You an Average E-rate Applicant?
Think you have it tough filing a E-rate funding requests for a half dozen sites? In the 2007 E-rate funding year, one applicant made requests for 1,519 sites! This according to a new report from Funds For Learning released at the FETC 2008 conference in Orlando, FL Thursday. The report, "The Average E-rate Applicant," compiled data from nearly 23,000 applicants over the course of the year to generate a picture of typical E-rate behavior.
(1/25/2008)
Microsoft To Expand Partners in Learning
Microsoft this week said it intends to redouble (or retriple) its commitment to education through its Partners in Learning program. Over the next five years, the company will "triple the impact" of the initiative through three of the programs under the Partners in Learning umbrella: Innovative Teachers, Innovative Students, and Innovative Schools.
(1/23/2008)
Teachers To Go Head to Head in Tabula Gaming Tournament at FETC
Educators this month will go head to head in a multi-player educational gaming tournament at the FETC 2008 conference in Florida. In the event, the "State Challenge Multiplayer Educational Games (MEG) Tournament," presented by Tabula Digita, competitors will represent their states in an effort to bring home a site license of Tabula's DimensionM Evolver Multiplayer gaming software.
(1/7/2008)
3 Schools Win $15,000 Classroom Makeovers
Three schools were named winners in Interwrite Learning's first "Classroom Makeover" contest, a competition that called on students and teachers to produce videos parodying a song while demonstrating technology used in the classroom. Each winner took back a $15,000 classroom makeover (consisting of various interactive technologies) and a $1,000 cash prize.
(11/28/2007)
Cisco Grant To Assist Math Education Development
The MIND Research Institute, a non-profit education research and publishing organization, said this week that it's received a $500,000 cash grant from the Cisco Foundation--this on top of a previously awarded grant of about $500,000 in equipment, bringing the total donation to $1 million. The funds will be used to develop MIND's elementary and middle school math programs and make them available over the Internet.
(11/27/2007)
NMSI To Grant $25 Million for STEM Teacher Prep
The non-profit National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) will award $25 million to 12 universities in the United States in an effort to boost the number of teachers with "enhanced math and science teaching skills." The grants will be awarded to universities whose teacher preparation programs are modeled after the UTeach program at the University of Texas at Austin--a program that has doubled the number of math and science majors being certified at the university.
(11/20/2007)
Moto Grants Fuel STEM Education, STEM Equity
The Motorola Foundation has announced the recipients of its Innovation Generation Grants, a $3.5 million ed tech initiative designed to "inspire young people to embrace science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)." For this year's grants, 106 programs were selected to receive funding, with recipients ranging from curriculum developers to museums and science centers to universities and K-12 schools.
(11/20/2007)
ExploraVision 2008 Science Competition Opens
The ExploraVision Awards Program from Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association has now opened up and is accepting entries for the 2008 competition. The annual student science competition is open to K-12 students in the United States and Canada, offering prizes of up to $10,000 in savings bonds for the winners.
(11/16/2007)
Verizon To Award $1.2 Million for Web-Based Program
The Verizon Foundation said it will award $1.2 million in grants to education organizations in 17 states in the coming months. The aim of the grants is to raise awareness of Verizon's Thinkfinity, a Web-based program that provides access to about 55,000 educational resources, including lesson plans and interactive tools and materials for K-12 students.
(11/16/2007)
LeapFrog To Give Away $35,000 in Classroom Technology
LeapFrog SchoolHouse this month launched a new sweepstakes for schools. Through Dec. 15, educators who register at the company's online education store are entered to win shopping sprees at the store ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.
(11/15/2007)
Kansas School District Rolls Out 1:1 MacBook Program
In one of the poorer districts in the Kansas City, KS metropolitan area--where more than 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches--administrators and school board members have launched a project to ensure that their students have all the technological advantages that wealthier students have in their education. The district serving that area, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS), is giving every high school student and teacher a laptop for use in the classroom and at home--and not just any laptop, but the latest generation of Intel-based MacBook laptops from Apple, which were distributed to students Nov. 6 and 7 district-wide, about 5,400 systems total.
(11/8/2007)
'Young Scientists' Take Home $100,000 in Scholarships, Prizes
Discovery Education late last month awarded more than $100,000 in prizes and scholarships as part of its 9th Annual Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge program. This year an 11-year-old, Erik Gustafson, Homer Intermediate School in Cortland, NY, took home the title of "America's Top Young Scientist," along with a $20,000 college scholarship. He was the youngest to date to win the top prize.
(11/5/2007)
Student/Teacher Video Competition Finalists Named
Fifteen finalists have been named in Interwrite Learning's first "Classroom Makeover" contest, a competition that will award winners in three grade categories technology makeovers for their classrooms, valued at abut $15,000 each. The finalists were chosen from more than 220 entries from the United States, New Zealand, and Australia.
(11/5/2007)
2008 Technology for Teaching Grants Open
HP has opened up its 2008 Technology for Teaching Grant program, offering $6 million to K-12 and higher education institutions in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The initiative is aimed at efforts to improve education through the use of innovative uses of technology in the classroom, increase the number of underrepresented students on a path toward high-tech careers, and enhance student success in math, science and engineering.
(10/30/2007)
ITCC To Bolster STEM Education
Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana this month received a $3.1 million grant from the state's North Central Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative. The grant will be used to enhance STEM education in K-12, higher education, and businesses and will train an estimated 44,000 people in North Central Indiana over the next five years.
(10/24/2007)
Funds for Learning Expands E-Rate Tool
Funds for Learning has released a new module for its E-rate Manager for Applicants, a suite of tools for helping applicants manage E-rate processes. The new module, called Form 471 Wizard, is an online tool to help users complete the Services Ordered and Certification Form (also known as Form 471).
(10/22/2007)
USA Today Names 'All-USA Teacher Team'
Twenty teachers from around the country have been named to this year's "All-USA Teacher Team," a program sponsored by USA Today that recognizes instructors and instructional teams for "outstanding" teaching. This year's recipients will receive $500 individual awards and $2,000 for their schools.
(10/18/2007)
2008 ExploraVision Science Awards Open
Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association have launched the 2008 ExploraVision Awards Program. The annual student science competition, now in its 16th year, is open to K-12 students in the United States and Canada, offering prizes of up to $10,000 in savings bonds for the winners.
(10/15/2007)
IAF To Reward 21st Century Skills with 21st Century Gadgets
The Innovation America Foundation is looking to encourage 21st-century skills in high school students. With the help of Apple, the organization has launched "Voices of Innovation," a contest calling on students to produce videos on the subject of improving the world through innovative thinking.
(10/12/2007)
