UNC Greensboro Tackles STEM Teacher Support with ED Funding

The United States Department of Education has awarded the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) a $7.7 million grant, to be disbursed over the next five years, to recruit, train and support local teachers of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

The university will get approximately $1.6 million each year from the federal government to team up with four elementary, two middle and one high school in Guilford and Forsyth counties, beginning this fall.

In each school, UNCG will install a tailor-made Makerspace, a technology workshop based on the theory that students learn most effectively by making things, along with all the necessary technology. Beginning next summer, the university will host a summer Maker Camp with a new Makerspace on the third floor of the School of Education.

UNCG students, including graduate students at its Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, will act as content experts for classroom teachers to advance learning about technology and high school students will be recruited to be summer camp counselors.

"The project is not all about specific cutting-edge technology, because that changes," said Christina O'Connor, who will direct the project for UNCG. "It's about how we can use technology to better prepare teachers so that students become more creative and more innovative, and learn by doing."

The program will act as a hands-on training ground for the university's teacher candidates and as a way to recruit future STEM teachers, a major initiative of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

O'Connor said, "We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, using technologies that haven't been invented, in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet."

About the Author

Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.

Featured

  • classroom scene with students gathered around a laptop showing a virtual tour interface

    Discovery Education Announces Spring Lineup of Free Virtual Field Trips

    This Spring, Discovery Education is collaborating with partners such as Warner Bros., DC Comics, National Science Foundation, NBA, and more to present a series of free virtual field trips for K-12 students.

  • glowing padlock shape integrated into a network of interconnected neon-blue lines and digital nodes, set against a soft, blurred geometric background

    3 in 4 Administrators Expect a Security Incident to Impact Their School This Year

    In an annual survey from education identity platform Clever, 74% of administrators admitted that they believe a security incident is likely to impact their school system in the coming year. That's up from 71% who said the same last year.

  • horizontal stack of U.S. dollar bills breaking in half

    ED Abruptly Cancels ESSER Funding Extensions

    The Department of Education has moved to close the door on COVID relief funding for schools, declaring that "extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion."

  • pattern of icons for math and reading, including a pi symbol, calculator, and open book

    HMH Launches Personalized Path Solution

    Adaptive learning company HMH has introduced HMH Personalized Path, a K-8 ELA and math product that combines intervention curriculum, adaptive practice, and assessment for students of all achievement levels.