Michigan Nabs $60k Thinkfinity Grant
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The Verizon Foundation has awarded a $60,000 grant to the Michigan Department of Education aimed at training teachers throughout the state to use Thinkfinity.org, 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.
The portal's resources include standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans and interactive activities provided in partnership with educational and literacy organizations. Resources are targeted toward K-12 education, covering eight subject areas, including math, English, and science. Content is provided by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Reading Association, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, National Center for Family Literacy, National Council on Economic Education, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Geographic Society, ProLiteracy Worldwide, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
"In Michigan's efforts to re-imagine how education is delivered to children, online instruction will be a key component of this transformation," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan in aa statement released last week. "Providing teachers with a vast reservoir of online resources will help power this educational evolution. We thank Verizon and the partnership Michigan will have with Thinkfinity.org, and the resources necessary to help train our teachers to learn how to use this important tool."
The grant will be used to provide professional development opportunities to teachers statewide through on-site and online training and raise awareness about Thinkfinity.org resources and professional development opportunities.
In related news, Thinkfinity.org announced recently that its service has added 500 new resources, constructed individual portals for user groups (parents, teachers, and students), and expanded and improved its search engine.
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About the author:David Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's online education technology publications, including THE Journal and Campus Technology. He can be reached at [email protected].
Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at [email protected].