$1,000–$8,000 Grants for Teachers Aim to Develop Hybrid Learning Resources
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 10/26/20
The
National
Geographic Society
is offering grants
to K-12 educators
to help them develop resources that can be used by others teaching in
remote and hybrid environments. The grants range from $1,000 to
$8,000. The Society expects to support at least 50 educators, whether
they're serving as "formal" or "informal"
teachers. Once the resources have been created, they'll be made
freely available on the National Geographic Society education
website
and within the National Geographic education communities on Twitter
and Facebook.
The
program hopes to attract projects that use science, social studies
and/or geography "to help students understand the challenges and
impacts of pandemics, such as COVID-19" or help teachers "teach
social and/or environmental justice."
Other
priorities include resources that:
-
Take
one of National Geographic's science
or social studies units
for K-12, adapt it for a hybrid environment and develop a teacher's
guide as well;
-
Offer
new ways to help students link personal experiences to global
issues, including sustainability, climate, social justice,
environmental justice and racial justice; or
-
Design
instructional resources or projects that use the concepts and
pedagogy in the National Geographic Learning
Framework
or the National Geographic Geo-Inquiry
Process.
Special
credit will be given to applicants who have never received a National
Geographic grant before and who are working in communities where the
effects of the pandemic has been especially brutal.
"The
role of teachers has never been more important as they work
tirelessly to engage and inspire their students in a socially distant
world," said National Geographic Society Chief Education
Officer, Vicki Phillips, in a statement. "Our goal is to equip
educators with the resources and support they need to continue
creating, innovating and pioneering new ways of teaching so their
peers and their students can continue growing."
The
Society said that submissions would be reviewed on a rolling basis
and that applications will continue be accepted until they're not.
Potential
applicants can attend virtual "design labs" to talk with
Society staff and other educators.
More
information is available on
the National Geographic "COVID-19 Remove Learning Emergency Fund
for Educators."
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.