Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

3 new school grant opportunities

Key points:

Each day, teachers are tasked with doing more and more with increasingly fewer resources. And despite federal emergency funding to help schools provide staff and resources as the pandemic abates, school leaders still grapple with funding challenges.

School grants are often one-time funding opportunities, and while they are not permanent policy changes, grants often help students earn much-needed scholarship money, gain valuable experiences, and they also connect teachers with classroom resources or professional development.…Read More

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7 grants for STEM and technology

School leaders consistently identify high costs and shrinking budgets as a top barrier to implementing new technology tools and programs.

And while budget woes won’t improve overnight, schools and districts can boost their available funds with grants that are targeted to different areas of need.

Want to support science teachers or encourage engineering? Do you need to promote STEM learning opportunities? Or maybe you want to extend opportunities for partnerships between K-12 and the science community.…Read More

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Vernier releases free back-to-school resources

Professional learning and support tools include in-person workshops, webinars, video tutorials, grant opportunities and more

To support science and STEM teachers in delivering quality instruction to their students at the start of, and throughout, the school year, Vernier Software & Technology is offering an abundance of free professional learning resources, support tools, grant opportunities and more. This comprehensive collection of offerings provides teachers with the skills and resources needed to effectively use data-collection technology in their classrooms.

“Helping both educators and students succeed in today’s science classrooms is our top priority,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Software & Technology. “To support this, we are committed to providing stellar service, teacher-based tech support, and useful professional development year round to meet the needs of our customers.”

Free resources from Vernier include:
● Award and grant opportunities: Among others, these include the annual Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards and Vernier Engineering Contest, both of which award teachers with cash and technology prizes.
● Community Forum: Customers can access the forum to exchange advice, trade used equipment, look at DIY projects and discuss lab ideas with other educators.
● Hands-on workshops: These free educator-led seminars provide teachers with innovative ways to integrate probeware into their curricula.
● Sample experiments: The student version of these classroom-ready investigations can be downloaded directly from the Vernier website. More than 1,000 sample experiments are available.
● Tech Tips Videos: This collection of more than 180 videos provides helpful tutorials on using various Vernier data-collection technologies.
● Technical Information Library (TIL): An extensive collection of technical information, troubleshooting advice, frequently asked questions and more than 1,000 searchable technology tips are available 24/7. The Vernier TIL was honored with a Stellar Service Award from Tech & Learning magazine.
● Warranty and repair program: In addition to an ample five-year warranty, Vernier will attempt to repair most products, many times at no charge.
● Webinars: These personalized, customized webinars provide an effective way for educators and their science departments to learn more about using Vernier technology.…Read More

How to approach funders who don’t accept new grant proposals

With these strategies, funders who aren't currently accepting proposals might not be off limits after all.

Have you found what seems to be a “perfect match” in a foundation or other grant-giving institution, but this funder won’t accept unsolicited proposals?

Don’t give up hope; instead, use this handy advice to give yourself a chance.…Read More

How to find private sources of funding

One of the most common ways to find grant opportunities from private funders is to use the Foundation Center database.

In my last column (“Where to find grants for education,” October 2010), I wrote abut how to find grant opportunities from public funders, such as government agencies. This month, I’m going to focus on finding grant opportunities from private funders, such as foundations and corporations. However, I need to add one more source of information for federal grant opportunities.

According to its website, Grants.gov is a central storehouse for information on more than 1,000 federal grant programs and provides access to approximately $500 billion in annual awards. If you haven’t registered yet with Grants.gov, I would encourage you to do this now, even if you’re not currently interested in applying for federal grants. The application process is free, and applications can take a few days to be processed. Registering now can help you avoid any problems with missed deadlines if you decide to apply for a federal grant in the future.…Read More

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Where to find grants for education

To begin the grant-seeking process, you should have a project idea in mind that is more specific than “I need a grant for technology.”

I recently held a question-and-answer session with eSchool News readers via Twitter—and the No. 1 question that kept coming up was, “Where can I find a grant for _______?”

Because this seems to be such a popular topic, I’ve decided to devote my next two columns to finding grant opportunities. Why two columns, you might ask? Because, depending on the type of grants you’re looking for, there are several different resources you can use to find this information.…Read More

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