News and Trends
Contests and Grants
2/27/2013 By:
Follett Challenge
Nearly 120 entries have been submitted
for the second Follett Challenge,
and now contest organizers
are calling on the public to
crown the Follett Challenge winners.
The Follett Challenge will award
$200,000 worth of Follett products and
services to six winning schools, and also provide educators with
a platform to show off their innovative teaching programs to the
world through traditional and social media.
Deadline: March 18, 2013
Details: www.FollettChallenge.com
Samsung Contests, Scholarships, and Grants
Samsung is offering the following
opportunities for school funding this
year:
• Two Superhero
Program competitions
(samsungsuperhero.com):
Each winning student gets
$500 and their class receives a
SAMCAM 760 document camera.
Students apply by making a
1-3 minute digital video with
them portraying their favorite
historical character. Deadlines:
May 31, 2013 and November 30,
2013.
• Scholarship Program (samsungscholarship.com): This
scholarship will award five high school students $1,000
scholarships for winning 300-word essays that answer the
question: “What do you think about technology advancements
and how they will change the way we learn in the future? Is it for
the better?” Deadline: May 15, 2013.
• Grant Program (samsunggrants.com): Teachers can enter to
win one of ten SAMCAM 760 document cameras by writing a
lesson plan, in 100 words or less, about using the SAMCAM 760.
Deadline: May 1, 2013.
Kids Invention Challenge Winners Announced
Students from
around the world
were recognized
for top inventions
in the second
annual K-12 Invent
It! Challenge
from ePals
Corporation and
the Smithsonian’s
Lemelson Center.
Students were
challenged to
come up with solutions to problems in their schools, to improve
on inventions being used in their schools, or to invent solutions
for larger real-world problems that exist today. Sample winning
inventions included:
• A 13-year-old boy from Chapel Hill, N.C.’s construction of a
portable transport vehicle for children and elderly refugees who
must flee conflict and famine (pictured above);
• A 9-year-old Mississippi girl’s prototype of a purse that has a
solar-powered light inside, brightening the chances of finding
your house keys;
• A 6-year-old child from Pennsylvania’s “turbo skraper” to make
snow and ice removal from a car windshield easier than ever;
• A 9-year-old New Jersey girl’s “sand sleeve,” a wrist guard
with sand in it, the weight of which steadies the hand of her
grandfather, who has Parkinson’s disease, so he can sign his
name.
Details: www.ePals.com
63 New K-12 Grants Announced
Digital Wish has unveiled its 2013 grants calendar, featuring 63
new technology grant awards for K-12 classrooms. By uploading
a technology-based lesson plan to Digital Wish’s lesson plan
library, teachers become eligible for smartphones, software, and IT
curriculum grant awards. New grants will be awarded each month.
Details: Click on techlearning.com/mar13 for a link to the full
calendar.
Sony Electronics Launches Tablet
Education Program
Sony’s new K-12 Education Initiative focuses
on helping schools easily integrate
tablet and mobile technologies into the
classroom. The program includes access
to tablets and other devices at special
pricing, as well as the Sony Education
Ambassador online community, a free online destination
that provides access to experienced teachers, IT managers, and specialists. See www.educationambassador.com for details.
How Do You Juno? Contest
FrontRow’s How Do You Juno? Contest gives K-20
educators the opportunity to use Juno free until June 1,
2013. Educators use Juno to enter video submissions that
capture a classroom lesson, including a short testimonial
about how lesson capture fits into the larger pedagogical
strategy of the school or district. Through May 7, people
will be able to watch the videos on FrontRow’s site and
rate them. The videos with the highest scores, as rated
by viewers, will then be sent to the judging panel for final
scoring.
Deadline: April 15, 2013
Prizes: Three grand prize winners and five runner-up
prizes totaling over $17,000 in prizes.
Details: www.gofrontrow.com/howdoyoujuno
ContentKeeper Filter Donation
ContentKeeper will donate 1,000
licenses of CK Web Filter Pro
for one year to help ensure that
selected districts have the tools they
need to support BYOD and next-gen
learning. Award selection will be made based on three key factors: level of innovation
in the proposed use of CK Web Filter Pro; financial need within the district that is
currently prohibiting purchase or license of CIPA-compliant content filtering; and
demographics of the students served within the district.
Deadline: April 30, 2013
Details: www.contentkeeper.com/k12/donationprogram