All in One. One for All.

Introducing the Lightspeed Systems Management Bundle. Built with schools in mind, the bundle gives administrators features such as centralized IT control and multi-OS support, while teachers get easy classroom management, full access to Office365, and more. It’s simple device management made smart, all in one and one for all. See how the bundle can make your job easier.

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Enrich Academic Experiences

The McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation offers Academic Enrichment Grants designed to develop in-class and extracurricular programs that improve students’ learning. The foundation considers proposals that foster understanding, deepen students’ knowledge, and offer students opportunities to expand awareness of the world around them. The Academic Enrichment Grants provide funding for programs that nurture the intellectual, artistic, and creative abilities of youth in preK–grade 12 from low-income households. The foundation awards grants to individuals in amounts up to $10,000 per year for a maximum of three years, provided the eligibility requirements continue to be met.

Deadline: April 15, 2016, for applications

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Improve Student Learning

For nearly 20 years, the Voya Unsung Heroes Awards Program has provided nearly $4 million in grants to K–12 educators using new methods and techniques that improve learning. Each year 100 educators are selected to receive a $2,000 grant to help fund their innovative class projects. Of those 100 educators, three are chosen for additional financial awards: first place receives $25,000; second place, $10,000; and third place, $5,000. All awards must be used for effective projects within the school or school system. Full-time teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, or classified staff employed in an accredited K–12 school are eligible to apply. Interested applicants will find this grant opportunity on GetEdFunding, a free database sponsored by CDW•G of thousands of funding opportunities for educators.

Deadline: April 30, 2016, for applications

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Click Here to Access GetEdFunding

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Break New Ground

Microsoft’s Imagine Cup is a global student technology program and competition that provides opportunities for students across all disciplines to team up and use their creativity, passion, and knowledge of technology to create applications, design games, or integrate solutions that can change the way people live, work, and play. Students who are 16 and older are eligible to enter this global competition by creating an original technology project from start to finish in one of three categories: Games, Innovation, or World Citizenship. The project can be purely software or a combination of software and hardware. It needs to use Windows, Windows Phone, or Windows Azure. Finalists will get a free trip to Seattle, Washington, in July 2016, and winning teams in all three categories will receive $50,000.

Deadline: May 31, 2015

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Share EdTech Collaborations

Educators are invited to enter the Collaboration Nation video contest by telling CDW•G about their school or district’s exemplary educational technology collaboration and the measurable impact it has had on learning and teaching. By sharing their successes, schools or districts have the opportunity to win a $50,000 grand prize or one of three $15,000 monthly prizes from CDW•G. To enter, simply create a 90-second video highlighting your school or district’s cross-departmental collaboration project and upload the video to YouTube. Then complete the entry form and submit. Monthly contests are won by votes received through CDW•G’s Facebook page; three industry experts will determine the grand-prize winner.

Deadlines: Monthly through April 30, 2016

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Battle for Votes

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is behind the animated civics education game Win the White House, which is barnstorming its way through middle schools across the United States. In this online video game—timed to the 2016 election cycle—students take on the role of imaginary presidential candidates who must learn how to compete civilly against opponents with divergent views on issues such as immigration and gun control.

Click Here to Access Free Game

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Play It Forward

Students aged 12 and up can challenge themselves to an adventure by trying the free Print ‘n’ Play version of Sneaky Cards. Students’ mission is to become a secret agent of joy, spreading art and intrigue to an unsuspecting public. Students can take a “selfie” with a stranger, give an anonymous gift, or become a flash mob of one. The game is an interactive scavenger hunt that inspires creativity and rewards audacity. After they complete each objective, students pass the card along to an unwitting accomplice, who then becomes part of the game. The fun is ever expanding.

Click Here to Download Free Printable Cards

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Measure Reaction Time

The New York Times has created an interactive online game that every teen driver or aspiring driver should play at least once. Gauging Your Distraction requires players to try to read and reply to three text messages while negotiating lanes of traffic. At the start of the game, players simply navigate a car through lanes of a highway. At three intervals, a cellphone with a text message will appear. Players must read and respond to the text message while driving. The game ends after players have responded to the final text message. Gauging Your Distraction is intended to demonstrate the potential consequences of distractions such as texting on driving ability.

Click Here to Play Free Driving Game

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Share Ideas on Educational Leadership

On April 16, 2016, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (ET), Discovery Education will convene its annual Spring VirtCon. Classroom teachers and administrators worldwide are invited to participate in this free, daylong professional learning event featuring online and in-person opportunities for educators to explore essential topics in educational leadership. The Spring VirtCon will feature a variety of online workshops and engaging presentations from thought leaders on the topics of equity, personalized learning, formative assessment, culturally responsive classrooms, and student engagement in schools. Educators are also encouraged to create local face-to-face events at which they can meet with their peers, participate in the online events, and discuss the online presentations. The Spring VirtCon website provides more information, including details on registering, participating in online and in-person events, and hosting local events. Participants can use the hashtag #SpringVirtCon to follow along with this event on Twitter.

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Continue a Winning Grant-Writing Journey

From 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (ET) on April 25, 2016, the GetEdFunding community on edWeb.net will host Part 2 of a free, three-part grant-writing webinar miniseries titled “You CAN Win Grants for Your School,” sponsored by CDW•G. In this free miniseries, the presenter reviews and dissects the eight typical sections of a proposal so participants will come away feeling equipped and confident to begin their own winning grant-writing journey. In Part 1 of the series, the presenter offered insider tips and techniques for writing the first three sections of a foundation grant proposal: Executive Summary; Description of the School; Need for the Project. In the second webinar of this miniseries, the presenter will give insider tips and techniques for writing the next two sections of a foundation grant proposal: Description of the Project; Project Management Plan and Timeline. This webinar will be helpful for both teachers and administrators. Participants’ questions will be answered during the live, interactive session, and the webinar will be recorded and archived for members of the GetEdFunding community to access after the event.

Click Here to Join GetEdFunding Community

Click Here to Register for Free Webinar

Click Here to Visit GetEdFunding Website

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Learn from a Distance

Georama is a real-time virtual tour platform that lets anyone travel anywhere in the world instantly. Georama’s technology provides live, guided tours in high definition from a smartphone, wearable camera, or 360-degree camera to people around the world. Viewers can interact in real time to ask questions and make suggestions for an authentic personalized experience—whether it be across mobile, web, or tablet, or even virtual reality. K–12 teachers can plan a virtual field trip that fits into their curriculum and, when applicable, can schedule it with Georama’s worldwide network of expert guides. Students watch via a desktop, tablet, or mobile device; because the tour is live, students can interact in real time with the guide on the other end of the screen.

Click Here to Visit Website

Plus: In November 2015, during National Distance Learning Week, Georama hosted a live virtual field trip with the United States Distance Learning Association that took the audience to Barcelona, Spain, where they explored the work of Antoni Gaudi and more. Teachers can view this virtual trip on Georama’s website.

Click Here to View Barcelona Field Trip

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Consider Different Opinions

Perspecs, an iOS and Android app from Trinity Mirror Digital Media, curates the top news stories from a variety of established regional, national, and international news sources. Unlike traditional aggregators and news curation services, Perspecs goes a step further and offers readers three polarized opinions of the same story. How these opinions are categorized can vary. For political stories, the categorization might be in the form of “left,” “background,” “right.” For review items, the categories might be “negative,” “neutral,” “positive.” Perspecs publishes one edition per day, and each edition includes a variety of interesting and sometimes controversial topics. Most important, there are three sides to every story. Cost: Free

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here to Visit iTunes App Store

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Perform Various Music Styles

Developed by Sonosaurus, ThumbJam is a musical performance experience for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Users get more than 40 high-quality real instruments, multi-sampled exclusively for this app. Hundreds of included scales allow users to play effortlessly in any style, from rock to classical, whether they’re a musical novice or a seasoned professional. ThumbJam was developed and tested by musicians to feel and sound like real instruments. It supports up to 11 (or five on iPhone) simultaneous touches and up to 24 voice polyphony per instrument. Users can load more instruments simultaneously and split the screen to play them. They can create their own presets with different settings, scales, and keys based on the existing instruments. Users can also record their own samples using a built-in or attached microphone and play them instantly. To expand the power of ThumbJam, new instruments are available for download. Cost: $8.99

Click Here to Visit iTunes App Store

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Engage Girls in STEM

The Emmy award-winning SciGirls television show, website, and educational outreach program draws on research about what engages girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning and careers. This transmedia effort from PBS Kids has reached more than 14 million girls, educators, and families, making it the most widely accessed girls’ STEM program available nationally. Each episode of SciGirls follows a group of middle school girls who are eager to find answers to their questions about science and technology. The program inspires them to explore the world around them and discover that science and technology are everywhere. With the help of scientific mentors, the girls design their own investigations on topics ranging from the environment to engineering and nutrition. The show’s website is integrated into the episodes, with archived projects from the site being featured on the show.

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here to View Program Videos

Plus: SciGirls CONNECT is a broad national outreach effort to encourage educators to adopt new, research-based strategies to engage girls in STEM. SciGirls CONNECT includes 125 partner organizations located in schools, museums, community organizations, and universities, which host SciGirls clubs, camps, and afterschool programs for girls across 34 states. This supportive community of dedicated educators provides the spark, the excitement, and the promise of a new generation of women in STEM careers. SciGirls CONNECT offers mini-grants, leader training, and educational resources to partner organizations, and each partner training session involves educators from a score of regional educational institutions.

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Develop the Mindset of Innovators

Design Challenge Learning is a combination of project-based learning, design thinking, and the engineering design process that develops the innovator’s mindset through iteration. It’s a method of learning for which The Tech Museum of Innovation, in San Jose, California, is best known. Over the years, educators at the museum have developed lessons that will help teachers in grades 3–12 lead their students through science and engineering challenges. The lessons also make engaging and effective team-building activities for groups of teachers. The Tech Museum’s website provides eight single-session lessons of less than an hour and six single-session lessons of one to two hours. It also offers five multiple-session lessons, as well as a seismic engineering lesson series inspired by The Tech Challenge 2015. All the lessons are freely downloadable and aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

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Cultivate Conversations About Food

Irrigation systems managed from iPads, animal nutrition tracked by computer chips, and tractors that drive using GPS are only a few examples of the ways farmers and ranchers are using technology to produce food in a sustainable manner. Discovering FARMLAND, a comprehensive education program created by US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance in conjunction with Discovery Education, will provide high school students nationwide with a firsthand glimpse into contemporary agriculture through The Smart Farm: Where Technology and Innovation Meet, a virtual field trip on April 5, 2016, at 1:00 p.m. (ET). Provided at no cost, this live event will transport classrooms across the country to a hog, corn, and soybean farm to see today’s modern agricultural practices in action. Students will hear from a fourth-generation farmer as he discusses technology and innovation on today’s smart farms. Students and educators can register for the 45-minute event and submit questions in advance to be answered live.

Click Here to Visit Website

Plus: Discovering FARMLAND’s standards-aligned curriculum guides, lesson plans, and interactive resources are timely tools to help students gain real-world insights about where their food comes from. The program covers key issues in modern agriculture, including the way technology has transformed the industry; challenges farmers face, such as weather and growing conditions; common stereotypes around farmers and ranchers; and market supply and demand. The curriculum teaches students about food choices, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and antibiotics, among other topics.

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Break Down Barriers and Boundaries

Our Africa, a web resource developed by SOS Children, the world’s largest charity for orphaned and abandoned children, features countries in Africa through the eyes of children. The website has an extensive—and growing—collection of videos that bring viewers right into these children’s worlds. In addition to providing unique insight into Africa, the website offers free curriculum resources that teachers can readily use in the classroom. These free classroom and homework resources include scenarios that let students use the information and videos on the site to investigate issues such as Agriculture & Famine, Geography & Wildlife, Games & Sport, Climate, Foods, Health—and more. Visitors to the website can browse the learning resources by country (Botswana, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia) or by topic (from climate and agriculture to tourism and communications).

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here to Access Free Resources

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Explore the World of Children’s Literature

KidLit TV is the result of a diverse group of parents, educators, librarians, kid-lit creators, and award-winning filmmakers all working together to bring great books to children. The group’s mission is to create fun new ways to reinforce an appreciation of reading that children will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Storymakers, KidLit TV’s flagship series, is an entertaining talk show highlighting bestselling authors and illustrators in the kid-lit world. KidLit TV also features Field Trip, in which the show’s crew hits the road to explore the world of kid lit; Inside Scoop, offering a sneak peek at bestselling authors’ new books; Read Out Loud, designed to engage students in reading their favorite books with their favorite authors; and Ready Set Draw!, teaching students how to draw characters from their favorite books. In addition, KidLit TV provides information on a range of video technology topics to share with students—for example, making animated stories, starting a web series, learning about video editing, and creating a book trailer. KidLit TV shows are also available as free podcasts on KidLit RADIO.

Click Here to Access KidLit TV

Click Here to Access KidLit Technology Resources

Click Here to Access KidLit RADIO

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Bring an Author into Your Classroom

A comprehensive list of authors who do school visits can be found through the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Speaker’s Bureau. On the organization’s website, educators can find the names of authors, illustrators, and children’s book translators by region or within a certain radius where they are. They can also find authors who write for a certain age range. Because SCBWI is an international organization, the site lists speakers from every corner of the globe and many who are willing to travel.

Click Here to Access Speaker’s Bureau

Plus: Author Kim Norman hosts a blog called School Author Visits by State, where educators can quickly scan lists of authors, arranged alphabetically by state, who are ready and willing to present at schools.

Click Here to Access Visiting Author Lists

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Experience Your America

In celebration of its 100th birthday in 2016, the National Park Service has launched Find Your Park, a movement to spread the word about the amazing places the park service manages, the inspirational stories that the national parks tell, the country’s natural resources, and America’s diverse cultural heritage. Find Your Park is more than just information about national parks, however. It’s also about the National Park Service working in communities through education programs, community assistance projects, and more. It’s about state parks, local parks, trails, museums, historic sites, and the many ways that the American public can connect with history and culture, enjoy nature, and make new discoveries. Visit the National Park Service’s website to sample upcoming centennial events near you, share your stories, and find your park. Participate in Find Your Park Experiences to learn, discover, be inspired, or simply have fun in national parks.

Click Here to Visit National Park Service Website

Click Here to Find Your Park

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