The Learning and Teaching Division is a winner of one and a partner on two of 19 Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) grants announced in June. NGLC is a multi-year program led by EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit education technology organization, in collaboration with a network of other organizations.The initative is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. NGLC grants support programs that help students achieve competencies aligned with the Common Core Standards.

Wordplay Games: Building Word Knowledge in the Core Content Areas

A grant to EDC's Center for Children and Technology (CCT) expands on existing innovation funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for Portable Wordplay, a project to develop and field test two Nintendo DSi handheld games designed to improve the vocabulary and reading comprehension skills of struggling middle-grade students. The new NGLC grant will expand Portable Wordplay to a wider range of courses, enable a shift in game platform from the DSi system to the Web, and support an evaluation of the impact of the games on students' academic word knowledge and reading ability. The Principal Investigator is Cornelia Brunner, Deputy Director of CCT, and the project beginning date is October 1.

Louisiana Virtual Schools: Algebra for the 21st Century

EDC will work with Louisiana Virtual Schools, a program of the Louisiana Department of Education, the grantee, to review its existing Online Algebra 1 course and create two four-week modules that are aligned with the Common Core Standards. The modules will be enhanced with technology tools, interactives, and competency-based assessments, and made available as flexible, Open Educational Resources. EDC also will train online instructors to teach the modules and will conduct the evaluation component of the project. The EDC Principal Investigator is Barbara Treacy, Director of Ed Tech Leaders Online, and the project beginning date is July 1.

Universally Designed Learning Modules: Supporting Literacy in Physics

EDC will work with grantee CAST, Inc., a nonprofit research and development firm in Wakefield, Mass., to develop a design tool that embeds learning supports based on universal design principles, and that supports deeper learning for a diverse group of students, especially disadvantaged, low-income and minority youth, and youth with disabilities. The project will develop and test a Web-based innovative analytics assessment system that will give students and teachers immediate feedback and just-in-time support to advance science literacy and science learning. EDC's role is to author universal design elements into four learning experiences from the EDC curriculum Foundation Science: Physics. The EDC Principal Investigator is June Foster, Science and Mathematics Programs, and the project beginning date is September 1.

Read the EDC Press Release.