Your Wish Is Granted: Finding Cash for Technology
The cash to fund your tech projects is just a grant application away. So what are you waiting for?
By Susan Brooks-Young -- School Library Journal, 7/1/2007
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Eureka! Grant Opportunities |
So much to do in the media center, and so little time. And then there's the necessary cash.
Media specialists are working hard to get our schools up to speed in the 21st century—teaching information literacy skills to students, helping teachers use technology, and harnessing Web-based tools such as blogs and wikis to enhance learning, according to SLJ's Technology Survey 2006 (June 2006, pp. 46–50). The same educators, however, report that limited funds hamper their ability to make good on these plans. Given the current tenor of the economy, education dollars may well continue to be in short supply.
An alternative strategy is to seek out and apply for grants. Although funding agencies have also experienced belt tightening, opportunities still await for educators with initiative to acquire awards ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars. It's also important to understand that unless grant requirements specifically earmark how the money can be spent (on print materials or field trips only, for example), award money can be redirected toward tech purchases, even if the word "technology" does not appear in the request for proposals.
But you've never applied for a grant before, you say? Consider this: media specialists often have the edge over other educators when pursuing grants. Because library programs reach across grade levels and academic subjects, they have the potential to impact a broader range of teachers and students. Grant applications that promise implementation beyond an individual classroom are viewed favorably by most funding agencies and so are better positioned, right off the bat, to win an award. Kathy Buxton, the library media teacher at Lisbon Elementary School in Sacramento, CA, learned this firsthand.
A K-6 school of 482 students, Lisbon Elementary School serves a racially diverse community, where more than half of the kids qualify for free and reduced price lunch. In 2005, student engagement was faltering, particularly among children transitioning from third grade classes of no more than 20 students into much larger fourth-grade classes of up to 32 kids each. The resulting decline in individualized teacher attention, coupled with ramped-up academics, was taking its toll. Buxton and her peers believed that technology could help provide additional support and inspire students—beyond the fourth graders. Staff members were also eager to ramp up their own skills on how to integrate technology into the curriculum. But, as is so often the case, the school simply didn't have the money to pilot these great ideas.
It was around then that Buxton learned about the HP Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative. Sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, the one-year grants are designed to support innovative teacher use of technology in the classroom by providing hardware and other supplies, and professional development services to teams of five teachers. Here was an opportunity to get needed hardware into classrooms and the media center and build a model for collaborative planning that could be sustained beyond the life of the grant. Having written several successful grant proposals earlier in her career, Buxton decided to go for it. She got the principal's backing, recruited four teachers to join the team, and wrote a proposal, which was funded for the 2005–2006 school year. The award, worth about $31,000, included an equipment package for each team member (a tablet computer, multimedia projector, digital camera, and an all-in-one printer), software and accessories, professional development training, and a cash stipend.
Today, Buxton reports that the positive gains identified in the team's final report to HP—including increased student engagement in lessons and activities that involved technology—have been sustained through the 2006–2007 school year. Moreover, "The team spirit we built during the grant period is alive and well, and we are working to keep these relationships strong," she says. "Our focus this year is not on the mechanics of incorporating technology into learning experiences, but expanding and enhancing its use."
While not quite as easy as falling off a log, grantwriting is still not as difficult as many educators fear. Once you've found one or more grants that look promising, take the time to ground yourself in some grant writing basics. In addition to the tips provided in the sidebar, here are a few online resources that can help you get started.
Grant Wrangler: This site offers a biweekly grant email update, with links to grant writing tips and workshops.
Grant-Writing Tools for Non-Profit Organizations: Free Web-based guides designed to help novice grant writers, including educators.
Writing Successful Grants KnowledgeBase: Sponsored by the Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center, a regional education agency, this site is designed to assist educators with developing a project, writing for funding, and managing grant awards.
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| Author Information |
| A former K-8 teacher and administrator, Susan Brooks-Young is an educational consultant. |
