Verizon Upgrades Thinkinfinity.org, Free Teacher Web Resource

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Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 3/10/2008 11:39:00 AM

Thinkfinity.org, the popular online hub for educators, is getting a face-lift. The Verizon Foundation, the site’s sponsor, announced several improvements to Thinkfinity.org at WNET’s Teaching & Learning Celebration, held March 7–8 in New York City.

Thinkfinity.org is the Verizon Foundation’s free online portal to 55,000 educational and literacy resources for teachers, parents, and students and includes standards-based, grade-specific, K–12 lesson plans and interactive projects. Site content is provided through a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and 11 national education and literacy organizations, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, International Reading Association, National Center for Family Literacy, National Council on Economic Education, National Geographic Society, ProLiteracy Worldwide, and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Improvements to Thinkfinity.org announced by the Verizon Foundation and its partners include the addition of 500 new resources; individual portals to allow users to search for resources targeted to educators, students, parents, or after-school programs; a more comprehensive search engine; and the ability to search for resources according to individual state standards. The site will also sport a new look.

Also on Friday, the Verizon Foundation presented a $160,000 grant to the New York Institute of Technology to train teachers throughout the state to make the most of the free resources on Thinkfinity.org. The institute will conduct the training through its partnership with New York State Teacher Centers. In addition to offering free access to thousands of educational resources, Thinkfinity.org also offers a comprehensive professional development program that allows teachers to sign up for free online or face-to-face training to learn how to best make use of the Thinkfinity.org tools.