LRNG, an organization based on the principles of connected learning (an approach that emerged from research supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to explore how digital media is changing the way young people learn and what they need to know), is accepting grant applications. Six programs serving youth 13 and older will get $50,000 to defray the costs of implementing LRNG's summer 2016 programming in their cities. The deadline to apply is February 19. The guiding philosophy of LRNG is that the task of getting our teens ready for college and careers is too big for any single entity to handle alone. So they are connecting sectors, including museums, libraries, employers, mentors, traditional schools, and youth development groups, via a technology platform. That platform, which will launch this spring, is intended to create an “ecosystem of learning” open to youth everywhere. The two ways it will do this is by validating learning—all learning, not just within the walls of a school—in the form of digital badges, and making the best in-class learning opportunities available to all, not just students in those local communities. All accepted applicants, whether or not they’re selected for the grant money, will have the opportunity to use the unique technology platform during summer 2016. LRNG launched October 6, 2015, powered by Collective Shift, a nonprofit dedicated to redesigning social systems for the connected age.