John McIntyre, Sustainability and Brand Manager for Samsung, notified us of the following opportunity for Massachusetts schools:
From now until October 31st, Samsung Electronics is accepting applications for a program called Samsung Solve for Tomorrow. By entering, schools have a chance to win up to $110,000 in technology grants. The competition is open to public middle and high school classes… and there is not a limit on how many classes can enter from a particular school. Also, applicants don’t have to be Science or Math teachers. Any teacher and their group of students…specials, AT, etc., can submit an application.
The way it works is teachers are asked to complete a short application.
From all entrants nationwide, 75 are selected to participate. Each of these 75 are then equipped with a camcorder, laptop, and video editing software to create videos addressing the challenge, “Show how STEM can help the environment in your community.”
The top 15 finalists will win a technology grant worth at least $40,000.
Videos from those 15 finalists will be posted online for grand prize judging. One will be selected as a “People’s Choice” winner while four will be selected by an independent judging panel. These five grand prize winners will receive an additional $70,000 in technology and cash for a total of $110,000 each.
The teacher and student representatives from each of the five grand prize winning schools will be brought to an awards ceremony in Washington D.C. and will meet with their Congressional representatives.
The full contest rules and additional information are posted at: www.samsung.com/solvefortomorrow. You can also see examples of submissions from previous award winners at that web site.
Good luck!
Let’s face it: Social media plays an integral in the average high school student’s life. While some parents and educators might be prone to view Twitter, Facebook, and the like as distractions to the young people in their lives, an interesting blog post by George Washington University biomedical engineering student William Broman suggests that there’s a flip side to that assumption. His article on US News & World Report‘s STEM Education blog suggests ways in which creative educators might consider leveraging the technology to encourage engagement in STEM subjects. Broman concludes, “Higher education, including my school, and businesses are using Twitter and Facebook to communicate effectively with students or customers and solve problems–it’s time for high schools to do the same.”
A message that has been popping up with increasing frequency in the mainstream media recently is that the future of our country depends in large part on our success at training the next generation of STEM workers. Yet all too often, an ominous warning accompanies that message: American students are falling behind in STEM subjects, and at this rate we the U.S. soon will lose its competitive edge in the global economy.
With the intersection between education and technology getting busier with each passing month, what are the top trends that we’re likely to see in 2012? KQED suggests a dozen to keep an eye on, from BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), to game-based learning.