Create a Professional Learning Community
The edWeb is offering an Innovation Grant of $500 to an educator who is using the edWeb to create a professional learning community or to provide professional development for teachers. To apply for the grant, send an email, with your name and the name of your edWeb community, to innovationgrant@edweb.net. In your email, describe (in 500 words or less) your goals and the purpose for your learning community or professional development program. Your description should include how you are using the different edWeb tools to support your community, how you are inviting members to join and how you are providing training on using the edWeb. Also provide feedback on how well the community is working for your needs, along with at least one suggestion for improving the edWeb. Be sure to download the free edWeb User’s Guide for help and ideas using all of the edWeb features.
Deadline: April 30, 2010
Click Here for More Information

Plus: Join The Big Deal Book of Technology’s “Amazing Resources for Educators” community on the edWeb. You can collaborate with colleagues outside the boundaries of classroom walls and school buildings to share lesson plans and compare notes on resources and products. You can also discuss topics of mutual interest, write a blog, share files, images and videos—and much more—all for free.
Click Here to Join the Amazing Resources for Educators Community

Increase Interest in STEM Careers
The SolidWorks STEM Educators Grant will award SolidWorks Student Edition CAD software to individual U.S. educators in an initiative aimed at improving students’ math skills and their interest in technology-related careers. The grant includes training and lesson plans to help teachers and faculty from middle school through college integrate the four separate disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math for more effective education.
Deadline: April 1, 2010
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Utilize Technology to Educate Youth
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) seeks to harness the collective power of the interactive entertainment industry to create positive social impact in communities. The ESA Foundation supports geographically diverse projects and programs that benefit American boys and girls of all races and religions. To receive funding, an organization making a grant request must (1) be tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code; (2) seek funding for a specific project or program that is or will be implemented or available nationwide or at a minimum in two or more states in the United States; (3) serve American youth aged 7–18; (4) provide programs and services that utilize technology and/or computer and video games to educate America’s youth and young adults.
Deadline: April 15, 2010
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Introduce Students to the World of Invention
The InvenTeam initiative, created by the Lemelson–MIT Program, offers high school students the opportunity to cultivate their creativity and experience invention. The InvenTeams (high school students, teachers and mentors) receive grants up to $10,000 each to invent technological solutions to real-world problems. Each InvenTeam chooses its own problem to solve, and students rely on inquiry and hands-on problem solving as they apply lessons from science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to develop invention prototypes. Students learn to work in teams while collaborating with intended users of their inventions. They partner with professionals in their communities to enrich their experiences.
Deadline: April 23, 2010
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Join the growing list of teachers enjoying the eBookDestination Rewards Program. On the first day of each month, a digital coupon (representing 5 percent of your total purchases in the previous month) will be added to your shopping cart. You’ll then be notified via email of the presence (and amount) of this coupon.

There’s no application to complete, no points to collect, no cards to carry, no codes to enter and (most important) no fees to pay. Quite simply, you are repaid for your loyalty with a 5 percent credit toward future purchases. It’s as easy as that!

Browse the eBookstore now! You’ll receive an automatic discount on thousands of ebook titles, many of which are bundled with downloadable audio MP3 files, from major educational publishers. Plus, there’s always a selection of the most popular titles on sale!

Find Solutions for Helping English Language Learners
Sign up at The Big Deal Book Web site for hELLo!, a free monthly ELL e-newsletter that includes information about new grants, upcoming contests, the latest educational research and a wealth of information on interactive print and online resources for students, teachers, librarians, principals and others involved in the education of English language learners.
Click Here to Sign Up for Free Newsletter

Build Connections Across Generations
Get students thinking about their life goals and build closer connections across generations through the Legacy Project’s annual Listen to a Life Essay Contest. The grand prize includes a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer for the student, along with $25,000 worth of Orchard educational software for the school. There’s also a free online activity kit filled with life interview ideas and goal-setting activities with curriculum connections. To participate in the contest, a student between 8 and 18 years of age interviews a grandparent or grandfriend 50 years or older about the older person’s hopes and goals through life, how the person achieved the goals and overcame obstacles or how dreams may have changed along the way. The student then writes a 300-word essay based on the interview. In addition to the grand prize, there are 20 runners-up prizes of $400 worth of Orchard software and an MP3 player.
Deadline: March 29, 2010
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Level the Playing Field of College Admissions
Questbridge, a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving high-achieving, low-income students resources during the college application process, is accepting applications for its 2010 College Prep Scholarship Program for qualified, low-income high school juniors. The award provides full scholarship to summer programs, college admissions counseling and attendance at college preparatory conferences.
Deadline: March 29, 2010
Click Here for More Information

Demonstrate Innovative Uses of Technology
netTrekker’s new video contest, “Personalized Learning in Action,” gives educators an opportunity to win one of two $1,500 scholarships to attend this year’s ISTE 2010 conference in Denver, Colorado, June 27–30, 2010. The contest is open to netTrekker customers as well as non-customers. A special 30-day free trial is offered to non-customers to enable teachers and students to access and use netTrekker as part of their video submission. The contest encourages educators, with the help of their students, to create video clips illustrating how they use netTrekker (along with other resources) to engage students in a personalized learning experience.
Deadline: April 16, 2010
Click Here for More Information
Click Here for No-Obligation Free Trial

Inform Students About the Risks of Underage Drinking
The consequences last longer than the party. This is the message of It’s 21. Just Pass, a new initiative from the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, the National Football League Players Association and Discovery Education. Launched in 21 cities nationwide, It’s 21. Just Pass challenges high school students to learn the risks of underage drinking, test their knowledge and win amazing prizes. It’s 21. Just Pass features a quiz, which challenges students’ current knowledge while providing critical information about the laws and consequences related to underage drinking; a drawing to award one $5,000 scholarship (students become eligible by taking a short online quiz); and an assembly featuring an NFL player, awarded to the school with the highest challenge participation levels. In addition, the It’s 21. Just Pass online video forum encourages students to create short videos about the dangers and consequences of underage drinking for a chance to win two tickets to an area NFL game.
Deadlines: April 23, 2010 (random drawing for scholarship); April 30, 2010 (video submission)
Click Here for More Information

Show What Works and Doesn’t Work
The edWeb and the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) want to hear from you about what’s working, not working and needed when it comes to using digital resources and technology in the classroom. They are asking educators—teachers, principals, media specialists or anyone who works with students—to create two-minute videos addressing these questions. AEP will then select 20 of the most compelling videos to be aired at its Content in Context Conference, June 6–9, 2010, in Washington, D.C. In return, educators whose videos are selected to be shown at the conference will get a free Flip Video digital camcorder or another gift from AEP and its partners. The Teacher Video Challenge: Classrooms in the Digital Age group on edWeb.net is the place to find information and submit entries.
Deadline: April 30, 2010
Click Here for More Information

Get free unlimited online access to all the print content in The Big Deal Book of Technology for K–12 Educators. Explore the many opportunities to fund your special programs, access timely reports and articles, locate free and inexpensive resources and identify engaging interactive Web sites.

Celebrate the Contributions of Women in History
March is National Women’s History Month (NWHM). This year’s overarching theme is Writing Women Back into History. Encourage students to add to the student Honor Roll of Notable Women on Scholastic’s Web site. Students review a list of women achievers, choose a woman they feel is deserving of the honor, then research and write an essay describing her achievements. The essays are submitted to Scholastic for publication on their site. All submissions that fulfill the requirements of the project will be posted online, and a selection of these will be posted on the National Women’s History Project Web site as well.
Click Here to Visit NWHM Web Site
Click Here to Submit Essay

Plus: Test your knowledge of women’s history with this quiz from the National Women’s History Project.
Click Here to Take Quiz

Put a Stamp on It
The U.S. Postal Service’s Community Connection partnership offers an archive of history and heritage, specially designed Education Kits, the “School Days & American Ways” classroom calendar (with curriculum connections) and Teacher’s Guide, and the resources of 39,000 area post offices across the country.
Click Here to Access Free Resources

Build Success in Math
Learning.com’s Aha!Math Spanish/ELL edition is a new, Web-delivered supplemental math curriculum for K–2 native language instruction and for students transitioning into English language instruction in grades 2–5. Digital coaches present all Aha!Math content for K–2 in Spanish—including onscreen math vocabulary. ELL strategy guides help teachers in grades 2–5 use Aha!Math English content with ELLs for content mastery. Spanish–English vocabulary exercises support language acquisition and academic vocabulary development for ELLs in grades 2–5. Sample the curriculum online at no charge.
Click Here to Sample Curriculum

Comment on New EdTech Plan
The first public draft of the National Education Technology Plan (NETP) was released on March 4, and the U.S. Department of Education is calling for comments. The plan describes how information and communication technologies can help transform American education. It provides concrete goals to inform state and local educational technology plans, and recommendations to inspire research, development and innovation. Read the plan and share your comments, videos and examples of how technology is changing and improving education. See also Secretary Arne Duncan’s March 3 speech about education technology.
Click Here to Read and Comment on EdTech Plan

Bring Learning Home
Computers for Youth’s (CFY) Take IT Home program works directly with middle schools to improve the home learning environment of their students. The program uses an application and interview process to select public schools in low-income communities and then offers families a free computer designed as a Home Learning Center. Along with the computer, families receive educational software titles in math, English, social studies and science as well as Internet access at a reduced rate. The entire family can also access educational Web content at MyHomeLearning.com. In addition, Family Learning Workshops teach parents and children how to use their CFY home learning center to strengthen core academic skills, and technical support from CFY’s bilingual help desk is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Before and after the Family Learning Workshops, CFY offers professional development to partner schools to help teachers use technology to extend classroom learning to the home.
Click Here for More Information

Tour the Parts of a Cell
Although the cell is the smallest unit of life, it is by no means simple. On the National Science Foundation’s Biology Web page, students can take a tour of the cell. By clicking on the parts of the cell, they can explore the nucleus, DNA, RNA, ribosomes, the endoplasmic reticulum, the cell membrane, mitochondria and protein.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Explore the Impact of Technology on Society
Building Big Labs helps students think about structures they see every day and the impact of technology on society—bridges, domes, skyscrapers, dams and tunnels. Online laboratories invite students to test forces, materials, loads and shapes.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Teach Math in the Kitchen
Culinary topics are an excellent way to introduce math concepts, science principles and even artistic ideas. Measuring ingredients and converting recipes seem more like fun than math! Is it more interesting to read about yeast in a book or bake bread from scratch? How many ways can food be presented on a plate to create a pleasing visual experience? The answers can be found in the Culinary Institute of America’s Culinary in the Classroom.
Click Here for More Information

Plus: Let the CIA Chef from the Culinary Institute of America explain some of the basic math skills you will be using on a regular basis in the kitchen.
Click Here to Access Free Lessons

Find Partners in Innovation
When the U.S. Department of Education first discussed the Investing in Innovation Fund, Jim Shelton, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement, talked about developing an online community where education community members could share ideas. Now the Open Innovation Portal is ready for contributors. The main idea is for educators to share what’s working and what’s not, and to find partners in innovation.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Discover the Reasons for Seasons
Can your students find the Journey North Mystery Class Sites? In this global game of hide-and-seek, students search to uncover the secret locations of 10 “mystery” sites hiding around the Earth. To guide the investigation, they track changes in day length at the mystery sites and at their hometown, and use other “clues” along the way. As they take this inspiring journey, students unlock the essential questions behind the reasons for seasons and the dramatic changes in day length that result.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Plus: Journey North for Kids is a simple, student-directed entry point to Journey North studies. Engaging stories, photos, videos and slideshows from the natural world build observation skills, inspire scientific thinking and create fertile ground for discussions and new questions.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Foster Creativity and Self Expression
Teen Ink Writing Workshops are designed to foster creativity and self-expression in a supportive atmosphere. Participation is strictly limited to teens. There are no grades, no exams, no wrong answers—just creative writing. Each class is taught by a professional writer adept at helping young writers discover and develop their unique voices. The classes are fun and pressure-free, but students will develop thinking and writing skills that will prove valuable in school and beyond. The interactive online workshop lasts for six weeks, with new material and activities posted weekly. Use the Learn More toolbar on the Web page linked below to tour a sample class and read student comments.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Learn the History Behind the Art
Art for the Nation: Collecting for a New Century offers 14 in-depth studies of works by various artists represented in the National Gallery of Art. The studies include information on the artist, technique and history behind each painting.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Check out the new look of The Big Deal Book Web site. And be sure to explore the Web Wednesday feature, which offers resources and activities for integrating technology into your classroom. Here you’ll find new interactive experiences and resources that incorporate 21st century themes and skills into the study of core subjects.

Also explore the EarTHursday feature, which offers intelligent approaches to “going green” in your classroom. You’ll find interactive ideas that will help you encourage your students to weigh in and take action on some of the biggest environmental issues in our world today.

Appropriately named, these features change mid-week, every week!