- eCampus News - https://www.ecampusnews.com -

Federal money for ed-tech research soon available

A federally funded research center to be introduced Jan. 25 is intended to bring digital innovations into classrooms and museums, reports the New York Times. More than a decade ago, Lawrence K. Grossman, former president of both NBC News and PBS [1], and Newton N. Minow, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission [2], were asked by several foundations to explore how nonprofits such as schools, libraries, and museums could tap into emerging digital technologies. Their bold recommendation [3] in 2001 was to set up a multibillion-dollar trust that would act as a “venture capital [4] fund” to research learning technology. After a tortuous journey, their organization—now called the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies—finally has Congressional appropriation through the Education Department and could be handing out grants by fall. (See “New national research center to bolster ed tech.” http://www.eschoolnews.com/2008/09/19/new-national-research-center-to-bolster-ed-tech/ [5]) “It’s time that education had the equivalent of what the National Science Foundation [6] does for science, DARPA does for the national defense, and what NIH does for health,” Grossman said in an interview…

Click here for the full story [7]