Posted by Lauren Grossberg on Mon, Jul 19, 2010
During the summer I have more time to catch up on reading – educational articles, blogs, sites, newspapers, and any other materials that I can get my hands on. This process allows me to reflect on the past school year, along with planning for the next school year. One thing that I know I will always need for my classroom is more money for classroom supplies, including technology. With budgets smaller than ever, and a tightening of choices made by administration, the cash is not flowing for extra resources that you may want for your classroom. This means that the weight is now on your shoulders to try to find funding sources for your classroom resources.
The states already receive Federal funding for assistive technology through IDEA. These funds are supposed to be allocated for special needs students to better access the curriculum, whether it is low-tech or high-tech devices. However, this may not always cover all of the needs of your classroom or provide the same technology for the students at their homes. Supplementing Federal grants through other public and private sources may provide the resources or money that is needed for every child in your classroom to be academically successful.
Writing grants can be overwhelming; however, if you work as a team with your fellow co-workers the grant writing responsibilities can be divided. Filling out the applications, writing up ideas and goals, editing and proofreading, and finding supporting research becomes less daunting. While searching online through various grant funding online databases, I came across many grant opportunities both specifically for assistive technology along with general grants for technology in the classroom.
Below are resources for various grant opportunities.
- Virginia’s Training & Technical Assistance Center site has a great article about applying for mini grants for assistive technology. These resources include information about how to write letters to local area businesses and community organizations for support with purchasing assistive technology.
- The National Cristina Foundation is a non-profit organization that donates used computer equipment to other non-profit organizations including schools. The online application is easy to fill out and can be saved to complete over multiple sittings. This is a great first step resource for assistive technology.
- The Disabled Children’s Relief Fund provides grants for assistive technology to both parents and schools. There application is available online and includes a two page application. Most of the grants awarded are between $20 and $200.
- The LD Online site has an article for finding article sources of funding for assistive technology.
- On Disability.gov, there are many resources provided for different companies, organizations, and grant opportunities for assistive technology.
- A recent article from Tech & Learning provides teachers with 5 tips for the grant writing process.
If anyone has more grant opportunities to share, please feel free to comment!
-Article by Laura Ketcham
-Picture by matsuyuki
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