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Even with state budget crises, schools are funding the money to purchase tablets through a variety of sources: grant funding, voter-approved ballot measures, reallocation of money that used to go to computer purchases, and reallocating textbook funds. Interestingly, unlike for computers, Apple offers no education discount on the iPad...

Key choices are now being made about the E-Rate in terms of both amount of funding and how that money can be used. I and others are advocating that E-Rate should fund mobile devices and networking outside of schools.

Article on how the government and philanthropies can support innovation in education.

What's the big barrier (besides government reluctance to spend money on education) to this? Historically, I thought that education funding was left to states as "states rights", hence the fact that the Federal government has even put up any money should be a step forward. I would be interested in hearing what people think are the levers for getting the Federal government to invest more...should education research be treated like NSF or NIH "basic research" and get core government support?

I believe that the federal government used to spend more dollars for basic research in education, but that number has been reduced dramatically over the years. I agree 100% that we need to increase this type of investment, and the federal government is the natural source. These social innovation funds are a separate type of investment, distinct from basic research. These grants are "translational" in that they seek to help commercialize promising research, but are not intended to fund the basic research. For a healthy and dynamic ecosystem of innovation in education, we need both.

Description of NASA-funded programs aimed at enhancing STEM education

More money potentially being allocated to build a better tech infrastructure in Florida education system.

Makerspaces are potentially powerful ways of making academic learning lifewide

There could be some real potential here for use of grants beyond the television screen. I'd be interested to track how this money is allocated across platforms, especially emerging ones like apps for phones/iPads.

Seems like it's written by an IBM publicist, but still interesting to see private sector investment following Race to the Top funding.

Some interesting data on where private equity is going by stage and funder in the edtech space.

DARPA is funding "hackerspaces"--high-tech workshops to give high school students opportunities to explore engineering and learning through creation--at 1,000 U.S. high schools. 

The state of Michigan has allocated some funding to upgrade technology in K-12 schools. The expectation is that all students will take standardized tests online within a couple of years.

"A new, federally funded project will test students' ability to learn fractions on mobile apps through the theory of "embodied cognition"-or, to put it in non-science speak, manipulating and moving images and information on screens with their fingers."

People have posted about the Star Wars sale before, but here is an analysis of what the impact means on "Tech Education"--kind of talks about it is more efficient to separate entertainment and education, but using the sale money to directly fund education is a good move.

European scientists have integrated robotics, video, and various sensor and display technologies to transport someone into a geographically distant meeting room under the auspices of the Beaming through augmented media for natural networked gatherings (Beaming) project. The European Union-funded effort utilizes immersive virtual reality technologies in which a robotic avatar functions as the meeting participant's eyes, ears, and mouth. The participant wears a head-mounted display and is connected to sensors, enabling them to receive the avatar's video and audio feeds in three dimensions. The two-way connection also enables the participant's movements and responses to be mimicked by the robot.

Tennessee Technology Centers (a "career-training program" that is state funded) is using strictly enforced scheduling to help retain students with 1 in 4 odds of completing their program. The school is taking the opposite approach that most higher education schools take. Instead of having the freedom to create their own schedule, they work with the school to determine a schedule from the beginning which is permanent throughout the duration of their time at the school and is strictly enforced. The school is hoping to increase retention of students in 1 to 2 year programs that have low graduation rates, and produce more graduates in emerging technology fields.

Last year's runner-up states in the "Race to the Top" initiative can now apply for a part of $200 million set aside for STEM education funding. 

Here is the link to the archived version of the SIIA webinar I posted about a few days ago: "The Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (LRMI) is working to create a standard metadata framework for tagging educational resources on the web to enhance search, discovery and delivery of educational content. The project is funded by the Gates and Hewlett Foundations, administered through AEP and Creative Commons, and builds on the broader Schema.org project by leading search engines Bing, Google, and Yahoo! This webinar provides an overview of the LRMI goals and deliverables, an update on progress and timelines, a look at the technical specifications, and a discussion of its implementation and impact with a focus on content publishers, aggregators and other digital learning providers."

Duncan pushes technology verbally, but does not act on the national ed tech plan and has eliminated funding for technology. This is bad reporting by someone who does not understand the subject and does not ask tough questions

Gates Foundation is now rolling out funding for researchers to produce peer-reviewed quality studies on MOOCs. It looks like professors around the world (as far as down south in Australia) are keen to start working on this new tech trend in education.