Grants and funding

[Christiantech]

As a result of the conference I attended at Carnegie Mellon University
this
summer, I have a strong desire to implement new things into the
Computer
Science curriculum in our high school. One of these is to introduce the
world of robotics to students.

I never realized how easy it is to learn to do basic things with
robots, and teaching would be a lot of fun. Well, I found out that Lego
has teamed up with CMU to create
curriculum, software, and robotics sets (kits with which to build
robotic devices).

Problem is: It costs $$$

Curriculum for a 6-week introductory Robotics Engineering unit costs
$225
(This is a site license, so feel free to install on as many computers
as desired.)
LEGO Mindstorms Education Base Set costs $250 per set
LEGO Mindstorms Education software & Site license costs $240.

There are slight volume discounts. If you get 8 robot kits and robot
software it
costs $2,170 (a savings of $70) but add on the curriculum and the total
is $2,395.

So, I'm thinking that LEGO can't possibly expect schools to just budget
for these
things. I went to the LEGO education site: http://www.legoeducation.com

and - lo and behold - if you click on a tiny link called "Grant tips"
they list a whole
bunch of agencies that provide grants, most of which focus on
technology and
education. And, there are links to the agency grant pages. Some can be
applied
for online. Be careful, however. Some agencies shy away from
"religious" organizations. Perhaps some of you have had success
applying for grants and
have ways that make your program more appealing to foundations.

[tims...@easternchristian.org]

I am thinking about the exact same thing with my high school computer
programming class. Thanks for the heads up about the grants.

Tim