Library of Congress Awards Nearly $490,000 in Grants For Educational App Development

From LC:

The Library of Congress today announced the selection of two organizations that will receive a total of $489,219 during the next two years to support the development of engaging web- and mobile-based applications on the subjects of Congress and civic participation, for use in K-12 classrooms. These applications, to be completed by the end of the funding period, will be made available to teachers and students at no charge.
The Library received proposals from a wide range of public, private, not-for profit and for-profit organizations, including institutions of higher education, cultural institutions, other educational organizations and collaborative partnerships. The chosen proposals were submitted by teams with a record of success in the development and implementation of curricular programs on Congress and civic participation, and the development and long-term maintenance of successful online interactives or mobile apps for classroom use.
The selected organizations were chosen by panels of individuals with content and technical expertise from government agencies, non-profit organizations, universities, and the Library of Congress. The selectees will work with the Library’s Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program to develop the online interactives and mobile apps. They will use and incorporate not only the Library’s online primary sources, but also many other resources available from the Library.
Organizations selected for funding include:

• iCivics of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The firm’s “Reinventing Civic Education” project will build students’ core literacy skills through a digital approach called DBQuest, an interactive primary-source reading tool. It will help students understand important civic topics through historical documents and discuss them critically

• Bean Creative of Alexandria, Virginia. Its “Case Maker” project will be a customizable system that will make resources of the Library of Congress accessible to teachers and students, be easy to use in classrooms, and foster an excitement among students for learning with primary source documents. Bean Creative will develop a system focused on challenges, evidence and cases to promote inquiry-based learning.

Direct to Complete Announcement
See Also: Library of Congress Announces Grant Recipients for Teaching with Primary Sources (July 28, 2016)
See Also: Library of Congress Awards $950,000 in Grants to Three Organizations to Develop Web and Mobile Apps for K-12 Classrooms (September 10, 2015)

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