New Hampshire School Connectivity Initiative working with EducationSuperHighway on NH Progress Report

As you may already know, the New Hampshire School Connectivity Initiative has been working for the past several years on upgrading broadband to schools and communities throughout New Hampshire. We are trying to leverage our e-rate funds to increase broadband at schools, and working with The National Collaborative for Digital Equity to increase connectivity to homes in underserved communities.

NHSCI partnered with the non-profit, EducationSuperHighway, to bring valuable free resources to districts to help with this effort.  A recent report from EducationSuperHighway highlighted exciting progress on connecting New Hampshire students to high-speed Internet needed for digital learning.

• 97% of NH students can access school Internet speeds at 100 kilobits per second (kbps) per student, the minimum bandwidth goal set by the FCC.
• 18% of NH students can already access school Internet at 1 megabit per second (Mbps), the long-term FCC goal.
• 92% of NH schools are connected to scalable infrastructure, such as fiber. Only 30 school districts have yet to connect to scalable infrastructure.

VIEW NEW HAMPSHIRE SNAPSHOT REPORT

To view your district’s individual connectivity snapshot, visit EducationSuperHighway’s Internet speed and price comparison tool,  Compare & Connect K-12.

The resources available through the NH School Connectivity Initiative and EducationSuperHighway have helped many school districts achieve their upgrade goals.

Note: EducationSuperHighway will sunset in August 2020 and will no longer be available to provide free resources and support. We want to encourage you to take advantage of their help to assist with Internet upgrade planning while it is available.

We know that there are many aspects to supporting digital learning in your classrooms and we hope that this support will help in some of those efforts.

Contact NH Ed Tech for more information.

New Year, New Census, New Resources: Happy 2020!

2020 is here! Are you looking for ways to get your classroom involved in preparing for the upcoming census? The Statistics in Schools (SIS) program is here to help make teaching about this once-a-decade opportunity easy and fun.

The Importance of SIS in 2020

Using new Statistics in Schools (SIS) resources in your classroom during the 2019-2020 school year will support efforts to make sure EVERY child is counted in the 2020 Census. This count impacts the federal funds that communities receive for special education, classroom technology, teacher training, after-school programs, school lunch assistance, and more.

Census responses help determine funding for public services including those that affect children and families like schools, food assistance, Head Start, and child care. That is why it’s crucial that everyone – including young children – are counted in the census. Read more about the importance of counting children from our counting young children fact sheet.

Help us spread the word about Statistics in Schools.  Share this on social media or forward it to a friend.

It’s Time for New Hampshire to Speak Up!

Participate in Speak Up and learn what K-12 students, educators, and parents have to say about educational uses of technology in your schools and home!

Get an overview on our Speak Up Research Initiative and how your school and district can get involved.

SpeakUp Sample Timeline https://tomorrow.org/speakup/promo_district_timeline.html.

SpeakUp Promotional Materials https://tomorrow.org/speakup/promo.html

In this video, you’ll hear creator and lead researcher Dr. Julie A. Evans help you understand the methodology Speak Up uses.  You will also learn why it is vital for you to collect this data from your stakeholders and how you can translate it into actionable knowledge.   Julie will give you all the basics about Speak Up and how to use it successfully in your school and district.

https://youtu.be/tyx6OpzdSig

All your SpeakUp data is confidential and will be given back to your district.  Your data can be useful for:

• Technology planning and budgeting justification
• Professional development justification.
• Supporting district initiatives and strategic design and planning.
• Supporting and giving students a voice.
• Supporting and giving community members a voice.
• Understanding perspectives and points of view.
• Determining alignments and disconnects in teaching and learning.

Visit our New Hampshire page at https://tomorrow.org/speakup/NewHampshire.html.

In 2017, Dr. Julie Evans gave a special presentation for NH schools and districts.  Watch it at https://youtu.be/g_SlJC4KFwE.

2020 ArcGIS Online New Hampshire State School Map Competition

Many New Hampshire educators are using geospatial technologies in their classrooms. Students across the state conduct exciting field investigations and create their own maps online as part of their research. We are happy to be able to once again offer this competition as a great way for teachers and students to showcase all of the exciting GIS projects taking place in schools across New Hampshire. For help getting started with GIS in your school visit the NH Educational GIS Partnership.

For more information, on rules, deadlines, and registration details, visit the 2020 ArcGIS Online NH Competition page.

2020 TCS’ Ignite Innovation Student Challenge

Challenge Brief
How can we improve the world? The TCS’ Ignite Innovation Student Challenge wants to inspire students in 6th-8th grade and at least 10 years old to answer this question by sharing an idea for a digital solution, like a mobile app, website, robot, or wearable tech. Work with a team (up to 4) or on your own to define a problem that can be solved through a digital innovation in the areas of Health, Our Planet, or Education. All you need is an idea communicated via a 1-2-minute video that addresses how the digital solution will improve the world and the computational thinking strategies that were used to guide to the solution to win BIG!

Apple @ Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference – December 2 – 3

December 2 – 3
DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown
Manchester, NH
Learn more >
Register >

Conference Flyer >
Pre-Conference Workshops – Monday, Dec 2
Everyone Can Create: Ignite Creativity with iPad for Early Learners (K-5)
8:30 am – 11:30 am
Description >

Everyone Can Create: Ignite Creativity with iPad (6-12)
12:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Description >

Enhancing Leadership Strategies with iPad Pro
4:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Description >

Concurrent Sessions – Tuesday, Dec 3
Strengthening Literacy with iPad
9:40 am – 10:30 am
Description >

Bring Augmented Reality to Your Classroom with iPad
12:50 pm – 1:40 pm
Description >

Applications Open for NH Robotics Education Development Program

NH Robotics Education Development Program Application SY2019-2020

DEADLINE NOVEMBER 15, 2019

2019-2020 NH Robotics Grant Application

Eligibility:

• Must be for students at a public or charter school.
• The school must develop an itemized budget for the current year for the robotics program.
• The school must have established a partnership with, or has a valid letter of commitment from, at least one sponsor, business entity, or institution of higher education for the purpose of participation in a robotics competition.
• The school must identify at least one competitive event in which the program will participate.
• Not a recipient of a Robotics Education Development Program Grant SY 2017-2018 and 2018-2019.

The purpose of the program is to motivate public and charter school students to pursue educational and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, while building critical life and work-related skills Grants from the robotics education fund established in RSA 188-E:24 shall be available to any eligible public school or chartered public school for the purpose of financing the establishment of a robotics team and its participation in competitive events.

Please email the completed application to:

Melissa White, Science/STEM Education Consultant

Bureau of Student Support

New Hampshire Department of Education

Melissa.White@doe.nh.gov  or 603-271-3855.

GRANT APPLICATION DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 15, 2019

Notification to schools will occur by December 6, 2019

Grants will continue to be accepted after November 15, 2019 but will only be considered if funding remains in the grant fund.

2019-2020 Robotics Grant Application Google Link