The philanthropic arm of Google, Google.org, has committed $50 million to support education technology initiatives over the next two years. It aims to help nonprofit organizations that are using technology to help education problems globally.
There are around 130 million students around the world that have yet grasp basic subjects even after four years of primary education. Google.org has spent $110 million supporting various efforts to use technology to close gaps in education.
This year is Google's largest dedicated portfolio that focuses on selected organizations from across the world. There have been nine grantees selected and more will be chosen by the end of the year. One of the grantees were the Foundation for Learning Equality, which offers an open source platform that allows offline access to online materials for those who don't have internet access.
Million Sparks Foundation was also one of the selected few. They offer a platform called ChalkLit that provides standards-aligned content that is designed to help teachers. War Child Holland, also made it to the list, which provides a year's worth of curriculum aligned to national standards for students in the war zones.
Google.org Education Lead Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink said that by the end of 2017, they aim to give grants to education nonprofits in 20 countries. And later this year, they will be looking for the next round of innovators to join them according to Campus Technology.
Not only will Google be provided financial support but Google volunteers will also help in various areas of expertise such as user experience design, translation, offline functionality, and data analytics. The grants are focused on access to good quality learning materials for more students, teacher professional development and reaching students in war/conflict zones.
Students around the world that belong in low-income communities have to learn with fewer books, some are out-of-date texts, and other materials that are culturally irrelevant. But with technology, Google hopes to provide students with educational resources that are engaging, interactive, and effective.
Google will focus on giving students the right materials to succeed. They will keep teachers trained and engaged according to Digital Trends.
