The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given a $5.1 million grant to Chicago's LEAP Innovations to lead an initiative that will evaluate the current state of Edtech and drive collaboration among edtech evaluators across the country. The move is in response to the need to find ways to better prepare K-12 students for the 21st century world.

"LEAP Innovations launched a Pilot Network in Chicago to evaluate edtech, piloting products and techniques that personalize instruction to each student's level, interests, and goals so districts can quickly scale effective innovations. This new grant enables LEAP to drive collaboration among a growing number of edtech evaluators from across the country, creating much needed national industry standards and sharing of best practices," according to a statement from the company.

The grant from the foundation is intended to help connect developers and educators to try different things and to zone in on what works to promote use on a national level.

"Launched in spring 2014, LEAP Innovations bridges the gap between education and innovation for teachers and students in pre-K through college. The nonprofit helps educators re-imagine school to personalize instruction based on each student's skills, interests and goals, and helps bring technology into classrooms," the company said in a statement.

The company already had raised $4 million in funding, announced last week, from its foundation and national sources to fund its endeavors in researching and expanding edtech not just in Chicago, but across the country. 

"In the coming months, LEAP will be talking with national organizations such as the US Department of Education Innovation Clusters and Next Generation Learning Challenges, as well as similar regional organizations such as Silicon Valley's iHub and New York City's iZone to share resources and collaborate further," according to ChicagoInno.com.

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

07/01/2015