The U.S. Department of Education has announced awards for FY 1996
Challenge Grants for Technology in Education.  The grants are made to
local school districts (and in one case, a state department of education)
to establish local partnerships "to transform their schools by linking
them with the infinite online learning resources of the world's best
libraries, universities, and museums."

The good news is that we know of several museums participating in the
local partnerships (and suspect that many more are doing so), and also
that the budget for this program is more than doubling, to $57 million,
for FY 1997, allowing for three rounds of grants.

One example is a grant to a Michigan school district for Michigan State
University and a consortium of 14 school districts to partner with the
Henry Ford Museum to use the Web; students and teachers "will have access
to primary sources of scientific and technological innovation, with an
emphasis on the historical and cultural forces that affect creativity and
change."  Another example is Kansas City, which is linking with museums
and historical societies along the Oregon and Santa Fe trails.

For more information, go to the Department of Education's web site:

http://www.ed.gov

and use the search engine on the site -- look for "Challenge Grants for
Technology in Education" and you'll get a variety of information on the
program, including abstracts, lists of winners, application instruction, etc.

Feel free to contact me if you don't have web access.

Happy hunting.

Andy Finch
[log in to unmask]
AAM Government Affairs