The West Virginia Department of Education has received a $48,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to provide training to teachers on how to use the free online education resources on Verizon’s Thinkfinity.org. The goal of the program is to impart 21st century learning skills to students.

The grant will be used for training and an awareness program. Educators across the State will receive training on how to use the free resources available to them - to make them comfortable integrating technology tools into their lesson plans. Thinkfinity.org is made up of 55,000 educational resources for all grades and was created in partnership with educational and literacy organizations across the US.

The program offers a range of resources for K-12 classes in eight academic disciplines. Materials include lesson plans, interactive tools and other materials to improve student achievement; the site also provides a professional development program.

“Teachers are often our unsung heroes” said B. Keith Fulton, president of Verizon West Virginia and a former member of the 21st Century Skills board. “They work many hours outside of the classroom to prepare the best possible lesson plans to engage their students. Through Thinkfinity.org, teachers can gain immediate access to quality educational resources to more efficiently develop their lesson plans, giving them more time to work directly with students.”

West Virginia has been a national leader in incorporating technology into the classroom. They were awarded by Education Week’s Technology Counts 2007 a grade of A for access to technology and a grade of A- for the use of technology.

Via webwire Tags: west virginia, doe, department of education, thinkfinity, thinkfinity.org, technology classroom, education technology