Department of Education Funding Trend Alert: Digital Games
June 12, 2013
Digital games are gaining increased popularity within the education community, and this can create big opportunities for public media stations. In a March 2011 speech, President Obama called for investments in education technology to help create “educational software that’s as compelling as the best video game.” The Department of Education (DOE) took note, and announced in May 2013 more than half of the winners of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program were makers of educational games. Twelve digital games were awarded in all. This is the highest number of awards made in a single competition in the history of the DOE SBIR program. One of these 12 game awards supported Mission US, the educational classroom game produced by WNET and developed by Electric FunStuff. Mission US is a resource used by teachers to supplement middle school students’ learning of history. This particular grant totaling $1.05 million supports further development of the game including the integration of tablet devices.
The SBIR program is a multi-agency initiative designed to promote research, and research and design (R&D) among small business entrepreneurs. All federal agencies with R&D budgets exceeding $100 million are required to contribute 2.5 percent of their R&D budget to the SBIR program. This currently includes 11 different federal agencies. The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 budget request, as previously discussed, focuses in part on ways to better equip Americans with the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century. This trend has the potential to impact grantmaking across many federal agencies, especially those involved in the SBIR program. Stations are encouraged to monitor funding decisions from the DOE as well as other participating agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Labor (DOL), as new partnership opportunities may develop.
Of particular interest to stations is the DOE, and their use of SBIR funds to support the R&D of education technology for use by students and teachers. Administered by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), this program expects proposed projects to focus on either education or special education. Grants are awarded in three types: Phase I grants support the initial research and development of a prototype; Phase II grants support the full scale development and pilot study of a project; and Fast Track grants support projects which incorporate the activities of both Phase I and Phase II in quick succession. Up to $1.05 million is available per award. You can learn more about the program here.
Traditionally, education projects funded through the SBIR program address the needs of teachers to enhance their instruction practices, and support technologies that assist students with disabilities. While these efforts continue to be supported, there has been a shift to fund new technologies, including digital games that enhance student education. As more educators become familiar with the use of games to motivate students, the demand for these products grows. This, coupled with the growing use of mobile technology allowing students to play anytime, anywhere, has made digital games an increasingly popular choice among educators. At the June 2013 IES National Board for Education Sciences Public Meeting, attended by the Grant Center, this idea of digital games as a technology of the future, and the potential impact to be made was a point emphasized again and again.
The games supported by IES in FY 2013 established many overlapping themes in terms of product style and anticipated purpose. These include:
- Story-based narratives to engage students.
- A teaching component to support the use of the game as a supplement to or replacement for standard instructional practice.
- Teacher dashboards where formative results are provided to the teacher in real-time to inform them of player statuses.
In addition, while the games addressed a variety of subject areas, there was a strong focus on science and math. Science4U: Game-Based K-2 STEM Education for Teachers and Students with a $150,000 grant; Empires: The First Socially-Networked Story-Based Math Game with a $900,000 grant; and Numbershire II: Development of a Second Grade-Based Integrated Learning System to Target Whole Numbers and Operations in Base Ten and Operations in Algebraic Thinking with a $900,000 grant were all funded. A complete listing of all the FY 2013 grantees is found here.
Public media is not new to the educational game business. In addition to the success of Mission US, PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) have joined forces to develop new educational gaming technology as part of Ready To Learn and other public media initiatives. Through this partnership, more than 100 different interactive games have been developed to help kids learn math and literacy skills. These games connected to popular PBS programming like Martha Speaks, Sid the Science Kid, Curious George and Wild Kratts are linked across different media – including video, web, mobile and interact whiteboards. In the months and years ahead, with Ready To Learn funding from the DOE, CPB and PBS plan to further develop, research and grow the PBS KIDS math and literacy transmedia, as well as harness big data and back-end analytics to customize learning and help parents track their children’s progress.
Stations are not eligible to apply directly to the SBIR grant program, but they are strongly encouraged to partner with eligible small businesses on innovative projects. Mission US and the games developed through the CPB and PBS partnership, are just a few of the many ways in which public broadcasting can play a role in the ever-evolving technology of digital education games. The FY 2014 solicitation is expected to be released in December with an application deadline set for early spring. Stations should reference the FY 2013 solicitation when beginning conversations with product developers. The Grant Center website will be updated when there is new information.
Resources
SBIR Official Website
DOE SBIR Grant Program
Past Grantees of the DOE SBIR Grant Program
Grant Center Success Story on WNET’s Mission US Project
Official Mission US Web Portal
PBS Kids
PBS Kids Go!
