The EdLab Group

The EdLab Group is a dynamic organization dedicated to educational innovation. EdLab Group is unique in using collaboration as a catalyst for improving teacher professional development as well as providing access to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for populations often underrepresented in these areas. What can we do for you?

TechREACH Receives
Inaugural Grant from Washington STEM
On Tuesday, March 8, 2011, EdLab Group received a grant of $23,625 from Washington STEM. The grant will support two TechREACH summer programs to be held at Ochoa Middle School in the Pasco School District and at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. TechREACH programs aim to capture middle school students' interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and are designed especially to engage middle school girls. The one-week summer programs, called Reality Boost! will use a unique Augmented Reality curriculum, which combines digital information with real-world surroundings. Teachers will be trained to use this cutting-edge technology to engage students in the curriculum. At least 40 girls will be served through the project and the curriculum will be distributed online for use by other educators.

Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP)
EdLab Group has received an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant of $4,169,734 from the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) of the Department of Commerce National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) for the Communities Connect Network Project. The Communities Connect Network Project will expand the capacity of Washington State public computing centers (PCCs) to improve broadband adoption rates, workforce preparation, digital literacy, access to education, justice resources, and training. The project links rural and urban resources together to serve unemployed, low-income, disabled, immigrants, and youth through over 39 libraries, non-profit organizations, public housing, community centers, and justice centers in Washington State.

The project demonstrates that tribal and government agencies, libraries, educators, public housing, the courts, and non-profits in our state are committed to work together for real digital inclusion, broadband adoption, and to ensure quality public computer learning services for residents in need. Read more >>

Dogwood GEMS Club Attends USA Science & Engineering Festival
Thanks to a grant from the National Girls Collaborative Project urban school children from Reston, Virginia were able to attend the USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, DC. Fifty girls in grades 3 - 6 who are members of Dogwood Elementary's GEMS Club (Girls Excelling in Math and Science) packed a lunch and headed for the festival.

At the festival the girls experienced many hands-on activities lead by the biggest names in science - NOAA, EPA, National Geographic, the Smithsonian, to name just a few. It was such an exciting day! The girls learned about fossils, chemistry, aeronautics, robotics and came back wanting to know more.

A dozen chaperones also attended and as parents of girls who are enthusiastic about math and science, they were able to learn more about career opportunities. When asked how Nikayla enjoyed the day, her only response was, "I'm going back tomorrow!" And she did!

Water Works
The Texas Girls Collaborative Project partnered with Girlstart and the Women in Engineering Program at The University of Texas at Austin to host Water Works, a week-long underwater robotics summer camp for 9th and 10th grade girls. Equipped with LEGO Mindstorms kits, pool noodles, and the engineering design process, teams of girls designed and programmed their own robots to participate in four separate missions in an above ground swimming pool. The robots were able to skim the surface in figure-eight patterns, dive underwater to investigate a "sunken ship", and maneuver around the bottom of the pool collecting objects into bins. Each day the girls had lunch with real women engineers and scientists from the local community. The Water Works camp was based on curriculum developed by a project of the Stevens Institute of Technology's Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) entitled WaterBotics, funded by the National Science Foundation.