Mozilla grants boost local 3D modeling, literacy, STEM

The Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund awarded three Kansas City organizations a total of nearly $60,000 in grants to build gigabit-enabled tech projects.  

Mozilla gifted the funds to PlanIt Impact, Pennez and the KC Social Innovation Center, which will allow the groups to implement 16-week pilot testing from May 16 to Sept. 4. Mozilla also awarded $75,000 to fund six projects in Chattanooga.

“Grantees will utilize the awarded funds to build, pilot and scale gigabit-enabled applications and associated curricula that have immediate, measurable impact on classrooms and informal learning organizations,” Mozilla wrote in a blog post. “Through these projects, Chattanooga and Kansas City will become living laboratories in which to study how these next-generation networks can impact education and workforce development.”

Here are the specific projects in Kansas City:

1. Open Data + 3D Models by PlanIT Impact: The company is putting its big data + 3D modeling technology in the hands of students in Kansas City to advance sustainable design.

2. Read2Think by Pennez – A live-­time digital assessment tool for measuring a child’s reading fluency. The application utilizes artificial intelligence technology to assess speed, vocabulary, understanding, sight word, pronunciation and phonics recognition.

3. SensED IoT Student Innovation Challenge by the KC Social Innovation Center. The organization will be creating a project­-based STEM program for 7­ – 12 graders to provide real-­world experiences in the emerging field of the Internet of Things.
   

To date, the fund has supported the development of 17 pilot projects in Kansas City and Chattanooga. Past projects include improved first-responder equipment, a real-time water quality monitoring system and singing robots.

The Gigabit Community Fund is a collaboration with National Science Foundation and US Ignite, and is investing in projects that utilize gigabit technology to impact learning. The grant program was announced in January.

The application period for the next round of Gigabit Community Fund grants closes on October 18 for pilots that will run from Jan. 2 to April 24.