Broadband Grants for Healthcare

The Federal Communications Commission announced its new Healthcare Connect Fund (.pdf) which will make grants available to healthcare providers with applications to be submitted beginning in late summer 2013.

Reduced Pricing through Your Provider

If you are a low income subscriber residing in either a Comcast or CenturyLink area, you may be eligible for reduced pricing of monthly broadband service. More details on the Comcast program is available at: www.internetessentials.com. More information on the CenturyLink program is available at www.centurylink.com/internetbasics.

Other Minnesota cable companies (Charter, Mediacom, Sjoberg’s Cable and Midcontinent) offer discounted pricing for broadband access as well under the federal Connect2Compete program. If your location is served by one of these cable companies, you may want to contact them directly to see if you are eligible.

Discounted Computers

Both Comcast and CenturyLink have made arrangements to offer discounted pricing on computers.

Another option for a low cost computer is available through the nonprofit PCs for People. More information on the computers available at PCs for People (or how to donate your used computers to them for refurbishing) can be found at their website at www.pcsforpeople.com or (651) 354-2552.

If you want to use a computer but do not want to own one or do not have a broadband connection, the Technology Literacy Collaborative keeps a listing of public computer centers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area on its website at: http://tlc-mn.org/ctc  and also provides tools to learn about computers and how to use them at http://tlc-mn.org/digital-inclusion/curriculum

Technology Grants

CenturyLink Teachers & Technology Grants

The Minnesota Business Partnership Education Foundation, partnering with CenturyLink, is proud once again to administer the Teachers & Technology Grant Program. Since 2007, the program has distributed more than $500,000 to public school teachers across Minnesota.

The CenturyLink Teachers and Technology Grant Program is a competitive grant open to Minnesota public school teachers. The program, administered by the Minnesota Business Partnership (MBP) Education Foundation, aims to improve E-12 education by:

• Recognizing teachers who are finding innovative ways to integrate technology into their curriculum and teaching practices to improve student achievement
• Raising awareness of how teachers are finding creative ways to use technology to improve learning
• Modeling best practices of technology integration and application

Grant Awards & Eligibility

The program will consider requests up to $7,500 submitted by educators who meet the following criteria:

• The applicant must be a teacher in a Minnesota public school.
• The school must be located in the CenturyLink service area but need NOT be a CenturyLink customer.
• The school must be open and operating for at least one year prior to applying for the grant.
• Neither the teacher nor school has received a CenturyLink Teachers and Technology Grant in the past year.