Sometimes, a new classroom idea just needs the right tools.

For local educators, new technology can give students another way to work together, create and explore what they are learning. Through Wake Electric’s Classroom Technology Awards, teachers can receive funding to help make those ideas possible.

Classroom Technology Awards provide up to $3,000 for educational technology that supports student learning. The funding can help cover equipment and resources that may be difficult to purchase through a regular classroom budget.

Sally Boyd, a sixth grade history teacher at Franklin Academy, saw that firsthand. After receiving a Classroom Technology Award last year, Boyd used the funding to purchase podcasting equipment for her classroom, including microphones, headphones and green screens. Together, the equipment gave students their own small podcasting studio at school.

Students were able to use these tools to make the history subjects they were studying come to life through their own podcasts. Boyd said the project quickly became more than a one-time activity. She ended up using the equipment throughout the school year.

“Students got so excited to create their podcast,” Boyd said. “They wrote scripts, they collaborated with their groups and recorded podcasts in any genre that they wanted to discuss the subject that we were studying.”

What stood out to Boyd was how students responded. She saw them become more engaged in the activity, and the podcast format gave them another way to work through subjects that could sometimes be more difficult to learn.

In Boyd’s classroom, microphones, headphones and green screens became tools students could use to research, write, collaborate and talk about history in their own way.

Boyd encourages other educators who have been considering new technology for their classrooms to apply.

“If you are considering using new technology in your classroom, I would strongly encourage you to apply for the Electric Classroom Technology Award,” Boyd said.

Classroom Technology Award applications are due Sept. 15. Educators interested in bringing new technology into their classrooms are encouraged to learn more and apply.