As educators, we know the process of writing a grant is about as fun as assembling sub plans before a week of vacation – tedious, painstaking, but oh-so worth it when you are on the other side. And as the expiration date for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding – known more commonly as ESSER – looms, the need to roll up your sleeves and knock out that documentation is more urgent than ever.
ESSER funds, provided through the CARES Act, were designed to help K-12 schools address the impact of COVID-19. If you have worked with students in any capacity since the pandemic, you understand why such a substantial amount of money was set aside to address learning loss. The deadline to obligate ESSER III funds is September 30, 2024, with a liquidation period extending to March 2026 if an extension is granted by the U.S. Department of Education.
Purchases of Ozobot products align with several permissible uses of ESSER funds. Here are some to consider:
1. Addressing Learning Loss
- High-Dosage Tutoring: Ozobot can be used in one-on-one or small group settings to provide personalized, engaging tutoring sessions in STEM subjects. Our free lesson library contains hundreds of Ozobot lessons aligned to computer science standards, coding activities for elementary students, and engaging Ozobot lessons for middle and high school students.
2. Supporting Underserved Students
- Equity-Focused Programs: Ozobot can be integrated into programs aimed at closing the achievement gap for underserved students, one of the core objectives of ESSER III funds. The interactive and adaptive nature of Ozobot can engage students from diverse backgrounds and with different learning needs, including English learners and students with disabilities.
3. Enhancing Educational Technology
- Technology Infrastructure: One of the greatest inequities the pandemic both highlighted and exacerbated was the digital divide, where many students lacked access to and proficiency with essential technology. Thus, a key focus for many schools since 2020 has been investing in digital learning platforms and tools that support remote and hybrid learning environments. Ozobot provides a platform for coding and robotics education that is accessible to all students, regardless of their experience with technology, coding, or robotics. Our Pacing Guides provide an intentional, scaffolded approach that sequences skill development starting in Kindergarten.
4. Professional Development
- Teacher Training: Ozobot’s education team is comprised entirely of former teachers, so we know what teachers want and need from professional learning experiences. Our computer science PD sessions focus on integrating robotics and coding into core curriculum and/or directly teaching standards-aligned CS skills. Our goal is to make sure your Ozobots get off the shelves and into students’ hands, and we know that starts with equipping teachers with awareness of what these bots are capable of. We offer both in-person and virtual, synchronous sessions that can accommodate any number of attendees, whether large or small. Additionally, our self-service PD platform provides the unique opportunity for asynchronous professional learning that the pandemic caused so many educators to love.
- Capacity Building: By training staff how to use Ozobot, schools can build long-term capacity for innovative STEM education. Our train-the-trainer sessions equip teacher leaders and school administrators with the tools they need to spread best practices with not only Ozobot specifically but robotics and coding instruction more broadly.
5. Summer Learning and After-School Programs
- Extended Learning Time: Ozobot is used across the world in summer camps, after school programs, libraries and more. Leverage our After-School and Summer Camp Guides as a resource and documentation for specific lessons and strategies to provide interactive educational activities outside the regular school hours.
There are clearly a myriad of ways Ozobot can support you in addressing the specific challenges facing you and your students as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. And, some of our products truly stand out when it comes to alignment with the goals of ESSER III funding:
Evo Classroom Kit
By far, Ozobot’s most beloved product is Evo, and we know why. It is versatile, engaging, user-friendly, and extremely high-value. If you haven’t made the jump to purchasing a Classroom Kit, this is an ideal way to leverage ESSER fundings for all the reasons mentioned above.
Color Code Magnets
Our color code magnets are the ideal way to offer scaffolded support for coding and robotics and support underserved students in the conceptual knowledge of coding. The color code magnets enable students to experiment with sequencing, logic, and problem-solving skills with appropriately-sized and easy to manipulate magnetic tiles. You should start with our Base Kit and can easily add on the Speed and Special Moves add-ons for only $10 more each.
Challenge Mats
When we take Ozobot on the road to trade shows across the country, visitors to our booth often ask where and how they can purchase the beautiful mats we display and run Evo color code programs on. And that is how we came up with the idea for Challenge Mats – Ozobot’s newest product that provides an immersive, hands-on experience for students in Ozobot Blockly. Our premium mats come in four contexts to choose from Mission to Mars, Soccer, Basketball, and Ocean (and yes, you can buy all four if you can’t choose just one – and we don’t blame you!). These mats are ideal for high-dosage tutoring sessions, after school programs, and summer camps because they offer unlimited opportunities for play, experimentation, engagement and learning with block-based coding.
By incorporating Ozobot’s innovative products like our Evo classroom packs, Magnet Kits, and Challenge Mats, schools can make the most of ESSER funding to create engaging and effective learning environments. To learn more about Ozobot’s alignment with ESSER funding, visit our website or schedule some 1:1 time with a member of our Education or Sales team today!
