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Gigabit Community Fund & Hive KC

The Hive Learning Community in Kansas City supports connected learning experiences in the Kansas City metropolitan region. In 2014, Hive KC is supporting the development of these learning experiences through the Gigabit Community Fund.

About Hive Learning Communities

Hive Learning Communities use the connected learning principles and the practices of Hive to operationalize a learning network. They draw heavily from the experience of existing Hive Learning Networks whose leaders function as consultants and mentors sharing information about structure, program design and strategy. Local facilitators adapt tools, practices, frameworks to their local contexts.

The Hive concept has developed into a grassroots movement with Hive Learning Communities forming around the globe. Current examples include Hive Chattanooga, Hive India, Hive Berlin, and others. Learn more about the three tiers of hive.

About the Gigabit Community Fund

The Gigabit Community Fund Fund, supported by the National Science Foundation and part of the broader US Ignite initiative, invests in organizations and projects that utilize gigabit technology to serve educational systems, support educators in and out of the classroom, and impact student learning. Projects supported by the Fund will build and pilot gigabit-enabled applications and associated curricula that have immediate, measurable impact on classrooms and informal learning organizations in Chattanooga and Kansas City. Through these pilot projects, Chattanooga and Kansas City will become living laboratories in which to study how these next-generation networks can impact education and workforce development.

Round 1 Projects

Spring 2014 Pilot Projects

The following five projects are KC’s first-ever grant recipients of the Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund. The fund invested $75,000 in this first (spring) round to allow innovators to build and launch a pilot in Kansas City that impacts learners and our community by leveraging and building capacity for gigabit technology.

• Gigabots – Big Bang / The Gigabots bring connected robotics and devices to classrooms using existing educational robotics platforms. A Gigabot is a combination of hardware, software and a cloud platform that connects Gigabots to each other from any location in real-time. This project takes Robotics to a new frontier in science and engineering through programming, all while teaching kids how to share innovation in collaborative ways. Web | Blog | Follow | Wiki

• 3D Multi-School Learning / aSTEAM Village – a project featuring next gen telepresence technology to teach Computer Programming and Video Game Design, providing a key STEAM pathway for students in a multi-school setting. This project can deliver high tech innovation to interest-driven pursuits for non-dominant students in STEAM subjects. Web | Blog | Follow | Wiki

• Project Bright Spots / The Lean Lab – using the gig as a collaboration tool for video and live sharing to rapidly spur community dialogue and collaboration around innovation in education by sharing examples of “Bright Spots” in teaching and learning in the KC metro region. This project leverages the power of community, as powered by technology to create real solutions in advancing systemic education. Web | Blog | Follow | Wiki

• Augmented Reality / Bonner Springs Fire Dept. – A specialized training system that equips first response trainees with Google Glass to share live video and real-time information during training and simulation scenarios. This project proposes to use the gig to save lives, giving KC a civic application of modern computing, with an ability to aggregate data to help coordinate first responders’ actions in the field. Web | Blog | Video | Wiki

• Gigabit Cafe / Reconciliation Services – Bridging the digital divide by bringing gigabit internet connectivity to social services by deploying the first public test of the “Software Lending Library” to demonstrate internet relevancy and transformative powers to Reconciliation Services’ clients and neighbors. This project is the perfect example of using technology and innovation to address societal needs. Web | Blog | Follow | Wiki

Events

Ongoing Events

• 5/16 - KC Community Call - join us for some great conversation about Mozilla's education work in KC, plus updates from the Gigabit Fund and share-outs from youth serving orgs across KC.
• 5/20 - Gigabit Fund Meetup @ TBD | 5:30 to 7:30pm
• 5/26 - Work Night @ Sprint Accelerator - bring your team, your laptop and your ideas to hack on your Gigabit proposal (deadline is June 13) | 5 to 7pm
• 6/4 - Work Night @ Sprint Accelerator - bring your team, your laptop and your ideas to hack on your Gigabit proposal (deadline is June 13) | 5 to 7pm
• 6/10 - Gigabit Fund Meetup @ Google Fiber Space - public report-out from (5) spring projects - don't miss it!

Recent Hive KC Blog Posts

Spring Round Grantees in Kansas City & Chattanooga
KC's Spring Grant Projects
What can you do with a gig? 20 Proposed Pilot Projects in KC

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