CFY's PowerMyLearning Wins Digital Learning Challenge Grant

Education nonprofit CFY to enhance its free K-12 learning platform with support from Social Investment Organization SCE

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CFY announced today it was selected from nearly 100 applicants to win a "Digital Learning Challenge" grant from SCE, a social investment organization created by  Susan Crown and based in Chicago. This $350,000 grant will allow CFY to enhance PowerMyLearning.com, its free digital learning platform that allows students, teachers, and parents to easily locate and use high-quality online learning activities that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards and have been evaluated and recommended by experienced educators.

"PowerMyLearning is bringing quality digital learning activities to students across the country," said Susan Crown, CEO of SCE. "The Digital Learning Challenge was a highly selective process. We chose PowerMyLearning because it is one of the most engaging, educationally effective digital learning platforms available. We are excited about the opportunity for more students, teachers, and parents to harness the capabilities of PowerMyLearning to drive student achievement."

In its first year, SCE's Digital Learning Challenge was developed to answer the question: Why isn't the best digital learning media getting to more kids? Of nearly 100 applicants, CFY's PowerMyLearning stood out as a solution to this challenge in that the platform curates the most effective digital learning activities that are publicly available on the web for free and makes them easily accessible and usable in one trusted place. CFY also stood out based on the fact that it is an objective curator of content. 

"As recognized by SCE, PowerMyLearning is already allowing students, teachers, and parents to make greater and more effective use of high-quality digital learning activities," said Elisabeth Stock, CEO and co-founder of CFY. "With PowerMyLearning, teachers are personalizing student instruction both in the classroom and at home, parents are better equipped to support their child's education, and students are more engaged in learning. We are grateful to SCE for the opportunity to continue to develop PowerMyLearning into an even stronger and more engaging platform that will drive student achievement."

With this investment, CFY will enhance the user experience on PowerMyLearning by adopting new viral marketing and engagement features and expanding the PowerMyLearning Playpoints system. Playpoints are earned as students use any of the thousands of high-quality, vetted digital learning activities on PowerMyLearning.

About PowerMyLearning
PowerMyLearning is a free digital learning platform designed for K-12 students, educators, and parents. Developed by nonprofit CFY, PowerMyLearning has received $7 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The platform makes the most compelling publicly available digital learning activities from across the web easily accessible and usable, creating an unbiased, go-to destination. Over a decade of experience partnering with schools and families around digital learning has given CFY unique expertise in selecting the activities with the greatest educational value. PowerMyLearning offers educators a set of powerful tools for individualizing learning and enhancing instruction in the classroom and beyond. It also lets families discover stimulating activities to reinforce classroom learning and spark new interests. Visit PowerMyLearning.com.

About CFY
CFY, a national nonprofit organization, helps students, teachers, and parents use digital learning to improve educational outcomes. CFY's approach addresses the learning students do not only in their classrooms, but in all environments, including the home. The organization is unique in that it operates both "in the cloud" (through PowerMyLearning, a free K-12 online learning platform) and "on the ground" (through its Digital Learning Program, a whole school/community initiative that works hands-on with all three of the constituents that impact student achievement: teachers, parents, and students). Visit cfy.org.

About SCE
SCE is a social investment organization that connects talent and innovation with market forces to drive social change. Its grantees are nonprofits, but its work crosses boundaries between the public, private, and social sectors. SCE's Digital Learning initiative focuses on transforming children's use of digital media into learning time, helping kids acquire and practice traditional and 21st century skills. Visit www.scefdn.org.

Contact: Christine Schneider
[email protected]
(415) 816-9051

SOURCE CFY