Why Should All Educators Use Thinkfinity?

      Highest Quality Resources for Teachers and Students
      No Advertisements or Agendas
      Over 3000 Lessons and 55,000 Resources - with more being added regularly
      All major curriculum areas involved
      All grade levels (K-12) covered

Thinkfinity in Washington State

Thinkfinity has now developed partnerships with all 50 states to coordinate training and usage of Thinkfinity resources. In Washington State, the Educational Technology Support Center program is leading this effort in cooperation with OSPI and the nine Educational Service Districts.

The ETSC program is the lead vehicle for:
      providing training to teachers
      aligning Thinkfinity lessons to Washington State standards
      developing and hosting this WWW site
      promoting the use of Thinkfinity resources

News:

February 20, 2007
Verizon Marcopolo is becoming Thinkfinity!    Visit to learn about Verizon Foundation's vision for literacy, education and technology in the 21st century.

April 10, 2006
The MCI Foundation has been replaced by the Verizon Foundation to accommodate a recent merger of companies. Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon, is one of the largest corporate foundations in the world. With a focus on literacy, K thru 12 education, education technology and domestic violence, we support Verizon’s vision of advancing technology that touches people’s lives. Marcopolo will be a primary focus of the Verizon Foundation.

January 20, 2006
We would like to thank you for helping to make the Marcopolo Web site so widely used by educators! In November 2005 alone, Marcopolo recorded more than 3.4 million user sessions. As a result of this vigorous use of the Web site and the Marcopolo Search Engine our Technology Team has determined that we need to move to a larger and faster server. That move is in process right now and expected to be completed by the end of this month. Until the move is complete, visitors may experience longer-than-normal delays during a search.

REDMOND, Wash., and ASHBURN, Va. -- May 4, 2004 -- Microsoft Corp. and MCI's Marcopolo Education Foundation today announced they have entered into a unique agreement under which Microsoft will integrate content from the MCI Foundation's Marcopolo education program into Microsoft's Innovative Teachers program. Microsoft also will provide grant funding to MCI's Marcopolo Education Foundation to accelerate the development of additional student interactive resources by the Marcopolo content partners.
"Demand for lessons containing interactive student resources has skyrocketed. With support from Microsoft, we will respond to that need by accelerating the development of interactive online educational programs and expanding their reach through Microsoft's Innovative Teachers program," said Caleb Schutz, President of MCI's Thinkfinity Education Foundation.
David Driftmier, general manager of Education Strategy, Solutions and Programs at Microsoft, underscored the value that Marcopolo will add to the Innovative Teachers program. "Teachers from around the country use the Innovative Teachers network for community, content and professional learning. Combining this growing community resource with Thinkfinity's track record for delivering exceptional educational resources and its consortium of premier content partners will provide an ideal complement to the existing professional development and teacher-created materials."
The Marcopolo program provides high-quality standards-based Internet content and professional development to K--12 teachers and students throughout the United States. Microsoft's Innovative Teachers program provides free community, content and professional learning for districts and schools to help teachers and students realize the full potential of technology in the classroom. As a result of this collaboration, MCI and Microsoft will create new and engaging ways for students to interact with the online educational resources and lessons offered by the Marcopolo program.

What is Thinkfinity?

Originally established as MarcoPolo in 1998 by the MCI Foundation, Thinkfinity is a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and eight renowned educational organizations, the Thinkfinity program provides no-cost, standards-based Internet content, developed by the nation's content experts for the K-12 teacher and classroom. (Thinkfinity and the No Child Left Behind Act) Resources found on the Thinkfinity web site (http://www.thinkfinity.org). The eight partner web sites offer teachers invaluable educational resources and free materials so that teachers learn how to use this rich content in their classrooms daily.

In mid-July, 2002 the Worldcom Foundation ceased to fund Marcopolo due the business issues of the parent corporation. However, just six months later, while the parent corporation was still in bankruptcy, the Worldcom Foundation (now known as the MCI Foundation) committed to fund the Marcopolo Project again. The amount of funding is approximately 33% of the original level and this change has necessitated the elimination of free training and printed materials being sent to all teachers. However, the development of additional materials by the eight partners is funded and continuing. So, Thinkfinity resources should be available and the project will grow for many years to come.