From abacus to algorithms: preparing students in a digital age [this is a new project in partnership between the nonprofit digital citizenship foundation and north carolina state university, college…

The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded $198,524 to North Carolina State University on February 1, 2026, under the Promotion of the Humanities Professional Development program (CFDA 45.163) to deliver a three-week professional development institute for K-12 educators in digital citizenship and computational thinking.

The institute, "From Abacus to Algorithms: Preparing Students in a Digital Age," engages 25 K-12 educators across grade levels and subject areas, including library media specialists. The program combines one week of in-person instruction at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation (July 13–17, 2026) with two weeks of virtual work (July 20–31, 2026). Participants complete hands-on learning, independent readings, seminars, office hours, and small group work, concluding with a final showcase of their work.

North Carolina State University, through its College of Education's Friday Institute, serves as the primary recipient. The Digital Citizenship Foundation, a nonprofit sub-recipient, serves as Project Co-Director and leads marketing, recruitment, website design and hosting, curriculum development, office hours facilitation, pre- and post-survey data collection, grant reporting, application review, procurement support, and overall institute coordination.

Performance occurs in North Carolina. The period of performance extends through March 31, 2027. This is a Project Grant, an assistance type supporting the program's goal of broadening humanities understanding through professional development for national audiences of K-12 educators.

From abacus to algorithms: preparing students in a digital age [this is a new project in partnership between the nonprofit digital citizenship foundation and north carolina state university, college of education?S william & IDA friday institute for educational innovation (friday institute). From abacus to algorithms: preparing students in a digital age is a three week institute, with one week in person at the friday institute, and two weeks of virtual work. This institute will engage 25 K-12 educators from a range of grade levels and subject areas, including library media specialists. The institute will occur during july 2026: during week 1 (july 13-17) participants will attend in-person for learning and hands-on engagement. Week 2 (july 20-24) will be virtual for independent work, readings, seminars, office hours, and small group work. Week 3 (july 27-31) will continue virtual work and conclude on july 30-31 with a final showcase of their work.]