What you need to know
- Niantic Labs has announced a new partnership with TechRow Fund, a non-profit that strives to reduce inequity in education.
- With Niantic's support, TechRow Fund will launch several augmented reality (AR) education initiatives in schools across Harlem.
- Niantic is also launching a campaign with DonorsChoose.org where the company is matching funds to computer science and coding projects for high need schools.
Niantic partnered with UK-based heritage social organization Big Heritage last year to explore how its hugely popular Pokémon Go game could be used as a tool to promote local history discovery. It also worked with San Francisco-based nonprofit Tech in the Tenderloin to increase exposure to technology among youth living in the most challenging neighborhoods.
Niantic is now partnering with TechRow Fund to lead a bunch of new augmented reality (AR) education initiatives in Harlem schools. The company will be designing programs using TechRow Fund's immersion and makers models to support teachers with AR technology and help students learn how to be AR creators. In addition to building awareness on how AR technology can be used to enrich classroom instruction, the program also aim to "invest in a diverse and youthful pipeline of AR storytellers."
Apart from its new partnership with TechRow Fund, Niantic also launched a matching campaign with DonorsChoose.org recently. The company is matching funds to support STEM programs for high need schools in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Bellevue.
In its blog post, Niantic also announced that it is working on a few additional projects, including a few in Ghana and Latin America. While no details have been shared yet, the company says it will have more to share about these initiatives soon.
