For immediate release: December 14, 2011

Bozeman, Mont.—DiscoverWater.org is one of 60 global winners in Stage One of the HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition. The Project WET Foundation developed "Discover Water: The Role of Water in our Lives," launching in September 2011 with financial support from Nestlé Waters North America.

"DiscoverWater.org's selection as a Digital Media and Learning Awards Stage One winner confirms that it is an engaging and effective way to reach kids with valuable information about the importance of water for all people and to help teachers bring the topic of water into their classroom in a fun and appealing way," said Project WET's Laurina Lyle, PhD, who headed up the DiscoverWater.org creative team.

Held in collaboration with the Mozilla Foundation, the competition is part of the 4th Digital Media and Learning Competition funded by the MacArthur Foundation and administered by HASTAC. The Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition is designed to encourage the creation of digital badges and badge systems that support, identify, recognize, measure, and account for new skills, competencies, knowledge, and achievements for 21st century learners wherever and whenever learning takes place. In the case of DiscoverWater.org, two sets of badges-one for students and one for teachers-would recognize learning around the content of each of eight subject areas as well as broader skills.

Other winning applications represent a wide array of public and private institutions and organizations from around the world, including museums, non-profits, after-school programs, research institutions and for-profit companies. The applications are available for public perusal and commenting at www.dmlcompetition.net. Stage Two, which seeks badge system design and tech proposals that respond to Stage One winning content, opened earlier this week.

About the Project WET Foundation: A world leader in water education, Project WET (WET stands for "Water Education for Teachers") has nearly 30 years of experience creating and publishing original water education materials. An award-winning U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization active in all 50 U.S. states and more than 56 countries, Project WET is dedicated to the mission of reaching children, parents, teachers and community members of the world with water education.

Contact: Nicole Rosenleaf Ritter, Communication Specialist, Project WET Foundation