Background
The Indiana Department of Education for the past four years has issued a round of “Classroom Innovation Grants,” roughly $200,000 to a total of 22 schools for the 2011-2012 school year to help them undertake projects that bring technology into the classroom, totaling $4.3 million this year.
As you can see on the chart below, the projects range from professional development, to giving tablet computers to students, to “flipping” classrooms (as we’ve reported, that’s a teaching method using online videos in place of class lectures).
As we’ve written, giving out these grants has forced the IDOE to push out of its normal comfort zone and figure out which products are worthy of trial runds in Indiana classrooms.
From a post we wrote this month:
Assistant superintendent for technology John Keller tells StateImpact the Department has to walk a “fine line” between being on the leading edge and turning students into guinea pigs for new products.
Keller says, on one hand…
We do want to be seen as a place where innovation happens in schools. We want Indiana to be a place you can’t miss on the way to commercializing your product or service. We want to find out if it’s working.
…and on the other…
We would sponsor [new technologies] if we felt it had a reasonable chance of being successful. It’s important not to just try new things for new things’ sake, we have to understand what we’re trying to accomplish… I’m a believer in what’s examined improves. You don’t just snap your fingers and say, we’re going to do the flipped classroom, next subject. You have to say, what does it take to do this?
Here are the schools that received grants for the ’11-12 school year:
| Indiana Classroom Innovation Grants 2011-12 | |
|---|---|
| School or District | Grant Funds… |
| Avon | Smart tables in Gr. 2 |
| Beech Grove | Computers in high school science |
| Burris Laboratory | Using tablets in training teachers |
| Center Grove | Tablets for Gr. K, ELL, special ed |
| Christel House Academy | Building e-portfolios |
| Clark-Pleasant | Open digital courses |
| Danville | Tablets for teachers |
| East Washington | Tablets for students |
| Evansville Vanderburgh | eLearning coaches for professional development |
| Garrett-Keyser-Butler | Giving more students internet access |
| MSD Wabash County | Professional development to prep for digital devices |
| Madison | Campus wireless upgrade, project-based learning |
| North Adams | Professional development in project-based learning |
| North Daviess | Living textbook model |
| Northeastern Wayne | Tablets in Gr. 7-12 |
| Peru | Technology coaching and formal tech instruction |
| Plymouth | Podcasts, flipped classroom model |
| Richland-Bean Blossom | Creating digital courses for mobile devices |
| Rochester | Integrating curricular apps into mobile devices |
| Scott County 2 | Professional development based on Common Core |
| Shelbyville Central | Using curricular apps |
| Smith-Green | Tablets for Gr. 5-12, training for teachers |
SOURCE: IDOE, full list here; schools each receive roughly
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