Grant-recipient-announcement-days are always my favorite days. Today is right up there - we recently released the list of 2009 HP Innovations in Education grant recipients in the US, Canada, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. I am VERY excited about the projects we are funding - and this is just the beginning...

I've long held that innovation in education is key to solving the "high tech talent pipeline challenge". Emerging evidence from the past 5 years of HP Technology for Teaching projects bears this out - excellent instruction combined with the right technologies is measurably improving student academic success. So I am VERY encouraged by the number of fantastic, creative, exciting proposals we received in response to our HP Innovations in Education call for proposals. Bravo to everyone who applied.

Of course this left us with the arduous task of selecting a few proposals among many deserving proposals. I equate this to looking for a few gold needles in a stack of shiny yellow needles. With the help of expert reviewers, the International Society for Technology in Education, and some terrific HP volunteer reviewers, we found many excellent proposals. We are very pleased to announce the 2009 recipients. Visit http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/grants/hpiie-2009recipients.html to see the complete list. Once the grant recipients from Latin America are finalized and posted, the entire 2009 cohort will represent a total social investment by HP of about $20M in technology, services, and professional development to 151 schools, colleges, and universities in 28 countries.

It's all part of this wonderful journey we're on, where technology and excellent instruction combine to create powerful new learning experiences for students, especially in science, math, engineering , computer science. The success of Generation 2020, today's students in grades 6 to 16, depends on these innovations. So, you can see why this is one of my favorite days.

My heartiest congratulations to all of our 2009 HP Innovations in Education recipients!

Jim Vanides, B.S.M.E, M.Ed.
Worldwide Education Programs
HP Global Social Investment
Hewlett-Packard
Twitter @jgvanides

For information about the HP Global Social Investments, visit www.hp.com/hpinfo/grants