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Once people discover what I do for a living, it's only natural that people want to know, "How do I get a grant from HP?" Other than the obvious, "Read the Request for Proposals carefully and answer the questions...", here are my Top Three Tips for your consideration...

There are never any guarantees when it comes to competitive grant opportunities, so let me begin with a caveat: All  funders turn away wonderful proposals - there are simply too many great ideas, and grant writers are becoming more sophisticated. But don't let that stop you, as there are also many funders (not just HP) who care about your success and who truly want to help education work better for more students.

My tips are focused on education technology grants whose purpose is systemic education improvement. These tips may apply to other grant opportunities, but you should always start with understanding your funder and their program's objectives. That is not a tip - that is just a reminder for what a good grant writer already does.

 ***TIP #1 - Explain WHY your proposed project/initiative is important, in terms of learning issues and outcomes

Funders want to know what the problem is that you're trying to address - and it should be an issue that is described in terms of EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES, not the acquisition of technology and funds for acquisition's sake.

Not Likely to Get Funded: "Our school is underfunded, our labs are a shambles, and we need new equipment so our lab can be state-of-the-art".

More Likely to Get Funded: "We serve a large number of low-income, first-generation-to-college students who drop out of engineering programs at alarming rates after their first year of college. In order to meet the demands for high tech qualified students graduating in engineering, we need to triple the retention rate of these students by 2012. Our largest drop-out rates come from gatekeeper courses such as Calculus and Intro to Engineering."

In other words, describe what's NOT working and why that is a problem.

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ProfessionalDevelopment/NECC2009-TfT-Poster-Book.pdf

At Mid-Valley Elementary school in Oregon, they were specifically addressing the need to increase the % of students meeting or exceeding their grade 3-5 math standards. With this type of focus, they succeeded, with the most dramatic improvements for typically low-performing students. Over two years they improved the success rate for English Language Learners from below 50% to more than 80%. That success is real, thanks to a clear notion of what needed to be addressed.

*** Tip #2 - Describe WHAT you plan to do with the technology (the more specifics, the better)

Funders want to know that whatever they are giving you will be put to good use. Expensive doorstops are of no use to anyone. Furthermore, education technology is only educational if there is a clear educational purpose and plan for the its use. A laptop is just a mobile computer, unless there's a clear plan for what students and teachers will be doing with it. A tablet pc has a pen and you can draw on the screen - .....soooo? How will you take advantage of that? (If you don't know, you haven't been reading my blog!)

Not Likely to Get Funded: "We need 60 laptops to update our computer lab to be state-of-the-art because our students are Digital Natives and they expect to learn that way in order to be citizens in the 21^st century"

More Likely to Get Funded: "We will use 60 tablet pcs to convert lecture-style courses into highly participative, student-centered mathematics learning studios. We will use DyKnow software to enable rapid feedback between pairs of students and the discussion facilitators; faculty will use diagrammatic responses to open-ended questions to elicit participation, gather insights about student misconceptions about math, and provide real-time feedback to the class."

In other words, how will technology help you design a new and powerful learning experience for your students?

http://wetec.csumb.edu/site/x21195.xml

At California State University Monterey Bay, the challenge was to decrease the failure rate of students in pre-calculus math - the course they HAD to pass if they wanted to stay at the University. The intervention was a shift from lecture-style instruction to studio-style instruction, where students sat at round tables and TALKED about math together. The technology, hp tablet pcs, was used to submit solutions, questions, and diagrams. As a result of this new pedagogy and the technology's ability to facilitate simulaneous participation, fast feedback, and anonymous (penalty free) participation, the students are succeeding at higher rates than ever before. The failure rate dropped from about 25% of the students down to single digits.

In their case, they knew how they would take advantage of tablet pcs and the easy-to-use "digital ink".

*** Tip #3 - Share HOW you plan to measure the learning impact

What will success look like for your project? How will you know you got there? How does this link back to the initial problem(s) that motivated you to apply for this grant in the first place?

Anyone in this field who is thoughtful and honest will admit that measuring learning is not simple or easy. But there are experts in this field who can help you create an "experimental design" that will help you map out how to see the change you hope to enable.

Sounds like research? Yes, it should. But to be honest, the real research will take years. So before you get to "control groups" and randomized studies, you'll want to collect what I call "emerging evidence" that will guide you in your initial work. Think of your first pilot as the "experiment before the experiment". If you can't create a control group, at least have a COMPARISON group. Don't settle for self-reporting by students, but rather observe their academic progress in the myriad of ways that show you that novices are becoming more expert. Use the data you're probably already collecting, and get an expert in the Learning Sciences or "assessment/evaluation" to assist you in your grant writing.

Not Likely to be Funded: "We will survey our students to see if they believe their learning improved as a result of the technology"

More Likely to be Funded: "Our team includes an expert from the Office of Educational Assessment who will be measuring project outcomes such as performance on specific project tasks, retention rate, & scores on key tests during the course. These outcomes will be compared to similar cohorts of students who took the same class prior to the redesign and implementation of the technology. We will also be observing the students and conducting focus groups with students and faculty to understand how the course redesign has changed the teaching and learning experience."

Think about the headline that you would like to appear one or two years from now. "Retention Rates Skyrocket; Graduates Snapped Up by Local Employers". Whatever your vision may be, if you measure your progress with a sound measurement plan from the beginning, you're far more likely to get there.

http://www.smccd.net/accounts/enriquez/HP-Technology-for-teaching.htm

It isn't always measurable by grades, but in the case of Canada College (California), the redesigned Engineering Mechanics course did see a significant shift. The intervention was shifting from a 2 hour lecture block to 2 hours of lecture, demo, and lots of time to practice - and get individual help during class instead of going to office hours. Professor Enriquez could monitor and support students via his own computer, while in class, so that students could get embarrassment-free help in real-time. Office hours became a non-problem, and twice as many students got an A compared to the way the course was taught previously.

If you have your own tips you would like to share or have general questions about grant writing, feel free to post a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you...

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