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 runs in Indiana classrooms.
Here are the schools that received grants for the 2011-12 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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