New Initiative Will Advance the Best Uses of Technology to Improve College Readiness and Completion

Multi-year "challenge" grant competition will identify and fund most promising innovations

SEATTLE, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced the Next Generation Learning Challenges, a collaborative, multi-year initiative, which aims to help dramatically improve college readiness and college completion in the United States through the use of technology. The program will provide grants to organizations and innovators to expand promising technology tools to more students, teachers, and schools. It is led by the nonprofit EDUCAUSE, which works to advance higher education through the use of information technology.

Next Generation Learning Challenges released the first of a series of RFPs today to solicit funding proposals for technology applications that can improve postsecondary education. This round of funding will total up to $20 million, including grants that range from $250,000 to $750,000. Applicants with top-rated proposals will receive funds to expand their programs and demonstrate effectiveness in serving larger numbers of students. Proposals are due November 19, 2010; winners are expected to be announced by March 31, 2011.

"American education has been the best in the world, but we're falling below our own high standards of excellence for high school and college attainment," said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "We're living in a tremendous age of innovation. We should harness new technologies and innovation to help all students get the education they need to succeed."

Next Generation Learning Challenges invites proposals from technologists and institutions within the education community, but also innovators and entrepreneurs outside the traditional education arena that can show promising results. The initiative will fund RFPs approximately every six to 12 months. The RFP released today seeks proposals that address four specific challenges:

• Increasing the use of blended learning models, which combine face-to-face instruction with online learning activities;
• Deepening students' learning and engagement through the use of interactive applications, such as digital games, interactive video, immersive simulations, and social media;
• Supporting the availability of high-quality open courseware, particularly for high-enrollment introductory classes like math, science, and English, which often have low rates of student success; and
• Helping institutions, instructors, and students benefit from learning analytics, which can monitor student progress in real-time and customize proven supports and interventions.

Organizations collaborating on the effort include the League for Innovation in the Community College, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Each offers deep, practical expertise in educational instruction, leadership, and management.

A postsecondary degree or credential is crucial for both a strong economy and the financial security of American families. Careers requiring postsecondary education or training will make up 63 percent of all job openings by 2018. However, while access to higher education has improved, the rate of college completion has not. By age 30, fewer than half of all Americans have earned a college degree. For low-income and minority students, the situation is even bleaker.

The Gates Foundation also released today a white paper outlining how technology can help students and educators dramatically improve student outcomes, both in high schools and in postsecondary education.

Next Generation Learning Challenges will rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of technology in learning to help educators and technologists understand the approaches that best help students succeed and why. The program will also create opportunities for innovators, educators, and developers to exchange ideas and collaboratively push the evolving field forward.

"Next Generation Learning Challenges will ensure we focus on the next generation -- whether that means a student, learning experience, or technology," said Diana Oblinger, EDUCAUSE's president and CEO. "It will move proven and emerging technology-enabled solutions to a greater scale -- serving more students and more communities. When you add this multiplier effect to the kind of high-quality learning we can provide it really will change people's lives."

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation helped conceptualize and design the Next Generation Learning Challenges.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people -- especially those with the fewest resources -- have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

EDUCAUSE

EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association dedicated to advancing the intelligent use of information technology in higher education, EDUCAUSE helps those who lead, manage, and use information technology to shape strategic decisions at every level. The association's programs include applied research and analysis, strategic policy advocacy, teaching and learning initiatives, professional development, print and online information resources, and special interest collaborative communities. The current membership comprises more than 2,300 colleges, universities, and educational organizations.

The Council of Chief State School Officers

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues.

International Association for K-12 Online Learning

iNACOL is the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a non-profit 501(c)(3) membership association based in the Washington, DC area with more than 3,100 members. iNACOL is unique in that its members represent a diverse cross-section of K-12 education from school districts, charter schools, state education agencies, nonprofit organizations, colleges, universities and research institutions, corporate entities and other content and technology providers. iNACOL hosts the annual Virtual School Symposium (VSS).

League for Innovation in the Community College

The League is an international organization dedicated to catalyzing the community college movement. We host conferences and institutes, develop Web resources, conduct research, produce publications, provide services, and lead projects and initiatives with our member colleges, corporate partners, and other agencies in our continuing efforts to make a positive difference for students and communities.

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has been making grants since 1967 to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. The Foundation's programs have ambitious goals that include: helping to reduce global poverty, limiting the risk of climate change, improving education for students in California and elsewhere, improving reproductive health and rights worldwide, supporting vibrant performing arts in our community, advancing the field of philanthropy, and supporting disadvantaged communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

SOURCE Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation