Dear Sloan-C Members:

We are pleased to announce that the Sloan Consortium is collaborating with Hewlett-Packard on a new program called the HP Catalyst Initiative. The overall goal of the initiative is to create international collaborative “sandboxes” of innovation that will explore what the future of STEM education can look like—a future where students use their technical and creative ingenuity to address urgent social challenges in their communities and around the world.

The HP Catalyst Initiative will establish a global network of five consortia, each of which will be exploring a specific STEM innovation theme – “The Multi-Versity”, “Pedagogy 3.0”, “Global Collaboratories”, “The New Learner”, and “Measuring Learning”. In 2010, each of 5 consortia will receive more than $1 million in technology, cash, and professional assistance.

For this initiative, the Sloan Consortium has been invited by HP to lead the “Multi-Versity” consortium, which will investigate and demonstrate new and best practices in online education for STEM students and the professional development of instructional faculty. The long-term goal is to provide students with new learning opportunities from a variety of institutions that can be applied toward certification and degrees.

Organizations will be selected through a competitive call for proposals, which is open to institutions that serve tertiary or secondary students (i.e. schools, colleges, non-profit or non-governmental organizations) in 11 targeted countries. For additional details and eligibility, please visit www.hp.com/go/hpcatalyst. The deadline to register an intent-to-apply is 30 June 2010.

HP’s Office of Global Social Innovation also launched two additional education programs which might be of interest to you:

HP EdTech Innovators Award - HP and the New Media Consortium (NMC) have teamed to launch the HP EdTech Innovators Award to showcase and support educators who are using technology in groundbreaking ways inside and outside the classroom. For more information, visit www.hp.com/go/edtech. 

HP Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs - HP Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs (HP LIFE) is a global training program that builds IT and business skills among recent graduates, aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners, helping them transform their lives and the lives of others in their communities. For more information, visit www.hp.com/go/hpentrepreneurs. 

Best regards,

John Bourne
Executive Director
Sloan Consortium