PDDP Grant (DML Competition)

• Support for:
  • Educators
  • Learning entrepreneurs
  • Communicators
• Funders:
  • MacArthur: learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life
  • HASTAC: creative use and critical understanding of new technologies in life, learning, and society
• Knowledge Networking Award
  • Application deadline: October 15, 2007
  • Amounts: $30,000 base award, to a total of $75,000 if budget warrants
  • Duration: Feb 1, 2008–Jan 31, 2009
  • Other support: mentoring, end-of-year conference showcase
  • takes good ideas and circulates them widely, taking full advantage of the Web's potential for collaborative thinking.
  • do not simply convey information. - What does this mean for PDDP?
  • Two Approaches: (Seems a bit strange to put already funded projects first)
    • 1. Previous Digital Media and Learning projects funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
    • 2. Other existing projects, not funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
      • developing networking or communications plans (What does this mean for PDDP?)
      • propose a communications strategy. This grant is really about distribution of knowledge.
  • Applicants are strongly encouraged to include a partnership with formal or informal learning or community-serving institutions, when relevant to the proposal.
  • reviewers from multiple disciplines who possess expertise in Web 2.0 technologies and/or education.
  • Civic identities: projects that address the role of media in shaping civic identities, including emphasis on such factors as ethics, equity, and access
  • Specific criteria for Knowledge-Networking Awards include the importance of the project chosen, appropriateness of the new audience/network identified, and the likelihood of success of the collaborative communication. These proposals should include a description of the existing project to which the communication strategy would be applied and why the existing project would benefit from knowledge-networking.
  • Notes:
    • Networking aspect is very important. The PDDP network of "partners" & "Associates" could serve well as the network, and I don't yet think it is needed that they have a full role in the application, but they they are part of the network through which the PDDP materials will be distributed.
    • The Knowledge Networking Award sounds like it aims to be a distribution system for knowledge/learning that already exists. I suppose that could be what PDDP is doing, since the knowledge exists in our heads. Still I get the impression that the distribution is more important than what is being distributed.
    • Final "product" must be CC or FLOSS!!!
    • Must make an argument for why the distribution system could be a revenue stream, IE charging for printed manuals/DVDs etc..
    • May have to go through an ethics review if working with human subjects.
    • Web2.0 stuff means it may be a challanging argument.
    • Sharon Hackett (Marc Lavalee's Partner) works at http://cdeacf.ca/ and is well versed in community networks stuff, should could be a very strong resource for this particular grant.
• Innovation Award
  • Application deadline: October 15, 2007
  • Amounts: $250,000 and $100,000
  • Duration: Feb 1, 2008–Jan 31, 2009
  • Other support: mentoring, end-of-year conference showcase
  • Learning facilitation:
    • the physical environment and how it is mediated;
    • learning tools (text-books, toys, technologies);
    • the involvement of peer learners;
    • the role of adults, as well as learning by adults;
    • the deliberate activities used (i.e., curriculum).
  • Applicants should have established track records or solid prototypes, and a strong commitment to making possible new ways of learning, as opposed to simply creating new content.
  • Specific criteria for Innovation Awards include collaborative teams, originality, impact, scope, and importance.

• • Notes:
    • Development of the learning system itself (media) All this talk of the network clouds the issue for me, is PDDP equally about the network itself (community) and the mechanism through which the network happens? (communication technology) for PDDP we're not considering these two parts separate, the network through which the materials are distributed, and the materials themselves (which as the method of communicating the knowledge)
    • "'new" models of learning.
    • Youth oriented
    • intercommunity
    • http://www.dmlcompetition.net/sampleprojects.php
    • http://www.dmlcompetition.net/faq.php
    • Why single out “Innovation” and “Knowledge-Networking”? In an age of rapidly expanding information and communication technologies, innovation and networking are complementary and mutually interdependent. Innovation that isn’t communicated, shared, developed, customized, and implemented is irrelevant. Networking without significant content and innovative ideas can be shallow. In addition, knowledge-networking promotes the distribution of the best developments in digital media and learning in order that communities can participate in the growth, adoption, sharing, and conversation (and, ideally, the improvement) of those ideas.
      • Innovation = CONTENT
      • Networking = DISTRIBUTION
      • For me that means its actually the innovation award we should apply for, not the networking one.