Tablet PC Technology and Higher Education Request for Proposals 2006 This RFP has been awarded. To view the award recipients, see Tablet PC and Higher Education 2006 Awards.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Background
The Tablet PC significantly changes the way students and teachers interact. This new technology has the potential to dramatically alter the educational process. The ability to write, sketch, draw, or annotate using electronic ink and drawing tools, to share results instantaneously, or to collaborate in real time, adds new dimensions to classroom interaction.

We are just beginning to learn how to maximize these new communication and collaboration resources. When adding the Tablet PC technologies to undergraduate education, we must rethink how this will improve teaching and learning. Many questions arise. How does a Tablet PC alter teacher and student interaction? How will teacher-only tablet class differ from a setting where all students have one? How will this affect the content of the course or curriculum? What strategies, tools, and techniques can scale across large numbers of teachers and students? Are these new pedagogies and strategies applicable to other disciplines?

Microsoft has made significant investments in the Tablet PC as evidenced by the work of the Tablet PC and OneNote teams. Microsoft Research has led the investment in the computing curriculum for higher education. In 2005, Microsoft Research External Research & Programs funded 13 tablet technology and computing curriculum projects. In 2006, Microsoft Research ER&P funded 14 projects and expanded the focus to include education research on the effectiveness of tablet technology in the classroom.

Based on the success of the many tablet technology events including the Tablet PC in Higher Education Workshops, the Workshop on the Impact of Pen-based Technology on Education, the high level of interest in the 2006 Tablet PC Technology, Curriculum and Higher Education RFP, and contact with members of the higher education community, it makes sense to continue the focus on Educational Value and Validity as this year’s RFP theme.

Goals & Objectives
Microsoft Research will use this RFP as a catalyst to encourage educators to apply resources toward the revising, updating, and validating curriculum and pedagogy in conjunction with tablet technology in higher education.

Educational Value and Validity
Projects related to the gathering of evidence and educational evaluation of the use of tablet technology in the classroom.

This is open to all disciplines with the focus of the project on the evaluation of tablet technology in the classroom. This is not meant for curriculum development. Proposals with well-developed content and detailed research questions and evaluation plans are required. Projects may be course specific, tool building and/or educational model building.

Successful projects will identify innovative ways to incorporate tablet technologies into the classroom. Projects should focus on the execution of these approaches and the gathering of data to add to the body of knowledge on teaching and learning in higher education. Explicit education research questions to be addressed should be included.

The expectations for all projects include a detailed assessment plan, gathering of baseline data, collection of several sets of data, and formative and summative analysis of the data. It is understood that the proposed timeline with detailed deliverables may be expanded to more than 1 year.

Proposals are welcome from all disciplines with special interest in those projects that add to the body of knowledge being developed by current Microsoft Research ER&P Education Value and Validity projects.

Awards
The total amount available under this request for proposals (RFP) is $400,000. Microsoft Research anticipates making 4 awards, with a maximum of $100,000 for any single award. All awards will be made in $US. Awards are generally made as unrestricted gifts to the institution. Outside the United States other local restrictions may apply to the terms of the award. For current policy regarding non-US countries, please refer to the FAQ. For all awards, payment of indirect costs (“overhead”) is not permitted.

Because local costs vary widely across geographies, Microsoft will take into account the reasonableness of the amount requested in any proposal in light of local costs, and reserves the right to fund proposals at an amount lower than requested if appropriate.

Awards under this program are for one year only.

Eligibility
Conditions of eligibility listed below will be strictly adhered to, so please read them carefully. Proposals not meeting all these criteria will not be considered.

1. The proposing institution must be an accredited baccalaureate-granting college or university (or international equivalent) with non-profit status. All qualifying institutions are eligible without regard for geographic location.
2. An institution will be awarded a maximum of one gift per RFP, regardless of the number of proposals submitted from the institution. However, collaborative proposals embracing multiple groups across the organization are encouraged.
3. Proposals that are incomplete, inaccurate, request funds in excess of the maximum award available, or are otherwise not responsive to the terms and conditions of this RFP will, at the sole discretion of Microsoft Research, be excluded from consideration.
4. Proposals from or on behalf of persons participating in the evaluation process for this RFP will not be considered.
5. Proposals should evidence a commitment to make any results arising from a funded project (including all intellectual property in those results) broadly available by either: (i) dedicating such results to the public domain; or (ii) making the results available  under a non-restrictive license that allows modification and redistribution without any significant restrictions or conditions, such as the BSD license. Proposals should further evidence willingness to contribute any resulting curriculum material to the MSDN Academic Alliance Repository.

Submission Process
Proposals will be accepted in electronic form only at http://microsoft.redwhale.com. Proposals submitted to Microsoft will not be returned. Microsoft cannot assume responsibility for the confidentiality of information in submitted proposals. Therefore, proposals should not contain information that is confidential, restricted or sensitive. Microsoft reserves the right to make public proposals that receive awards, except those portions containing budgetary or personally identifiable information.

The submission process includes two parts.

1. Brief summary and contact information. Applicants must provide full contact information for principal investigators, amount requested and a brief abstract. This information will be submitted through a web form as part of the submission process.
2. Complete proposal containing full detail on the proposed project. 7 pages maximum, 10pt. font or larger, double-spaced, in either Microsoft Word or PDF format.

Proposals should touch on the following topics:

• Abstract/Summary of the proposed work; including the education research questions, research methodologies, courses impacted and curricular placement.
• Who will be performing the work (faculty, research scientists, graduate students, other)?
• Will this project involve multiple departments and/or disciplines?
• Which technologies will be used in the work?
• What evaluation methods will be used and when will they be used?
• What are your expectations regarding publishing/presenting/disseminating this work?
• Which classes will use these materials?
• Explicit list/details of deliverables.
• What opportunities exist for others to build on your work?
• Are there particular technologies (either commercial or otherwise) that you are planning on using for this project?
• Detailed time lines and/or milestones for implementing this project.
• Include a detailed cost breakdown of how the proposed funding will be spent.
• No indirect costs will be allowed.
• No more than 10% of the requested funds can be used for hardware.
• Include other contributions to this project (cash, goods, or services), if any, but not such items and facilities otherwise provided on an ongoing basis. Note: authors of winning proposals will be required to submit an original letter on department letterhead certifying the commitment of any additional or matching support described in the proposal.

Selection Process and Criteria
All proposals received will be reviewed by Microsoft Research and eligible proposals will be evaluated by a panel of subject-matter experts chosen by Microsoft Research. Based on evaluations by the review panel, Microsoft Research will select the most worthy proposals for funding. Microsoft Research reserves the right to fund winning proposals at an amount greater or less than the amount requested, up to the stated maximum amount for individual awards. Due to the volume of submissions, Microsoft Research cannot provide individual feedback on proposals that are not funded.

Authors (including co-investigators) of winning proposals will be required to grant Microsoft permission for the use of their name, image, institutional affiliation and related professional information in press releases or other forums for publication of their award.

All proposals will be evaluated based upon the following criteria:

The Tablet Technology, Curriculum, and Higher Education 2007 RFP will allow for continued focus on the educational research of pedagogical practices that provide the broad foundational elements necessary for improving teaching and learning.

1. Well-defined goals and objectives that, if achieved, have the potential to have a significant impact on undergraduate education.
2. Potential for wide dissemination and use of intellectual property created, including specific plans for publications, conference presentations, distance learning, etc., as well as plans to distribute content in multiple formats or languages.
3. Ability to complete the project including the adequacy of resources available, reasonableness of timelines, and number and qualifications of identified contributors.
   • Proposals that indicate novel, active methods of use and distribution are highly desired. Examples include: classroom or online teaching, dissemination at conferences, electronic networks, journal articles, and other means.
   • Faculty with ideas for active engagement with members of the higher education community such as workshops, site visits or presentations may include these ideas, but not as part of the budget.
4. Qualifications of principal investigator, including previous history of work in the area, successful completion of previous funded projects, teaching awards, books and papers published, etc.

Schedule and Deadlines

Announcement:	September 30, 2006
First date for submission of proposals:	October 2, 2006
Last date for submission of proposals:	Monday, November 27th, 2006, 5 P.M. PST (-8 UTC/GMT)
Notification of Awards:	Monday, February 12, 2007
Public Announcement of Awards:	Wednesday, March 7, 2007 at the ACM SIGCSE conference

Additional Resources
2006 Tablet RFP winners and abstracts:
http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/fundingopps/RFPs/TabletTech2005_RFP_Awards.aspx

2005 Tablet RFP winners and abstracts:
http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/tec/projects.aspx

University of Washington/Microsoft Research Tablet workshops:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/anderson/tpc/

Classroom Presenter (wireless classroom collaboration):
http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/dl/presenter/

Conference XP (the wireless classroom platform developed by Microsoft Research ER&P)
http://www.conferencexp.net/community/default.aspx

Tablet PC Development Guide:
http://windowssdk.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms704849.aspx

Tablet power toys:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/tabletpc.mspx

Tablet education pack:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/tabletpc/educationpack/default.mspx

Tablet Experience pack:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/tabletpc/experiencepack/overview.mspx

Tablet developer newsgroup:
Use Outlook Express
Use Web Browser (Microsoft Discussion Groups)
Use Web Browser (Google Groups)

Please address any questions to erpinq@microsoft.com. Please put “Tablet PC RFP” in the subject line of your e-mail message to ensure a prompt and proper response.