HP Awards $8.5 Million in Technology

HP announced that it has provided 205 schools nationwide a total of $8.5 million in wireless technology, cash and professional development via the 2005 HP Technology for Teaching grant program.

The 174 kindergarten through 12th grade public schools and 31 two- and four-year colleges and universities across the United States and Puerto Rico which have successful grant-funded projects will have the opportunity to receive additional grants in 2006.

The HP Technology for Teaching grant program aims to improve learning in the classroom through innovative uses of technology, while positively impacting student achievement. HP has committed $25 million to the three-year program; more than 400 schools worldwide have received grants since its inception last year.

“Technology has the power to positively transform the learning process for both educators and students,” said Bess Stephens, vice president, Philanthropy and Education, HP. “By integrating technology into their teaching, educators can engage students in new and innovative ways to increase achievement and ultimately to prepare them for greater success in the classroom and beyond.”

The HP Technology for Teaching grant program is further intended to prepare students for leadership in the competitive, digital workforce and to ignite interest in careers in science, technology and engineering.

“The challenge of incorporating a project-based learning activity has demonstrated that children of all backgrounds have an incredible need and desire to be exposed to technology integration within the classroom environment,” said Christine Potter, first-grade teacher at Greenwood Forest Elementary in Houston, Texas, and a 2004 HP Technology for Teaching grant recipient. “HP technology has allowed my students to stretch their capabilities and reveal their unlimited abilities.”

K-12 grants

HP is awarding $6.2 million in cash and equipment to teams of five teachers at 174 K-12 public schools in the United States and Puerto Rico. Preference was given to schools serving low-income students and projects including a math or science component.

The award package, valued at more than $35,000 for each team, will include five HP Tablet PCs, five HP multimedia projectors, five HP digital cameras, an HP Officejet All-in-One and a $500 stipend per teacher.

In addition, teachers will participate in a professional development program led by HP’s partner, the International Society for Technology in Education. The professional development program will include customized learning opportunities, expert mentoring and participation in an online learning community to support teachers’ innovative uses of technology.

Grant participants will use the technology in many innovative ways to encourage and develop student learning. Chandlers Elementary School in Russellville, Ky., will use the HP technology to learn and study basic farming operations. Classes will “sponsor” a cow and take “virtual” field trips to the farm using wireless, real-time streaming video to monitor the calving season and study food intake and milk production.

At Capitol High School in Santa Fe, N.M., freshmen students will use HP technology to learn about the connections between math and science through the study of radio astronomy. Students will observe and record “very low frequency” radio emissions from Jupiter and the sun and share their findings via the Internet with students making similar observations around the world.

Higher education grants

HP also is awarding a total of $2.3 million in cash and equipment to 31 two- and four-year colleges and universities in the United States and Puerto Rico. The grantees will each receive an award package of HP products and faculty stipend valued at more than $74,000.

Recipients will use wireless technology to enhance student achievement in math, science, business and engineering courses. The grant will enable educators to develop and share effective educational approaches and experiences for applying technology into the academic environment with other professors on campus and beyond.

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill will use HP Tablet PCs, outfitted with global positioning system receivers and geographical information system software, in field-based earth science courses to gather data and test hypotheses in real time.

The Rochester Institute of Technology in New York will use HP technology to increase collaboration between students, especially enabling hearing-impaired students and faculty to fully participate in group projects.

Over the last 20 years, HP has contributed more than $1 billion in cash and equipment to schools, universities, community organizations and other nonprofit organizations around the world. In 2004, HP’s giving worldwide amounted to $61.6 million in cash and equipment. More information on HP’s education initiatives is available at http://grants.hp.com/us/education/index.html.

2005 Technology for Teaching grant recipients

More information about 2005 HP Technology for Teaching program and grant recipients is available HERE.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2005, HP revenue totaled $81.8 billion. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com. (1) School submitted multiple proposals. Only one grant per school was awarded. (C) 2005 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

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Brigida Bergkamp, 650-857-3299 brigida.bergkamp@hp.com HP Media Hotline, 866-266-7272 pr@hp.com http://www.hp.com/go/newsroom or Hill & Knowlton for HP Jennifer Gunst, 415-281-7142 jgunst@hillandknowlton.com