$77,000 grant includes HP wireless equipment and cash award to improve student achievement

LAKELAND, Fla. (June 4, 2008) — Florida Southern College was selected as one of 39 two- and four-year colleges and universities in the United States and Puerto Rico to receive a 2008 HP Technology for Teaching grant, which is designed to transform teaching and improve learning in the classroom through innovative uses of technology.

Florida Southern College will receive an award package of HP products and a faculty cash award valued at more than $77,000.

Each of the HP Technology for Teaching grant recipients will use wireless HP Tablet PCs to enhance learning in engineering, math, science, or computer science. Three FSC faculty members will be directly involved in the project: Dr. Gwendolyn Walton, professor of computer science, Dr. Kenneth Henderson, Jr., associate professor of mathematics and computer science, and Dr. Eric Kjellmark, associate professor of biology. These faculty members will use the HP tablet PCs with on-screen inking capability and mobile technology to provide enhanced student-centered, collaborative, active-learning opportunities. The HP technology will be used by computer science students in software development projects to control small mobile robots, by mathematics students in collaborative problem solving, and by biology students in the collection and analysis of field data for environmental science laboratories.

“We are very excited about the possibilities for curriculum transformation using the HP technology,” said Walton, principal investigator for the grant. “The use of tablet PCs and wireless technology will allow us to provide students with more engaged, in-depth learning and practical experience with the processes and methods of the specific discipline of their course. In addition, the faculty will be able to use the technology to see and comment on student work in real time. This will allow us to provide more timely feedback and assistance to students who are having difficulty in mastering the course objectives and to provide more support to students who wish to explore the course topics in more depth or work on undergraduate research projects.”

HP is awarding 149 two- and four-year colleges and universities, and K-12 public schools in the United States and Puerto Rico more than $7 million in mobile technology, cash and professional development as part of the 2008 HP Technology for Teaching grant program. Since 2004, HP has contributed a total of $60 million in HP Technology for Teaching grants to more than 1,000 schools in 41 countries worldwide. During the past 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.

“Around the world, HP partners with pioneering professors and schools to discover how technology can improve student success,” said Sid Espinosa, director of Global Social Investment programs at HP. “While technology is not the answer to every educational challenge, we have witnessed its incredible and transformative impact in the classroom. This innovation is happening every day as teaching and learning are fundamentally changing.”

More information about the 2008 HP Technology for Teaching program and grant recipients is available at www.hp.com/go/hpteach.