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nie guidelines 1/2 (fwd)



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 1994 16:25:36 -0500
From: Barbara W. Mihalas <bmihalas@nsf.gov>
To: peter@tmn.com
Subject: nie guidelines 1/2

Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering
and Directorate for Education and Human Resources

Program Solicitation

Networking Infrastructure for Education
New Projects and Planning Grants


Summary of Target dates

                        NIE             NIE                     DODDS
                        policy

Preliminary             Feb. 15         December 15     December 15
proposals

Full                    April 15        Feb. 15         Feb. 15
proposals


As part of an expanding effort to encourage innovation and leverage
the power of computer and networking technology to support science
and mathematics education reform, the Directorates for Computer
and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and for Education
and Human Resources (EHR) issue the second solicitation of a joint
Program on Networking Infrastructure for Education (NIE). In
addition, information on three related areas of networking
appplications are included: electronic libraries, Native American
Telecommunications and programs with the Department of Defense
Dependent Schools.

The NIE Program aims to hasten the development of a widespread
high performance electronic communications infrastructure in
support of science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SMET)
education reform, and to help lay a foundation on which strategies
for the appropriate use of technology in support of increased student
achievement can be developed.  NIE's goal is to build synergy
between technology and education researchers, developers and
implementers so they can explore networking costs and benefits, test
self-sustaining strategies, and develop a flexible educational
networking infrastructure that will be instrumental in the
dissemination, integration and application of technologies to speed
the pace of educational innovation and reform.

NIE seeks proposals in the areas of (a) policy studies, (b)
research and development in support of NIE goals, (c)
demonstrations and model sites, and (d) infrastructure and
testbeds. These are not formal categories, but guides to types of
projects and associated funding levels.

Policy studies should consider topics such as the barriers to
networked community creation and development; the articulation of
distance education's contribution to lifelong learning and school to
work transition, especially for underrepresented minorities and rural
populations; leveraging the universal open access aspect of networks
to promote educational equity among students and institutions. R&D
refers to projects where fundamental questions remain unanswered
and the audience for project outcomes is other researchers or
implementers and key users.  Demonstration and model sites are
focused on making the system robust, addressing a larger cross-
section of user requirements, implementing some of the resulting
new ideas, learning how to scale-up  existing models, and learning
what level of user support is required.  Infrastructure and testbeds
are projects whose outcomes inform the whole community and
decision-makers about system and infrastructure investment
options. Testbeds, by their nature, are expected to work with
diverse communities of users and with innovative ideas, testing
high-risk, high-gain conjectures about new ways of
working--organizational, pedagogical, educational, and
technological.

The following guidelines describe the types of eligible activities,
criteria to be used for their evaluation, and the process for
submitting proposals.  The NIE Program seeks to:

* establish testbeds, implementation models and prototypes that
explore the role of electronic networks (the Internet and others) in
support of SMET education reform, and demonstrate sustainable
approaches to educational networking.

* support the R&D needed for large-scale, cost-effective
implementation of educational networking, including infrastructure,
policy, training, curriculum, reform, school organization, interactive
teaching/learning tools, materials, and mechanisms for technology
transfer.


Examples of possible NIE projects

* Awards to: broaden existing networks to strengthen collaborations
with educational communities and groups to deliver innovative
services to students and teachers at all levels, including adults
involved in lifelong learning, add educational networking
infrastructure to existing systemic reform efforts such as NSF's Rural
and Urban Systemic Initiatives; strengthen collaborations and
encourage consortia to ensure broad-scale, systemic support for
education reform; and develop services, technical assistance and
connectivity in conjunction with the larger educational communities
such as states and school districts. These collaborations would
support the creation of research testbeds for innovative projects in
K-14 education, informal education, and/or continuing education.
Such collaborations should be based on a prior record of
accomplishment and make available unique resources such as remote
databases, professional expertise, supercomputers, and other
resources, to the community of users.

* Research and development to explore issues of scaling-up existing
networking models. Examples of such projects include, but are not
limited to, research on accessing information from distributed data
repositories; research on the use of the network for access to remote
resources for experimentation, training, and collaborative studies;
research on student and teacher human-computer interaction
interfaces; research on the educational and equity impact of the use
of networked resources including remotely accessible high
performance computing capabilities; development of support and
funding models for large-scale and long-term educational networking
and technology support; and research and development for extending
tools and organizational systems to accommodate collaborations
among large numbers of participants with diverse viewpoints.

* Awards to develop and evaluate innovative networked
communities in support of SMET education reform goals (for
example, communities defined by a shared interest, and/or
networking of geographical communities). Examples include policy
studies on funding the creation of self-sustaining networked
communities that link information sources such as electronic
libraries, public libraries and museums to users, or access to self-
paced training resources.


Areas of special interest

Policy Studies. The NIE program is interested in funding three to five
projects designed to (a) support electronically a proposer community
based on the work of existing grantees and (b) develop an NIE and
networking infrastructure evaluation strategy.

Native American Telecommunications. The nation's schools serving
Native American students have special networking infrastructure
needs. The NIE program seeks proposals to develop policies, pilot
projects and infrastructure models that can serve the unique needs
of Native American tribal colleges and their students.

Electronic Libraries. The Foundation, as part of an interagency
program, has initiated a program of R&D for digital libraries. There is
special interest at the Foundation for exploring the role of digital
libraries in education reform and in providing equity of educational
opportunities. The NIE program seeks proposals to develop policies,
testbeds and prototypes that explore state-wide implementation
issues of electronic libraries, access to information located in remote
sites, and the organizational and support structures that make it
possible.

Brief description of projects funded by the NIE program.  A few
examples of recently funded projects are provided to indicate the
breadth of interest of the program:

* Policy study on the role of public libraries in the National
Information Infrastructure (NII).

* Comprehensive metropolitan network that has since become part of
an Urban Systemic Initiative in support of math and science
education reform. Partners include a medical school, senior citizens, a
housing project, K-12 schools, universities, libraries and city
government.

* Use of telecommunications to support learning-on-demand in a
workplace setting.

* Use and evaluation of ISDN networks for distance collaborations in
which teachers and students combine desktop video conferencing
with exchange of complex images and large datasets.

* Statewide Systemic Initiative effort will fully integrate
educational networking into its reform efforts and to collaborate with
science research centers in creating effective innovative science
resources for K-12 education.

* Development and implementation of a distributed multi-server
system based on an architecture that dynamically adapts to rapidly
changing load patterns in high levels of network traffic.

* Network-based collaboration among science museums, industry and
schools to provide unique resources for teaching and learning
science, mathematics and technology in grades K-8, with special
emphasis on the needs of schools in urban centers.

* A testbed of hundreds of networked schools and school districts
in more than a dozen states that can be used to test new teaching
methods and to provide empirical evidence to taxpayers,
governments
and private industry about what types of broad-based active
participation are required to successfully scale-up reform and
education telecommunications efforts.

* A Digital Learning Center that networks  scientists, educators
and multimedia designers to develop compelling on-line,
interactive, content-rich resources for learners of all age groups.


Brief description of planning and startup projects funded by the
NIE program. A few examples of recently funded projects are
provided to indicate the breadth of interest of the program:. NIE
also encourages planning or startup grants for proposers who are in
the process of developing the appropriate consortia, partnerships,
or community of users, and need modest resources to complete the
process successfully. Potential proposers in this category are
advised to discuss their project's compliance with NIE goals and
objectives with the NIE Program Directors.

* Support for Native American communities to plan  for the use of
telecommunications and to provide technical, educational and
personnel assistance in the development of education activities
that incorporate and rely on telecommunications.

* Support to leverage a cable industry experiment that is providing
interactive cable television to schools and homes and to do a
systematic analysis of impact on educational practice.

* Supplement to a Statewide Systemic Initiative to develop a model
of technology integration that will also be leveraged by a
three-state Rural Systemic Initiavive planning grant.

* Leverage Statewide Systemic Initiative activities in planning for
a sustainable telecommunications network in a rural area by a
statewide alliance of technology-related education and business
groups.

* Lay the groundwork for developing a virtual school where virtual,
i.e. network-linked collaborative classrooms encompass the entire
community throughout the state.

* Plan an interdisciplinary high school 'school-to-work', career
path curriculum supported by multimedia technology, with strong
involvement of the private sector.

Preparation and Submission of Proposals

A. Contact Information

For general information, contact the Networking Infrastructure for
Education program, EHR and CISE, at:

     (703) 306-1651 nie@nsf.gov

B. Preliminary Proposals.

While there are no formal guidelines beyond those just stated, an
informal preliminary proposal for review by NSF is required. The
preliminary proposal should be in the form of a six to eight page
(double spaced ) document describing the goals of the activity, a
detailed work plan and budget, a discussion of the educational
needs and opportunities to be addressed, a discussion of the
technologies and telecommunication to be used, the science and
mathematics to be covered for the various grade levels, and an
evaluation plan discussing the performance measures, tests and data
analysis. We encourage the submission of preliminary proposals via
electronic mail.

Preliminary proposals for NIE are due by February 15, 1995. Note
the separate preliminary and full proposal deadlines for policy
proposals. Proposers contemplating policy studies are encouraged to
contact the program at least six weeks prior to the December 15
target date.



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Dr. Barbara Weibel Mihalas, Program Director
Networking Infrastructure for Education, EHR & CISE
National Science Foundation
Stafford Building Suite 855,
4201 Wilson Blvd,
Arlington, VA 22230
Phone: (703) 306-1655 X 5875   Fax: (703) 306-0434
Email:  bmihalas@nsf.gov
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^







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