Exploratory Projects
Current Status: New this year, DDI seeks proposals that support innovation in technology to enhance and deepen the undergraduate experience and serve the instructional needs of our community. Areas of interest might include active, collaborative learning, knowledge capture and publication. We welcome proposals that work toward the University's strategic goals of technical literacy, deepening global engagement and impact, transforming the arts (and media), innovative creation, management and delivery of scholarly resources and opportunities.
Criteria for review:
Two criteria we would take into account in reviewing requests.
(1) Breadth of Engagement: This can be interpreted both as breadth in the number of individuals involved with the project, and the extend of the project's impact on campus and beyond.
(2) Depth in innovation: This can be achieved in at least two ways: 1. Innovative applications of a new technology (this could support proof of concept ideas, applications, solutions, or experiments) 2. Innovative or deeper uses of existing technology.
| breadth of engagement | depth in innovation |
|---|---|
| number of individuals involved in project | innovation with new technology |
| extent of campus impact | innovative or deeper use of existing technology |
Preferred activities: Preference will be given to projects whose goals are in line with the strategic goals of the University as well as the University's academic goals. Projects that achieve a connection with these goals and also demonstrate (but are not limited to) some of the following concepts in technology will also be preferred:
Web 2.0 solutions, convergence, technical literacy, media literacy, incubation of existing solutions, mashups, tagging, etc.
Applications process:
Applications will be submitted through the DDI website and received by OIT. The OIT team lead will contact the applicant with any questions. If the application involves local IT support, the applicant must have gotten approval from those staff before receiving the grant. At this time, any consultation or revisions to the project proposal will happen. With the final project application, the OIT team lead will contact the DDI Advisory Council.
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. It is expected that the program will fund 3-5 projects for the academic year including Fall '07 and Spring '08. Projects may be proposed by individuals or teams. Applicants should note that all awarded funds must be spent by May 31, 2008, and plan budgets accordingly. Proposals should be scoped around realistically achievable deliverables that can be completed by the end of Spring '08.
Tools and resources created through the grant should have the potential to be applied beyond the initial courses for which they are created. Applicants should explain how they intend to make their resources available to broader constituencies, both on and off campus if applicable. The proposal should have a fully-scoped project with achievable objectives, deliverables, and realistic timelines.
Responsibilities upon receipt:
Applicants who are awarded grants through this program will be expected to collaborate with IT professionals at the University. Participants will be asked to share outcomes, lessons-learned, and project materials with the community (when appropriate). Examples of these materials are lessons-learned documentation, project planning materials, digital pictures, digital video, application solutions, open code, etc. Applications that integrate with existing frameworks or enterprise solutions might be incorporated into University solutions.
Range of Support (Dates and Dollars):
The projects must take place either Fall '07 or Spring '08 on the academic calendar. Requests for funds should be realistic, given the scope of the project. The project's budget should be directly linked to your defined activities. Support might be in the form of information dissemination, small application building, some hardware and software needs, or anything innovative you can envision.
Deadline:
All project activities must be completed by end of Spring semester 2008. There is no deadline for applying, but funds are distributed as available so applications should be submitted as early as possible.
Apply here:
DDI 07 Exploratory Project application (this is an online application that is 3 pages long). We encourage you to have your application materials gathered before filling the application out. Download a .pdf version of the full application as a guide for creating your document. You can also submit an electronic copy of your application via email to ddi@duke.edu with "Exploratory Project" in the Subject field. If you have an questions about the application process or the project, email ddi@duke.edu
