June 5, 2008

Allan Hancock College has been 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. Hancock 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.

Allan Hancock College’s winning project is “Creating Active Learners Using an Interactive Classroom Environment (ICE).” Students in engineering and physics classes will work problems requiring drawings and equations on Tablet PCs. Using classroom management software, the instructor can quickly monitor all student screens simultaneously to check their progress.

Students will receive immediate feedback from the instructor who can electronically “ink” hints and corrections on each student’s screen. Students will be able to ask for help electronically without feeling embarrassed in front of fellow students. The instructor will be able to quickly discern topics that cause individual and class-wide confusion.

“Practice is key to learning technical subjects,” said engineering instructor Dom Dal Bello (pictured left). “Tablet PC and classroom management technology will enable instructors to be more effective in helping students succeed. Immediate feedback from the instructor to individual students will allow us to do more in-class problems with greater understanding.”

The engineering program at Allan Hancock College prepares students to transfer to such universities as Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and UC Santa Barbara. Allan Hancock College has one of the most extensive engineering course offerings of any California community college, including hands-on laboratory courses.

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.

More information about Allan Hancock College is available at www.hancockcollege.edu.

- AHC -