Frequently Asked Questions

About the Program

1. What is Next Generation Learning Challenges?
   Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) is a unique collaboration among philanthropic foundations, educators, innovators, and technologists. We’re focused on addressing the barriers to educational innovation by tapping the potential of technology to improve college readiness and completion, particularly for low-income young adults. In addition to grants, NGLC seeks to spark dialogue and community building through a series of events, resources, and online tools designed to catalyze new ideas and foster solutions that span institutions and accelerate student success.
    
2. How is Next Generation Learning Challenges unique?
   NGLC focuses on technology-enabled solutions to the problems of college readiness and completion in all of its programs. NGLC has funded investment beyond the initial R&D stage where emerging results look promising and, instead, focusing on proven solutions that can scale to wider adoption. In other work, the initiative has sought to bring together innovators and adopters to accelerate adoption of effective whole school and degree program breakthrough models.
    
3. Specifically, what does NGLC hope to accomplish?
   Next Generation Learning Challenges seeks to dramatically improve college readiness and completion in the United States. NGLC will accomplish this by identifying proven and emerging technology-enabled solutions, strategies, and models. While the need is greatest among low-income young adults, these solutions should be applicable to all institutions and students. Because college readiness and completion are interconnected, NGLC spans secondary and postsecondary education (grades 6-16).
    
4. How is NGLC funded?
   Grants and the operation of NGLC are supported through funding from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In November 2010, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation joined the program. Additional philanthropic organizations may be invited to participate in the future.
    
5. Is this program only about technology?
   Technology is an important tool that has the potential to increase student achievement through personalized models of teaching that deepen learning and engagement, as well as lower costs. We must use the power of technology to transform education, particularly for those who need it most. Next Generation Learning Challenges will harness this potential by identifying and expanding effective technology-enabled learning solutions to reach more students, with the goal of improving college readiness and completion. However, NGLC understands that technology itself is not the solution. We are committed to seeking innovative working models which harness active pedagogies and deliver results in deeper learning outcomes. We’re not pursuing any one kind of hardware, software, or online solution. NGLC’s focus is on effectiveness rather than a specific technology.
    
6. What are the primary components of the program?
   Next Generation Learning Challenges is structured to provide investment capital, create evidence, and accelerate adoption. Grants provide investment capital for advancing technology-enabled solutions and innovative new models for educational delivery. However, it is imperative that the community also develop and share evidence on which others can build. Thus, evaluation of individual projects as well as of the overall program  are part of NGLC. Likewise, NGLC seeks to accelerate adoption of effective models by engaging individuals, disciplines, and institutions in dialogue, planning and implementation.
    
7. Who will own the content created by NGLC, and how will that content be shared?
   All content contributed to NGLC—from website postings to information generated by grantees—will be available to the community under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license, which allows community-generated content to move in and out of the site with ease. Grantees are encouraged to make other supporting technology available under approved open-source licenses.
    
8. What educational levels will NGLC focus on?
   Because NGLC is focused on college readiness as well as completion, secondary and postsecondary education (grades 6-16) are the focus of our work. Although the institutional context and age of the learners differ, the problems facing students and educators are similar.

NGLC and EDUCAUSE

1. Why is EDUCAUSE involved in Next Generation Learning Challenges?

Advancing student success, often defined as "college completion," is core to higher education's mission. College readiness, student support, engaging learning environments, and programs targeting student persistence all play central roles in student success. EDUCAUSE members have a unique role to play, as they are the source of much of the IT innovation that NGLC seeks to advance in order to achieve its goals.

While EDUCAUSE encourages, supports, and facilitates the sharing of member innovations and solutions, NGLC goes further -- it will foster the implementation of solutions on a large scale. Increasing the adoption of solutions to address our nation's college readiness and completion challenges requires alliances across institutions, associations, foundations, and corporations. EDUCAUSE and NGLC provide an essential platform for building those collaborations.

2. Where does NGLC fit with existing EDUCAUSE programs such as the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI)?

NGLC will not lessen the EDUCAUSE focus on existing programs or services. Members can expect to see EDUCAUSE use the challenges, innovations, and evidence surfaced by NGLC to enrich the existing programs, conferences, and information resources available to our community.

ELI has long fostered the creation and dissemination of ideas, innovations, and solutions that have significantly contributed to our understanding of learners, learning principles and practices, and learning technologies. The work of ELI members has had positive results on many campuses. We see no change in the program of activities ELI has defined for this year. Rather than detracting from or reshaping ELI's focus and agenda, NGLC will generate additional content and knowledge the ELI community can use to enhance its efforts.

3. Who will oversee NGLC?

Overall responsibility for NGLC lies with EDUCAUSE President and CEO Diana Oblinger. Additional staff will be hired to support the program on a day-to-day basis. The development of NGLC will be guided by an executive committee of its collaborator organizations and informed by a national advisory panel.

4. What is the relationship between EDUCAUSE and the other NGLC collaborators?

EDUCAUSE will serve as the lead organization for NGLC, administering the program and facilitating community engagement. We will work with NGLC's sponsors, the League for Innovation in the Community College, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), to provide outreach to specific communities and to ensure NGLC goals are met.

5. If I'm not an EDUCAUSE member, can I still participate?

Participation in NGLC is not limited to EDUCAUSE members. NGLC invites all voices to the conversation through discussion forums, webinars, wikis, and other community engagement activities. We believe we can address these challenges only if we engage philanthropists, educators, innovators, technologists, government, corporations, and the public.

Previous Grant Cycles

What types of projects or programs have been funded by NGLC previously?

Since its launch in October 2010, NGLC has released three waves of funding focused on college completion and college readiness, respectively.

In March 2011, NGLC awarded funding to 29 projects focused on improving college completion by supporting the sustainable adoption-at-scale of successful technology-enabled product, project, or service-based solutions in one or more of the following challenge areas:

• The collection and real-time use of learner analytics by students, instructors, and academic advisors, in order to improve student success.
• The adoption of blended learning models that have demonstrated significant, positive impacts, in order to improve learning outcomes and course/program completion across a range of institutions and academic programs.
• Deeper student learning and engagement through the use of interactive technologies, in order to improve student learning outcomes.
• Development and/or adoption of high-quality, openly licensed, modular courseware in high-enrollment developmental and general education courses, in order to drive broad-scale improvement in student achievement.