The 2019 Shark Tank Open, sponsored by Minnesota State Educational Innovations, featured 12 innovative pitches that aimed to address obstacles to student success by using existing technologies, resources, or practices in innovative ways.
From the 12 pitches that were presented, seven have been awarded innovation funding grants:
• “SMILE” your Health Depends on It – Lake Superior College – $25,000
Interdisciplinary simulations that utilize all Allied Health and Nursing Programs to provide comprehensive, holistic, healthcare to patients. The simulation starts with a dental hygiene visit and the standardized patients utilize a bionic hybrid simulation suit to create vital signs and assessment findings that would prompt the hygienist to call for medical assistance.
• Culturally Responsive Pedagogy at Minneapolis College: An Intensive, Cohort Training – Minneapolis College – $25,000
A year-long, intensive training to support our college Strategic Priority that creates an expectation of culturally responsive pedagogy, with the goal increasing student success and decreasing equity opportunity gaps.
• Bringing the Farm to the Classroom with Virtual Reality – Southwest Minnesota State University – $25,000
Even in the middle of farm country, it’s difficult to schedule visits to various animal farms for students in an animal science course. With 360-degree video of selected facilities filmed by a Twin Cities production company, students will be able to explore these facilities, their design, and how the animals interact with their environment and each other in, for example, a robot dairy farm.
• OER Learning Circles in Northeast MN – Hibbing Community College – $24,970
This will expand the use of open educational resources (OER), no-cost educational resources, in northeast Minnesota. A trained “Learning Circle” leader will guide faculty from multiple campuses through the process of choosing an OER and redesigning a course around it.
• MN NICE – The Minnesota (State) Networked Immersive Collaborative Experience – St. Cloud State University – $24,886
A shared, collaborative Virtual Reality environment for classroom scale audiences. Students, presenters and other participants will be able to see each other and work together in a shared experience.
• Networked Education: Bringing education to you through robotics – Winona State University – $14,800
Winona State University is using robots to work virtually with elementary-education students at the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. Because of the success of the program, WSU is looking to add another set of robotic classmates to expand the program to Pine Technical and Community College.
• Co-Curricular Assessment – Partnerships Centered on Student Learning – St. Paul College – $10,000
By expanding the co-curricular assessment toolkit at Saint Paul College, including the utilization of existing technology, and partnering with the Minnesota State System Office and other system institutions, this will develop avenues to adapt and expand co-curricular assessment as an emerging best practice.
To view a selection of previously funded innovation projects, visit the Shark Tank Open Stories page or the ASA Newsletter’s Stories of Innovation Series.
Questions? Please contact Stephen Kelly.
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