How a Tech Giant is Creating New Opportunities in Education

Tired of talking about it? So is Mike Belcher, Director EdTech Innovation at HP. And while in this episode we couldn’t get around particulars of the pandemic and the effect it has made on both higher ed and k-12, Mike also shares some of the many positives that are emerging from this crisis—from new models of education to the acceleration of cool tech like artificial intelligence and augmented reality. If you need a pickup, have a listen.

HP has initiated a number of projects in response to the pandemic. Turn to Learn, a new program that will deliver educational content curated from leading scientific, publishing and media companies to support teachers and students in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. HP is partnering with TIME for Kids, Britannica and NASA on the program, which will focus on providing critical resources to Title I school districts and underserved students across the United States.

In addition to HP Turn to Learn, HP also announced a series of school district donations, partnerships and new blended learning programs globally to respond to COVID-19. The new programs underscore HP’s goal to enable better learning outcomes for 100 million people by 2025 through global educational programs, equipment donations and on-demand learning tech.

“A student’s right to education should not be contingent on where they live or their family’s income. We must find creative new ways for teachers and students to connect from a distance – because while this pandemic is creating hardship for so many around the world right now, we cannot afford to let it hold back the generation that will shape our future,” said Enrique Lores, HP President and CEO. “As we mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this week, it’s an opportunity to reflect on the world around us and how we’re tackling the greatest threats facing society. Whether we’re helping to fight COVID-19 or climate change, it’s in our collective interest to work together on shared solutions,” said Lores.

As teachers, kids and families experience greater need for educational content, HP has supported TIME for Kids in removing the paywall from their digital content and will ensure printed classroom materials – textbooks, workbooks and other paper-based assignments – will immediately get into the hands of students. The program will ensure K-Grade 3 learners in select school districts will have access to TIME for Kids, Britannica and NASA for the rest of the school year, with the program expanding to K-12 soon.

HP and leading partners are turning to immediate action to close the homework and digital access gap. TIME for Kids has launched a free digital library to bring the trusted in-classroom publication to homes for the first time and to provide free and global access to issues of TIME for Kids and other news literacy resources for the remainder of the school year. NASA’s content is geared towards planet-saving lessons around environmental conservation and stewardship. Britannica has created a number of resources including virtual lessons, home activities, tools for administrators and advice for parents.

HP announces HP Turn to Learn

As schools remain closed due to COVID-19, parents, teachers and students have been thrust into a time of remote teaching and learning. While free digital content remains incredibly useful, it eludes those affected by the “homework gap” – meaning, those students lacking the connectivity or device access to complete schoolwork at home. This gap in access is particularly critical for the youngest learners, grades K-3, when their foundational learning and fundamental skills are just being established. Bridging this gap – particularly during this time of COVID-19 – is the primary objective of this collaboration. The packets will be printed on-demand through the HP Piazza Platform, and delivered to support blended learning at Title I school districts and underserved students across the United States.

By converting digital content to printed booklets, all students will have equal access to materials focused on STEM and environmental topics. HP, in collaboration with Command Companies will offer printed content free of charge, culled from various publishers, to as many US-based K-3 students as possible. To do this, several publishers have committed to create and provide content free of charge. HP is providing the HP Piazza Platform and order processing at no cost to school districts and is providing an in-kind donation of ink to the print service provider that will be printing the booklets. HP will also partner with leading U.S. paper mills to offer an in-kind donation of paper. It’s important to note that no partner stands to make a profit from this initiative – rather, it’s being structured to cover all associated hard costs, including labor and logistics.

HP Foundation

The HP Foundation has contributed $3M grants in total. $1M to support affected communities with critical medical supplies, and its board has approved an additional $2M in grants for COVID-19 relief. The HP Foundation is focused on devoting significant resources to support community response efforts over the coming weeks and months and will be working with both global and local partners to prioritize actions that will have the greatest impact. It will also direct students to the free courses on HP LIFE tied to business skills, marketing and entrepreneurship and match up to $4M this year in HP employee donations to any eligible charity.

Community donations

HP has also committed to distribute $5M in product donations supporting Education, SMB and Healthcare entities in underprivileged and underserved communities around the world. Products include laptops, printers, displays, and paper. HP has also contributed financially to the HBCUvc’s Student Relief Fund while connecting HBCU students to HP’s learning program, HP LIFE and BeChangeMaker.

HP LIFE, a free program of the HP Foundation that offers modules to support skills around entrepreneurship and business development is expanding intro sessions to specifically support teacher and learners, a response to increased demand.  In addition, HP is also teaming up with the Global Business Coalition for Education to provide equipment to students impacted with schools closures with Comp-U-Dopt in Houston, Chicago and Dallas, and distributing new Chromebooks for Safe Horizon’s shelters, which support children living in domestic violence shelters in New York City. Additionally, HP is teaming up with the Oakland Unified School District to provide equipment, supplies and HP Turn to Learn content to support remote teaching and learning.

Global partnership momentum

In China, HP and Rise English have jointly built a home education ecosystem in China to create a one-stop platform that conveniently convert online education content into paper texting for children’s learning. As the first step of cooperation, HP and Rise jointly launched a “Learning at Home” educational printer package, including a HP Smart Tank 518 printer, Rise English online courses and live broadcast courses, as well as a customized online learning kit. This partnership will provide convenient hardware support and rich high-quality content for home learning.

HP also announced the launch of the BeOnline program, an education initiative designed to bring together partners and resources to support remote and distance learning. To date, this program has been rolled out in France, Italy, Spain, Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

HP India has partnered with India-based Interactive Education company Gamooz Interactive Solutions Pvt. Ltd. to provide access of educational content to its customers, from worksheets to 2D Augmented Reality content supported by the Gamooz app to make learning more engaging and fun. HP and Gamooz will also create a community in which educators and students can jointly discuss educational content, problems and solutions.

PC Donations Through HP Refresh

HP created HP Refresh, a new program and free solution that uses technology and a Community Activation Playbook to help quickly get remote learning devices to the students who need them. HP Refresh will make sure students can keep learning during this challenging time by helping communities upgrade older PCs that are considered outdated or underpowered. It does this by providing free software that safely wipes and reimages older HP or non-HP PCs with a Linux operating system, web browser, and a web conferencing application, turning older PCs into browser-based remote learning devices and builds around a Community Activation Playbook that empowers local organizations and families to help safely and securely collect, update and distribute the PCs to students in their communities.

Print, Play & Learn Platform

HP is also partnering with other publishing leaders in education to provide hundreds of free printable activities as families transition to life at home. With parents concerned about the effects of shelter-in-place on elementary education in particular, HP is also now offering Print, Play & Learn, a free online resource to support the many millions around the world who have transitioned to remote learning.

COVID-19 response

• HP and its global digital manufacturing community are mobilizing their 3D printing teams, technology, experience, and production capacity to help deliver critical parts in the effort to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. HP and its partners have produced more than 150,000 3D printed parts such as face shields, face masks, and respirator and ventilator parts, to date.  For more information, visit the HP 3D Printing COVID-19 response page.
• In Israel, the HP Indigo team will design and manufacture nearly 3,000 face shields a day for medical staff. Click here for COVID-19 open source design and manufacturing instructions for Face Shields and Photo ID stickers for medical personnel.

For more information, here are the actions HP is taking to help combat COVID-19.

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