Project Focus Areas

The Digital Learning Initiative supports innovative digital learning projects at Boston University. To date, we have nurtured 28 projects on Boston University’s Charles River and Medical campuses.

Our projects enable forward-looking schools and colleges to experiment with new ways of improving our students’ learning experiences at Boston University.

Focus Areas

This past year, we invited interested in proposals focusing on the following areas:

• Focus Area 1: Technology-mediated projects that facilitate connections between faculty/student teams and outside organizations (corporations, public agencies, etc.) for the purpose of project-based, experiential and work-integrated learning and internships that are embedded in courses and programs of study.

• Focus Area 2: Technology-mediated projects (such as ones involving predictive analytics, mentoring tools or platforms, academic alert/nudge systems etc.) that aim to improve the quality of academic, career and life mentoring/advising we offer to our students.

• Focus Area 3: Innovative approaches to developing capabilities for serving “lifelong learners.” This includes (but is not limited to) ideas for professional courses, micro-credentials, lifelong learning portals, and developing new/better ways to keep our alumni connected to BU.

• Focus Area 4: Innovative approaches to adaptive learning and/or differentiated instruction. These are projects which, in the context of sound pedagogy, strive to individualize and personalize learning based on each student’s unique needs, current understandings and interests.

• Focus Area 5: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) with a preference for courses that showcase unique aspects of Boston University and can contribute to the University’s global reputation; XSeries (sequences of related courses or modules that lead to an overarching achievement); and MicroMasters.

• Focus Area 6: Technology-mediated projects that aim to improve the quality of our students’ global experience.

Information Sessions for 2018 Proposals

We will hold four Information Sessions this fall for members of the BU academic community. Please register now for the date and time that are best for you:

October 17           1:30 – 3:30 pm 141 Bay State Road, Rm 104
October 24           1:30 – 3:30 pm Webinar
November 14      1:30 – 3:30 pm 141 Bay State Road, Rm 104
December 4         1:30 – 3:30 pm Webinar

New Ideas Welcome Throughout the Year

We hope you will attend one of our Information Sessions this fall to learn more about the proposal and evaluationg process for projects for 2018.

But we always welcome any ideas you may have about how technology can be used to enhance our residential value proposition or reach new groups of learners. We will make ourselves available to discuss your ideas on an ongoing basis; you can reach us at budli@bu.edu.