Proposal

Narrative

Students will benefit from interactive educational apps installed in the requested laptops. The freely available interactive educational apps will engage in student learning experiences while (on site) exploring outdoor natural environments. The educational apps will cover learning experiences related to South Florida natural habitats (from coastal areas to flat pinewoods) and incorporate astronomy, botany, earth and physical sciences, life sciences, natural histories, and oceanography, among other subject matter studies. The two courses in which the laptops will be used are EEC 4327 and EEC 6239, Exploring Natural Habitats as a Curriculum for Children, where in most terms the courses are cross listed. An example of an interactive educational app is https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/earthviewer. Other examples of learning engagement requiring the laptop are audio recordings, graphics, illustrations, and photos that show natural processes (e.g., tectonic plate movements, stromatolites as fossil record of early life forms, sounds of Florida songbirds, and more).

Facilities

Not required.

Hardware Requirements

2 laptops (guided and shared by students during learning activities): Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 - 15", 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSO

Software Requirements

Software in the form of educational apps will be obtained for free from credible and reliable educational sources.

Personnel Costs

None are requested.

Other Costs

MS Complete Warranty (3 years) is requested.

Timeline

As soon as the laptops are purchased in February/March 2026, it will be used starting in Spring 2026 semester with no end date as the laptops will be used regularly in the foreseeable future.

Sustainability

The laptops will be used for the foreseeable future (minimum of three years, likely until the hardware and installed MS software are no longer feasible or functional).

Resource Matching

None has been committed at this time.

Implementing Organization

I am a faculty member in the College of Education, with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction as my home department. The courses are offered by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. The requested laptops will be used in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses that are part of several degree, minor, and certificate programs across the university.