Your innovation proposal should focus on your specific audience who may include, but may not be limited to, the administrators who will be affirming the completed innovation plan, your colleagues or peers you are hoping will be inspired to join you, and/or other stakeholders who have an interest in how the innovation will impact your learners.
Ideally, your innovation proposal should take the form of a 1-page letter because it will become part of your overall plan that you will be sharing with your audience.
The innovation proposal should address the following 5 key points:
- Opportunity or problem that you have observed (that can be addressed as part of CEI)
- How you will address the opportunity or solve the problem
- What you are proposing to do (Pilot project… over what time frame)
- Benefits of this solution
- What are you asking for
Be prepared to revise and update as your ideas develop and your situation changes.
Letter Format Examples
https://stemtoolkit.weebly.com/project-proposal.html
https://www.teachingincolorwithmrsj.com/project07 (does not deal with programming or computational thinking but is still a really good example)
https://sharplibrarian.weebly.com/innovation-plan.html
https://tashiamossman.wixsite.com/tmossman/innovation-proposal
Document Format Example (Depending on your audience and their expectations a more detailed document may be required).
http://www.patricknreid.com/2016/09/05/ipad-educational-opportunities/
Innovation Proposal Planning Tips
Begin with the end in mind, 100k view, learning outcomes, be clear about your purpose
Understand that the proposal will change based on situations, personnel, circumstances
Be flexible, adaptable, and patient, rest assured that things will not go as planned
Collaborate with others–get others on board with your ideas, key influencers
Start with a pilot/trial/focus group, don’t extend too far too fast
Plan forward, but do not map every step; fail forward opportunities are automatically built into innovation planning
Consider how you will measure success; what will be happening and what will others be doing
Completed Innovation Plan – Looking Ahead
Your innovation plan will include the following
- Media Pitch – 2 minutes or less, capturing your project and Audience
- Innovation Proposal Letter to District/Principal/School Board/Administration/Media
- Literature support, 5+ resources
- Implementation Outline, plan ahead for next steps over the next 12-24 months
- Innovation Plan – a final post that narrates and summarizes your plan and includes links to all the above
Examples of how the innovation proposal will fit into the final innovation plan:
https://www.teachingincolorwithmrsj.com/project07
http://www.patricknreid.com/ipadopportunities/
