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Grants Pave the Way for Experimentation & Innovation at Penn

Academic symbols projected over an open laptop.

11Nov’24

Feature Stories, Spotlights

November 11, 2024 by Erin Bartnett

Using the Spark Innovation Grant to Launch Online

When Karl Stark was asked to launch an online op-ed writing course for the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, he knew the course participants, working medical and health policy professionals, would need the course to be efficient and practical. What he didn't know was how to make that class happen online. As a journalist with more than three decades of experience, he had never taught a course online before. “I didn't even know all the things I didn't know, which is terrifying for a journalist.”  

Stark applied for the CETLI Spark Innovation Grant for financial and technical support to help him learn more about the unknowns.  

The Spark Innovation Grant, which will open calls for the 2025 application season in December, is designed to encourage and support experimentation in online learning. The grant is open to Penn faculty, instructors, and online program staff. Grant recipients can receive up to $35,000 in financial support. “The Spark grant,” Stark says, “was just really important to the whole process and put us on a whole different level.” 

Receiving the grant gave Stark the opportunity to hire Martin Tuttle to help design and produce the “Mastering the Art of Op-Ed Writing for Health Policy” course and gain access to one-of-a-kind learning opportunities. In particular, the grant allowed Stark to gather and produce high-quality video interviews with four prominent Op-Ed editors at the New York Times, The Washington Post, MedPage Today, and Stat News. The interviews were filled with vital tips on how to write an op-ed and what editors look for, but they were also long. With Tuttle, Stark was able to sculpt the interviews into meaningful, accessible lessons that could provide an immediate impact for learners. This was “information, you can't get anywhere else,” Stark says, “and without the Spark grant, we couldn't have presented that.”  

He was thrilled that nearly half of the students in the course were able to successfully publish their pieces in prominent places like The Philadelphia Inquirer, U.S. News & World Report, and KevinMD.com, a site with 3 million views per month where the writer also conducted a podcast interview with Dr. Kevin Pho. The Op-Ed Stark says, becomes “a great tool to bring their research into the public sphere.” 

The next cohort for the “Mastering the Art of Op-Ed Writing for Health Policy” was filled months before the course began and will continue to evolve beyond the Spark Innovation Grant funding. 

Stark’s advice for those considering whether or not to apply? First, he says, “You need a good idea.” And beyond that, “I would just encourage you to try because [online learning] just enlarges your potential influence and effect.” 

Nurturing Experimentation

In addition to financial support, the grant provides administrative support, including instructional design services and access to valuable online learning resources. CETLI staff meet with grant recipients to help them define the project scope, determine course design needs, and connect recipients with the vital resources at Penn and vendors outside of Penn to help recipients meet their project goals.  

For Zachary Herrmann and Gillian Daar at the Center for Professional Learning at the Graduate School of Education, the most vital part of receiving the Spark Innovation Grant was access to the project management support and connections provided by CETLI staff. Herrmann and Daar had extensive experience developing courses for working education professionals. After organizing a successful webinar series on AI and teaching, they set out to create a course on this new, ever-evolving topic, and wanted to experiment with an innovative course design and management system. “We knew that CETLI’s resources, support, and expertise would be really helpful to us as we designed the program,” Herrmann said.  

For the new course, “Introduction to Teaching with Artificial Intelligence (AI)”, they implemented a three-part structure— Explore, Envision, and Enact. First, learners spent time asynchronously exploring a variety of resources like academic articles, podcasts, and popular journal articles. Then they engaged in a series of live workshops led by Penn faculty to delve deeper into tools, applications, and ethical considerations related to AI in education. During part two, participants began envisioning and designing a project that addressed challenges they faced in their own context. In part three, learners developed and implemented their project while routinely meeting in small groups, led by graduate students, to reflect and receive feedback from their peers in the course. 

Through meetings with CETLI, Daar recalls, they were able to develop and refine strategies for implementing their vision for the course. One conversation with CETLI prompted her to think about designing the course for asynchronous learners: “How do you need to set up your course content so learners feel that it is accessible and understandable? How do you design the course to motivate online learners to continue with the coursework?”

Ultimately, Herrmann says, one of the most valuable aspects of receiving the grant and working with CETLI was the opportunity to build connections across campus. “CETLI serves an important role in connecting people across campus,” Herrmann says. “Through these connections, we are able to learn strategies and best practices from others, which helps everyone improve their work.” 

"Introduction to Teaching with AI" is launching its fourth cohort in January 2025 and the program is enrolling new learners now. 

“Getting this grant offers an opportunity to experiment,” Daar says. “What risk can you take by receiving this grant in order to do that exploration?” 

Applications for 2025 Open in December

Stark’s advice for those considering whether or not to apply? First, he says, “You need a good idea.” And beyond that, “I would just encourage you to try because [online learning] just enlarges your potential influence and effect.”  

Herrmann says to think of the grant as an opportunity to explore: “What’s the big puzzle you're trying to solve? And how can you use the resources and supports of CETLI to explore that puzzle?” 

For Daar, the grant is also an opportunity to take risks. “Getting this grant offers an opportunity to experiment,” she says. “What risk can you take by receiving this grant in order to do that exploration?” 

Herrmann agrees: “It takes resources to explore and take risks. By providing those resources, the CETLI Spark Innovation Grant encourages innovation and exploration.” 

CETLI Digital Strategies Grant Program

Visit the Digital Strategies Grant Program page to learn more about the qualifications and expectations for a Spark Innovation Grant as well as the Ignite Micro Grant. 

If you are interested in applying for a grant, submit an inquiry form or contact onlinelearning@upenn.edu.