TEL Support and Funding

At SMU, CTE supports TEL through funding support, pedagogical consultation, vendor management services, and evaluation of student learning. The SMU TEL Grant is an annual competitive fund where project proposals are reviewed to ensure sound alignment to learning objectives and to steer projects with the potential for wider application across SMU.

Fund Categories

The TEL Grant will comprise of three types of funds to support different target applicants, namely the Subscription Fund, Exploration Fund, and the Incubation Fund. 

If the EdTech project is unique and has the potential to create an impact on the international education scene, CTE together with Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE), will invite you to consider taking the next step of commercialising your technology by availing support, guidance and funding through the MOE Decentralised Gap Funding.

Alignment to TEL Framework

In order to ensure alignment to SMU’s TEL Framework, all projects are required to enhance:

• Personalised learning
  These include, but are not limited to, the development of innovative, interactive and engaging digital content in the form of single-player games and simulations, self-paced digital tools that provide learners with choices in the learning process or have adaptive features to cater to the learning progression of students and virtual reality tools.

• Collaborative and interactive learning
  These include, but are not limited to, the development of immersive and engaging multi-player team-based games and simulations that enhance collaborative learning.

• Experiential learning
  These include, but are not limited to, the development of tools that facilitate learning through innovation and knowledge production, and/or participatory learning and action.

Grant Eligibility

• CTE recommends that SMU full-­time faculty who are, at the point of application, on the Standing/Practice/Education track, and holding the position of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Full Professor, be eligible to submit a grant application as the main faculty project lead. Adjunct faculty, who wish to apply for the grant, are required to seek prior approval from their respective School’s Deans. Instructors and CEC Teaching Fellows and administrative staff (e.g. Library) who support full-­time faculty in teaching and learning are also eligible to submit grant applications as a collaborator, in partnership with a full­time faculty project lead.

• Faculty may only submit an application if their previously approved projects are successfully completed by the stipulated deadline. This means that faculty with previously approved projects have to fulfill all requirements including the official acknowledgment of receipt of the final Report from their School, before submitting another application.

Grant Timeline

The announcement of funding support takes place in mid-November each year. Here are the key dates to take note of for the 2024 call for TEL fund grant: 

* If you would still like to apply after the application closes, please reach out to James Foo or Bernie Koh at cte [at] smu.edu.sg.

For all applications, CTE will get approval by Dean followed by an approval and endorsement from Vice Provost & FACTL Committee before grant approval. The key milestones for projects awarded under the exploration or incubation grant is shown below. Project funding is approximately one year, with possibility for a reasonable extension is possible.

Review Criteria

Grant applicants will be evaluated and selected by the Selection Committee based on the following criteria:

• Impact of the project
  Potential contribution of the proposal to improving student outcomes or teaching and learning practices; Potential for the scalability of the projects to SMU or a wider context.
• Intellectual merits of the proposal
  Rigor of research methodology and learning design; Innovativeness and conceptual sophistication of technology integration; Clarity of purpose.
• Evaluation Plan
  Sound approach in measuring the alignment of learning outcomes with the effectiveness of use of TEL tools, beyond student perception surveys.
• Contribution to the professional community
  Plans to disseminate results of pedagogy research within and beyond SMU; Advance knowledge through collaboration with other IHLs; Highlight the significance of research to the applicant's field and professional development, as well as to the interests and needs of the curriculum, school or SMU.

Deliverables

Recipients will specify project milestones, in consultation with the CTE team, endorsed by the Selection Committee(s). Depending on the type of funds applied for, recipients will be required to present their progress updates and findings at varying degrees such as presenting their findings that contribute to the knowledge base of the field to the SMU / National / International community through publishing journal articles and/or presenting in conferences / workshops / interest groups. Faculty who are keen to publish their educational research findings in peer-reviewed articles or a research journal shall be given support by CTE.

How to apply? 

Please complete the form below and send it to the CTE team at cte [at] smu.edu.sg. Interested applicants may also contact either James Foo or Bernie Koh at cte [at] smu.edu.sg for a discussion on the TEL funding and application process prior to submitting the proposal form.