As technology rapidly changes how we live and work, education systems at all levels must adapt. Teachers need improved support and training, while students worldwide are still making up for pandemic learning losses. Colleges and universities seek new strategies to increase graduation rates to set learners up for tomorrow’s economy and meet the growing demand for high-tech workers.
Few advancements have caused as much excitement as the emergence of artificial intelligence platforms like Chat-GPT and AI-powered tutors. Surveys show that both educators and parents recognize the potential of these technologies to revolutionize teaching, learning, and schools.
Advanced technology has created a unique opportunity to develop innovative solutions to these problems - and technologists need support to design and adapt products for education, while prioritizing ethics, security, and equity.
Learn more about Phase I support resources for competitors here.
Why Participate?
- Get funding for your innovative ideas.
- Build connections with peers and leaders in the Learning Engineering community.
- Receive advising and feedback to enhance and refine your ideas.
- Gain access to resources and virtual events designed to support tool and proposal development.
- Contribute to learning science research.
How are submissions evaluated?
The Tools Competition has a three-phase selection process that spans approximately eight months. This process is intentionally designed in order to give participants time and feedback to strengthen their proposal.
Phase I: Abstract Screening for Fit
- Alignment to opportunity and track objectives.
- Scalability and impact in multiple contexts.
- Potential to generate data that is valuable for learning science research.
- Overall quality of submission.
Phase II: Proposal Review
Detailed proposals undergo expert evaluation and are scored against a rubric. Rubrics will be published prior to Phase II and include factors such as novelty of the technology in the space, potential for impact, and ability of the tool or dataset to contribute to research.
Phase III: Virtual Pitch
Competition Tracks
This year’s tracks span K-12 through post-secondary education. Tracks are designed to encourage participants to propose new and innovative solutions that target pressing issues in learning.
Explore the tracks below to decide which is the best fit for your tool or idea.
Enhancing Post-Secondary Learning Track
Tools that expand access to quality post-secondary learning and broaden connections to career success.
Accelerating K-12 Learning Track
Dataset Prize
The Tools Competition is thrilled to offer the Dataset Prize to spur the development of robust education-focused datasets to support research and development. The prize will award $50,000 for teams to prepare and release datasets that can make innovation and research related to education less expensive and more inclusive.
This long-standing issue has a greater impact on market dynamics given the rise in artificial intelligence. Datasets are fundamental to developing AI models that are more reliable, equitable, ethical, and impactful. The field needs robust data representing diverse student populations and learning contexts, and capturing a holistic picture of learning.
All competitors are eligible and may submit as a supplement to a track proposal or directly to the prize.