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2023-24 Tools Competition

Engaging Adult Learners in Higher Education

Finalists for this track have been announced. Learn more here.
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Phase III results were released on April 4, 2024. For Phase II competitors, please contact our team at ToolsCompetition@the-learning-agency.com if you would like to receive feedback on your Phase II proposal. 


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Learn About the Track

Track Description

Tools that increase the effectiveness and reach of higher education, particularly in support of adult learners. Competitors in this track should propose solutions that increase equitable education, supporting learners in engaging in and successfully completing learning experiences, and/or navigating career pathways.

This track is particularly interested in proposals targeting adult learners* from high-need demographics who have been historically and systemically underserved by current education and workforce systems. We are especially interested in innovative ideas that leverage technology to improve equity and access in higher education. Our emphasis is on tools that complement instruction, support learning and career outcomes and allow adult learners to develop new skills and transition into new careers. This may include, but is not limited to, tools that:

  • Drive retention, persistence, completion, and workforce readiness in higher education
  • Boost community, belonging, and connection to peers and others in online learning spaces
  • Foster self-directed learning skills
  • Provide scalable timely supports and interventions that enhance and complement human interactions with students
Adult learners face unique circumstances. They may be parents, working full-time, or resuming studies later in life. There are more than 40 million adults in the United States that have attended college, but have not completed a degree. In California alone, 6.8 million adults aged 25-54 have a high school diploma but no higher education. This is paired with continued demographic trends that show adult learners will become an increasingly larger cohort of college students in the years ahead. For these learners—who have historically struggled with low completion rates at colleges and universities—committing to and completing higher education requires a learning experience that provides flexibility and direct pathways to careers. As the share of adult learners in higher education grows, particularly among historically underrepresented populations, there is greater urgency for tools that make higher education more accessible, inclusive, and responsive to their unique needs.

Competitive tools should facilitate continuous data collection on learner persistence, engagement, and progress, and support research insights on factors driving completion of learning experiences and career outcomes. Solutions may help to understand the type of design that can accelerate learner progress, how to increase completion rates and decrease the time to completion, the barriers to learner persistence, or how to identify effective career pathways.

Target User/Audience

Adult learners* in higher education, particularly from underserved and underrepresented communities. While proposals focused on higher education broadly may also be competitive in this track, a subset of awards will be reserved for tools targeting the specific populations defined as competitive priorities below.

*Adult learners may include, for example, working adults, those who delayed enrolment in higher education after high school, single parents, or those in other circumstances.

Who should submit?

Competitors worldwide are invited to submit, but tools must serve or intend to serve learners and institutions in the United States. We welcome proposals from teams or individuals from all backgrounds, including edtech companies, researchers/universities, educators, or students (undergraduate or graduate).

Competitive Priorities

A subset of awards will be reserved for:

  • Tools leveraging Generative AI or Large Language Models
  • Tools targeting working adult learners in a fully-online learning environment
  • Tools that serve learners in the State of California

Examples

While the Tools Competition has different tracks and competitive priorities from year to year, the winning tools below are examples of what would be considered compelling for the Higher Education Track in this year’s competition.
UnlockEdCatalyst Award
UnlockEd

Catalyst Award

central caroline
My Academic Pathway Toolkit

Catalyst Award

tool-com
ASTRA

Catalyst Award

generation
Generation

Transform Award

Judges

Tools Competition judges play a critical role in selecting Tools Competition Winners and bring expertise spanning philanthropy, research, industry, and education. Judges will hear virtual pitches from finalists in Phase III of the competition.

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Marisa Bold

VP of Sustainable Growth & District Development
Calbright College
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Ben Castleman

Associate Professor, Economics of Education
University of Virginia
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David Croom

Vice President and Program Officer, Jobs & Skills, Global Philanthropy
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
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Claire Fisher

Senior Director of AI Strategies
Foundation for California Community Colleges
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Gabriella Gomez

Executive Vice President, Policy, Advocacy & Communications
Strada Education Foundation
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Cecilia Marshall

Director, External Partnerships
Partnership for Education Advancement
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Nicholas Pelzer

Senior Director, Portfolio
Blue Meridian Partners
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Emma Pengelly

VP, Philanthropy
Ingeborg Initiatives
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Rahim Rajan

Board Member
AQL Labs
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Jennie Sanders

Vice President, Faculty Experience & Academic Services
Western Governors University
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Philipp Schmidt

VP Technology Innovation
Axim Collaborative
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Sarah Schwettmann

Research Scientist
MIT CSAIL
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Alex Swartsel

Managing Director, Insights
JFF Labs
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Piyush Tantia

Chief Innovation Officer
ideas42
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Matt Zieger

Senior Program Officer
GitLab Foundation

Compete in this Track

1. Select your award level

When submitting a proposal, competitors must select the relevant award level based on the size and scale of their tool. Proposals at all award levels should detail how the proposed tool will solve a defined problem, rather than focus on past achievements.
catalyst

Catalyst Level Awards: $50,000

These awards are designed for early-stage competitors.
  • Tool requirement : For competitors with an idea but no existing tool, the proposal must detail how funding will be used to develop the tool. For competitors with an early-stage tool, the proposal must detail how funding will be used to add a new feature or element to the existing tool or to enhance and improve effectiveness.
  • User requirement : There is no minimum number of users required at this level. Competitors may submit with a great idea or early stage tool.
  • Research requirement : There is no research requirement at this level. Evaluators look for an understanding of the tools’ potential to contribute to learning science research broadly and the intention of the team to support external researchers through data-sharing, partnerships, or instrumentation.
growth

Growth Level Awards: $150,000

These awards are designed for competitors with a tool with some users and scale.
  • Tool requirement : Proposals must detail how the funding will be used to add a new feature or element to the existing tool or to enhance and improve effectiveness.
  • User requirement : The tool should have active users at the time of submission. Most tools competitive for this phase have already gone to market.
  • Research requirement : Teams are required to demonstrate a commitment to learning science research. In the Phase II proposal, this will include a plan to support external researchers at scale, which may include data-sharing, research partnerships, and instrumentation of the tool for research.
transform

Transform Level Awards : $300,000

These awards are designed for advanced competitors with an established tool.
  • Tool requirement : Proposals must detail how the funding will be used to add a new feature or element to the existing tool or to enhance and improve effectiveness.
  • User requirement : The tool should have at least 10,000 users at the time of submission.
  • Research requirement : Teams are required to demonstrate a commitment to learning science research. In the Phase II proposal, this will include a plan to support external researchers at scale, which may include data-sharing, research partnerships, and instrumentation of the tool for research.

2. Apply for the OpenAI Learning Impact Prize

Determine whether you are eligible to apply for the OpenAI Learning Impact Prize (optional).

OpenAI Learning Impact Prize

Implementation Impact Award:

Supplemental funding of $100,000 is available to select winners at the Growth or Transform level that propose a partnership to conduct research with, co-design, user-test, pilot, or validate their product in partnership with Calbright College, sponsor of the Tools Competition.

In Phase I, competitors will indicate if they intend to compete for the Implementation Impact Prize. In Phase II, competitors will detail their partnership plan. To be eligible, tools must support learners in a fully online learning environment and competitors must serve or intend to serve learners in the State of California.

OpenAI Learning Impact Prize:

In partnership with OpenAI, the Tools Competition is thrilled to offer the OpenAI Learning Impact Prize to catalyze the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on learning outcomes and drive edtech innovation leveraging advanced computational methods.
Given the rise of ChatGPT and growing interest in the possibilities of AI in educational settings, the 2023-24 competition is especially interested in supporting teams that are exploring, testing, or using AI-enabled tools and services to impact learning.

OpenAI will select up to three recipients of the OpenAI Learning Impact Prize among competition winners who will receive $100,000 in additional funds, $10,000 in OpenAI API credits, and technical guidance from OpenAI engineers. Select contenders will also receive $2,500 in OpenAI API credits.

Competitors across all tracks that indicate an interest in being considered for this award will complete additional requirements when submitting their proposal materials. 

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Proposals will be evaluated for the following criteria

 

1

Novelty of the tool
and technology

 

2

Potential impact and likelihood to improve learning

 

3

Attention to equity to support learning of historically marginalized populations

 

4

Demand from learners, families, and educators

 

5

Ability to support learning engineering

 

6

Ability to scale to additional users and/or domains

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What is a Tool?

The Tools Competition funds edtech tools and technologies that support learning outcomes and can contribute to learning science research.

Eligible tools have the potential to generate novel learning data that researchers can study to better understand learning at scale. This may include an app, software, algorithm, or other digital technology that facilitates or supports continuous data collection and has the potential to scale at minimal cost.

Please note that this definition is not exhaustive. As technology continues to develop and innovations are created globally, other tool concepts may also be competitive.

Not sure your tool is eligible? Explore winning tools from previous years or get in touch.

Timeline

  • November 10 2023

    Deadline for Phase I
    Abstracts
    Competitors submit a 750-word abstract describing the concept for their tool and responding to the evaluation criteria.
  • December 8 2023

    Select competitors invited
    to Phase II
  • February 2 2024

    Deadline for Phase II
    Proposals
    Competitors develop a 3,000-word proposal and budget detailing their tool and its technology and responding in detail to the evaluation criteria. Rubrics will be posted when Phase II opens.
  • April 2024

    Finalists invited to Phase III
    pitches
  • April-May 2024

    Phase III Pitches (virtual)
    Finalists pitch before a panel of expert judges and have the opportunity for support and feedback in crafting their pitch.
  • June 2024

    Winners Announced
    Winners are announced and receive the first installment of their award. Winners receive coaching, the opportunity to connect with leaders in the field, and the ability to present to researchers or to refine their tool.
  • Year Following the
    Competition

    Winner Impact Study
    All winners will work with Georgia State University during the year following the competition to define impact measures for their tool and set up processes for ongoing data collection and evaluation.
  • December 2024

    Product Review Day
    Winners present on their progress to date and receive feedback from other winners and leaders in the field. Progress is considered against winner’s proposal and receive the second installment of their award after Product Review Day.

Timeline

September 21, 2023
Competition Launch
November 10, 2023
Deadline for Phase I Abstracts

Competitors submit an abstract describing the concept for their tool and responding to the evaluation criteria.

December 8, 2023
Select competitors invited to Phase II
February 2, 2024
Deadline for Phase II Proposals

Competitors develop a proposal and budget detailing their tool and its technology and responding in detail to the evaluation criteria. Rubrics will be posted when Phase II opens.

April 2024
Finalists invited to Phase III pitches
April-May 2024
Phase III Pitches (virtual)
Finalists pitch before a panel of expert judges and have the opportunity for support and feedback in crafting their pitch.
June 2024
Winners Announced
Winners are announced and receive the first installment of their award. Winners receive coaching, the opportunity to connect with leaders in the field, and the ability to present to researchers or to refine their tool.
Year Following the Competition - Winner Impact Study
All winners will work with Georgia State University during the year following the competition to define impact measures for their tool and set up processes for ongoing data collection and evaluation.
December 2024
Product Review Day
Winners present on their progress to date and receive feedback from other winners and leaders in the field. Progress is considered against winner’s proposal and receive the second installment of their award after Product Review Day.
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Explore a Different Track

Phase III results for the Building an Adaptive & Competitive Workforce track will be released in late May. Meet the finalists for all other tracks here.