Day 1

While COVID-19 has driven record numbers of students to sign up for online education in the region, there is uncertainty about its availability and impact. How can platforms reach more students? How can learning engineering and experimentation improve outcomes? What can be done to reach the students who need the most help? Learn how leaders in the region are answering these questions, and the biggest areas for additional work.

Nafez Dakkak, Queen Rania Foundation & Edraak; Rana Dajani, We Love Reading; Saif Rayyan, J-Wel; moderated by Kyle McEneaney, Schmidt Futures.

Because of COVID-19 school closures, students are likely to experience the most significant learning loss in math. Can online tutoring help students get back on track? What does tutoring at scale look like? Leading experts will discuss what is already happening, and what needs to be done to realize the potential of high-dose tutoring.

Alan Safran, Saga Education; Richard Tong, Squirrel AI; Monica Bhatt, University of Chicago; moderated by Julia Quinn, Citadel.

With the sudden transition to online learning, the nation is is being confronted by how little we know about how children learn effectively in such settings. Rather than continue to underinvest in research, how do we build the infrastructure for continued experimentation and better test and scale what works? Leading voices will discuss how to build a research infrastructure during the pandemic and how it can serve during this crisis and beyond.

Mark Schneider, The Institute of Education Sciences; Amanda Rosenburg, Google edu; Neil Heffernan, ASSISTments; Alejandro Gibes de Gac, Springboard Collaborative; moderated by Kumar Garg, Schmidt Futures.

The pandemic has made clear the value of data science as a topic of study. Now more than ever, students need to know how to understand key issues like probability and false positives. In this session, we will discuss how math literacy can be infused with more data science.

Steven Levitt, University of Chicago; Kathi Fisler, Bootstrap & Brown University; Ruthe Farmer, CS for All; moderated by Bill Tucker, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.