Renaissance Philanthropy Announces New Effort to Leverage Advances in AI For Education

The program will focus on personalizing student learning, automating administrative tasks for educators, and other applications of AI to improve outcomes for learners.

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 19, 2024 – Renaissance Philanthropy is launching a new AI and education program to identify breakthrough ideas at the intersection of AI and learning science to support parents, teachers, and learners, and drive student success.

The program seeks to harness Renaissance’s expertise in tapping into the expertise of frontier technical experts, surfacing breakthrough ideas on pressing social challenges, and building initiatives that harness the power of philanthropy, government, and markets.

The Walton Family Foundation is a key partner in this effort.

“With the rapid progress in AI capabilities, our partnership creates an exciting opportunity to explore bold technical ideas to support parents, teachers, and learners, and leverage Walton’s deep expertise and network in education,” said Kumar Garg, President of Renaissance Philanthropy.

“We are excited to partner with Renaissance Philanthropy and its incredible network of social innovators, researchers, and educators who are pioneering new ways to improve outcomes for students,” said Romy Drucker, Education Program Director at the Walton Family Foundation. “This collaboration supports our vision of expanding access to high-quality educational opportunities for all students.”

Renaissance Philanthropy advises philanthropists, surfaces breakthrough ideas, and incubates ambitious initiatives. Over the past several months, more than 350 innovators, entrepreneurs, and researchers submitted ideas to Renaissance Philanthropy on how they would tackle the most pressing and immediate problems facing teachers and learners.

In a new report released today that synthesizes this input, three major themes are highlighted:

• Personalized student learning through AI
  Whether it is one-to-one tutoring, or educators tailoring their interventions based on each student’s needs and gaps, the potential for AI-supported personalized learning is substantial. What’s needed is investment in the data and platforms to diagnose learner gaps, deliver high-quality AI instruction, and effectively pair AI tools with the work educators are doing.

• Automating administrative tasks for educators
  There is a huge opportunity to reduce teacher burnout and increase instructional quality by adopting technologies that automate administrative tasks, such as grading and lesson planning. This shift allows educators to focus more on teaching and coaching, rather than managing workloads. What’s needed are good benchmarks for automation tools and assessments to assess their effectiveness and scalability.

• Immersive STEM learning environments
  With the production costs of immersive technologies like AR, VR, and generative AI rapidly dropping, courses in STEM and career and technical subjects can engage students in hands-on, experiential learning. These tools can build critical problem-solving skills and make abstract concepts more accessible. What’s needed is a collaboration among technology partners to develop low-cost, immersive learning modules that can be tested in STEM classrooms.

A complete report on Renaissance’s findings can be found here.

About Renaissance Philanthropy
Renaissance Philanthropy is a nonprofit organization with a mission to fuel a 21st-century renaissance by increasing the ambition of philanthropists, scientists, and innovators. Renaissance Philanthropy advises philanthropists, surfaces breakthrough ideas, and incubates ambitious initiatives.

Contact: media@renphil.org