Tech Talk: The P.I.E Challenge

The goal of the P.I.E Challenge is to bring about a revolution in math learning, so that each student can learn for five-unit math in a way that has been individually structured.

By ARIEL SHAPIRA
Group of students raising hands during a lesson in the classroom. [Illustrative] (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Group of students raising hands during a lesson in the classroom. [Illustrative]
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
For the first time, Israelis are invited to participate in the P.I.E Challenge (Personalization in Education), a unique start-up competition that is promoting customized learning solutions for students planning to take the five-unit math matriculation exams in high school.
The winners will receive a NIS 1 million prize and be invited to implement their solution in dozens of schools in Israel’s outlying communities.
The goal of the P.I.E Challenge is to bring about a revolution in math learning, so that each student can learn for five-unit math in a way that has been individually structured for her or his style of learning.
Entrepreneurs, teachers, educators and techies are invited to join the challenge and create innovative ways for teachers to customize teaching, with a special focus on the varying pace, interests and strengths of each student.
Online registration began on December 3 and will remain open until the end of February. Each candidate must submit a proposal or prototype and be able to explain their idea in detail.
The best 10 groups will be chosen to participate in the challenge.
Each group will receive NIS 100,000 to get started on their project, which they can use over six months to accomplish their task. The funding comes from the Trump Foundation for Education, and the competition is being organized by the IDF Unit 8200 Alumni Association.
The solutions each group develops will remain under the full ownership of its members, with no diluting of percentages of the enterprise. In addition, all 10 groups will have access to leading international and Israeli investors and companies.
The P.I.E Challenge board members include: Nir Lampert, chairman of the IDF Unit 8200 Alumni Association and CEO of the Mer Group; Eli Hurvitz, CEO of the Trump Foundation for Education; Prof. Dan Ariely, global behavioral economist and best-selling author; Prof. Michal Yerushalmi, global expert in innovation and technology in a mathematical learning environment; Dr. Kira Radinsky, hi-tech entrepreneur and computer scientist; Meirav Zerbib, director of R&D in the Education Ministry; Dr. Shlomi Katan, senior director of learning and human potential in XPRIZE; Rivka Wadmany Shauman, chairwoman of the Education and Teaching Committee at the Council for Higher Education and an expert in digital innovation; Geula Sever, mathematics teacher at the Hof Hacarmel joint school and member of the Teachers’ Center and Club 5; Michal Avni, CEO of Symbolab; and Mohanna Fares, director of the Senior Division (National Systemic Programs) at the Education Ministry2.
geekApps
Founded by Asi Israelof, Adi Katz and Guy Amar in 2016, geekApps is the only Israeli start-up that was selected by Startup Grind, the world’s largest start-up community, to take part in Startup Grind Global 2018, which recently took place in Redwood City, California.
Geekapps was one of the 130 startups that presented their technologies at the exhibition, which were selected from among 7,000 start-ups from 115 countries and 400 cities around the world. One year ago, the London Stock Exchange chose to include geekApps in its prestigious ELITE Program, which identifies companies with a high potential to achieve an IPO.
Startup Grind is the largest start-up community in the world and connects a million start-up founders in more than 400 cities in 100 countries around the world. Working in partnership with Google, Startup Grind helps entrepreneurs to collaborate, recruit investors and find other users.
Geekapps is active in several countries and in the near future will launch operations in the United States. The geekApps management offices and R&D center are located in Jerusalem, and the company’s service and sales centers are located in New York and China.
Geekapps has 60 employees in its Israel and foreign offices, and the technology is available in 12 languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. So far, thousands of applications have been created using geekApps.
If you run a young start-up, have developed an interesting app or have a question, please feel free to contact info@ social-wisdom.com.
Translated by Hannah Hochner.