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Elon Musk-funded XPRIZE expands education software testing

It has teamed up with various organizations to test software kids can use to teach themselves.

Back in 2014, XPRIZE announced a new "Global Learning" category that challenged teams to develop open source education software kids in developing countries can use to teach themselves reading, writing and math. The organization launched field tests of the five finalists' creations late last year, and now it's expanding the reach and scale of those pilot tests with help from new partners Queen Rania Foundation, Education Cannot Wait, Teach the World Foundation, Imagine Worldwide and Global Alliance for Humanitarian Innovation.

At this point in time, XPRIZE is only running field tests of the finalists' education software in 150 villages in eastern Tanzania. This partnership called the "Impact Coalition" will give it a way to reach kids in other countries like Jordan and Pakistan, including those living in remote areas and refugee camps. The Global Learning XPRIZE has a $15 million prize purse courtesy of SpaceX/Tesla/Boring Company chief Elon Musk. It already awarded the five finalists with $1 million each and will award "the team whose solution enables
the greatest proficiency gains in reading, writing and arithmetic" with $10 million in April 2019.

Here are the test pilots the Impact Coalition team will conduct: