Every week at Olympus Insights, we reflect on the fundamental question driving our work: How can we deliver life-changing education to anyone, anywhere, at scale? This question guides our product design, our partnerships, and our mission to decentralise opportunity. But it’s also a question that educators, psychologists, and policymakers have wrestled with for decades.
In 1984, educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom posed a challenge to the world that still hasn’t been fully solved. He called it the “2 Sigma Problem” — and it may hold the key to unlocking the next era of personalised, effective, and equitable education.
What Is the 2 Sigma Problem?
Bloom’s research found that students who received one-on-one tutoring using mastery learning techniques performed two standard deviations (2 sigma) better than students in traditional classroom settings. To put that into perspective: a student at the 50th percentile in a typical class could perform at the 98th percentile with the support of a personal tutor.
That’s not a small improvement. It’s a massive leap in educational outcomes — one that could erase achievement gaps, unlock potential in struggling learners, and raise global education standards dramatically.
But Bloom also recognised a major limitation: individualised tutoring is expensive, resource-intensive, and hard to scale. His challenge to the education world was this: Find a method as effective as one-on-one tutoring that can be scaled to classrooms, schools, and systems around the world.
Four decades later, we believe we’re on the cusp of that solution.
Mastery Learning + Personalised Tutoring = Breakthrough Potential
Bloom’s model rested on two pillars:
- Mastery learning: Students should not move on to the next topic until they’ve demonstrated a solid understanding of the current one. This approach contrasts sharply with traditional classrooms, where the class moves forward regardless of whether everyone is ready.
- One-on-one tutoring: Individual support allows students to get immediate feedback, learn at their own pace, and focus on their unique areas of need.
These two ingredients proved transformational. But without scalable systems, they were reserved for the few who could afford them — not the billions who need them.
At Olympus Insights, we’ve taken Bloom’s challenge personally. We believe the combination of artificial intelligence, blockchain-backed credentials, and human-centred design is finally allowing us to bring 2-sigma outcomes to scale.
The Role of AI in Solving the 2 Sigma Problem
One of the most promising advances in educational technology is the development of AI-powered tutors — intelligent systems that can guide learners through material in a personalised, adaptive, and conversational way.
Here’s how we’re building on Bloom’s framework using our own AI Personal Tutor, integrated into the OLi platform:
1. Personalised Learning Paths
Our AI tutor assesses a learner’s current understanding through short diagnostic tasks and adapts its support in real time. Whether a learner is struggling with basic financial concepts or ready to tackle smart contract logic, the system adjusts accordingly — just like a human tutor would.
2. Mastery-Based Progression
Instead of rushing through lessons, our platform ensures that learners demonstrate true understanding before moving forward. They receive targeted feedback, supportive questioning, and scaffolded tasks to reach mastery — mirroring the principles Bloom outlined.
3. Real-Time Feedback and Encouragement
The AI tutor gives immediate responses to student inputs, helping them reflect, revise, and retry. But more than that, it encourages curiosity, praises persistence, and builds confidence — core ingredients in any effective educational journey.
4. Scalability and Access
Unlike traditional tutors, our AI can support thousands of learners simultaneously, across time zones, languages, and cultural contexts. Whether you’re in a classroom in Melbourne, a training hub in Lagos, or learning independently in rural India, you can access a high-quality, responsive tutor 24/7.
Closing the Global Education Gap
The implications of solving the 2 Sigma Problem aren’t just academic — they’re transformational for social mobility, economic development, and human flourishing.
A 2015 report by McKinsey & Company estimated that closing the global learning gap could add $90 trillion USD to global GDP by 2050 (https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/how-the-worlds-best-performing-school-systems-come-out-on-top). But closing that gap depends on ensuring all learners — not just the privileged few — have access to the kinds of learning experiences that lead to real mastery.
We believe this is where AI tutoring steps in as a game-changer.
Real Stories from the OLi Platform
We’ve already seen our model in action.
- In Kenya, students in the Skills Mataani program — many of whom had never accessed structured digital learning — are now confidently navigating financial education and Web3 skills with our AI tutors guiding them step-by-step.
- In Western Australia, teachers are using OLi to personalise support for students with mixed abilities, enabling mastery at each learner’s own pace, even in crowded classrooms.
- In Nigeria, our AI tutor is helping young entrepreneurs gain the confidence to launch small businesses and explore crypto tools safely and responsibly.
Every one of these stories shows that when you democratise access to quality education — when you give people the tools to learn at their pace, with support that meets them where they are — amazing things happen.
From Bloom’s Vision to a Global Movement
Benjamin Bloom issued a challenge that has echoed for 40 years: Can we deliver tutoring-level outcomes at scale?
Today, at Olympus Insights, we believe the answer is yes.
By combining mastery-based learning, personalised AI tutoring, and decentralised credentialing, we’re making it possible for anyone — anywhere — to achieve their potential. Not by chance. Not by privilege. But by design.
And we’re just getting started.
If you enjoyed this week’s insight, make sure to subscribe to stay updated — and join us again next week as we explore another key idea shaping the future of education and opportunity.
Want to experience the AI Personal Tutor in action? Explore our platform at https://app.oli4education.io/
To read more about Bloom’s original research, see:
Bloom, B.S. (1984). The 2 Sigma Problem: The Search for Methods of Group Instruction as Effective as One-to-One Tutoring. Educational Researcher.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1175554
