Nabeel Gillani

+1 540 220-8367 nabeel.gillani90@gmail.com www.nabeelgillani.com

EDUCATION
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Lab, Cambridge, MA
Expected completion: May 2017 (transition to PhD)
Masters in Media Arts and Sciences, Laboratory for Social Machines
Advisor: Professor Deb Roy
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Completion: December 2014
M.Sc. by Research in Information Engineering, Machine Learning Research Group
Dissertation Title: Uncovering Latent Features in Massive Open Online Courses
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Completion: September 2013
M.Sc. Education (Learning and Technology)
Awarded with Distinction
Dissertation Title: Learner Communications in Massively Open Online Courses
Brown University, Providence, RI
Completion: May 2012
Sc.B. Applied Mathematics-Computer Science
GPA: 3.96, Honors
Relevant Coursework: Software Engineering, Creating Web Applications, Random Networks, Combinatorial Optimization,
Computational Probability and Statistics, Monte Carlo Simulations, Social Entrepreneurship, Intermediate Microeconomics
Brown University Distinguished Senior Thesis Award (Joint Assessment and Restoration of Power Systems)
Rhodes Scholar (Virginia & New 12)
Commonwealth Governors School / Massaponax High School, Spotsylvania, VA
Completion: June 2008
Valedictorian
GPA: 4.45/4.0

WORK EXPERIENCE
Coursolve:

Co-founder, Cambridge, MA; Oxford, UK

Spring 2013-Present
Helped launch project-based learning platform (www.coursolve.org) serving over 17,000 individuals from 100+ countries
Collaborated with MIT, UVA Darden Business School, UW, and other universities to enhance online course offerings
Worked with engineering, business development, and marketing teams to develop collateral, conduct outreach and user
acquisition, and design and develop key features including online collaboration tools and search
Khan Academy:

Product Manager, Mountain View, CA

Spring 2015-Spring 2016
Helped launch Khan Academys Product Analytics group to use data in service of organizational decision-making
Defined and executed a product roadmap for soliciting small donations from tens of millions of users, including the design
and implementation of several A/B tests to improve donation appeals and in-platform user experience
Helped prototype and user-test adaptive learning system to help teachers personalizing math education for students based on
diagnostic assessments
Oxford Internet Institute:

Research Consultant, Oxford, UK; Richmond, VA

Winter 2015 - Spring 2015
Co-wrote and received research grant from Google ($100k) to enhance engagement in Massive Open Online Courses
Collaborated with social scientists, computational physicist, and machine learning experts to perform randomized
experiments and mixed-methods analysis of interaction patterns in online courses
Microsoft Corporation:

Program Manager, Redmond, WA

Summer 2011, 2010

Designed application authoring tools for Microsoft Access to improve user experience
Conducted user studies to better understand the needs of customers and incorporated feedback into product design

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Conceptualising Interaction and Learning in Massively Open Online Courses

(MOOCs): U. of Oxford Fall 2013-Spring 2015

Awarded MOOC Research Initiative grant ($30k), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Collaborated with interdisciplinary research team through the Oxford Internet Institute to conduct qualitative and quantitative
investigations that revealed learner motivations and preferences for engaging in online course discussions
Presented preliminary findings at the MOOC Research Initiative Conference in Arlington, Texas on December 6, 2013
Created MOOC analysis toolbox in Python to aid social network and latent feature analysis of MOOC data
Published

results in Nature: Scientific Reports

, The Internet and Higher Education, and the 2014 KDD Workshop on
Educational Assessment and Feedback

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Aga Khan Education Board for NE U.S.: Board Member, School Quality

, Boston, MA
July 2016 Present
Assembled and collaborated with a team of 5 to research school quality for over 100 low and moderate-income families in
Queens, NY
Helped design and launch a distributed Parent Ambassador program to enhance family engagement in childrens education

Learning

Exchange: Co-founder and Co-coordinator, Providence, RI
Spring 2011 Summer 2012
Designed and conducted afterschool program to help over 50 urban middle school students learn math through computer
science (using the Scratch programming language) and digital music mixing with the help of approximately 20 Brown
University students over 3 semesters
Gained support from Dean of College at Brown University; expanded program to two public schools and obtained grant from
the Providence After School Alliance to continue as full-time afterschool providers
The Capital Good Fund: Deputy Director, Providence,

RI
Fall 2008-Summer 2010
Helped launch Providence-based microfinance organization delivering small loans for entrepreneurship, citizenship, and
digital inclusion, as well as technical assistance, to low and moderate-income individuals
Received the C.V. Starr Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurship in 2009 to grow organizational capacity; helped raise over
$100,000 to support lending and educational programs

OTHER PROJECTS
Why Learn It: Brown University Education and Technology

Spring 2012
Collaborated with two other students and a teacher in Providence Public Schools to build a web application that helps
motivate high school students to learn math by using videos and online exercises to expose its real-world applications
The Interfaith Exchange: Brown University
Fall 2011-Spring 2012
Worked with three other Brown University students to help launch and coordinate a year-long fellowship to connect
high-school youth from different faith backgrounds in their shared pursuit of service

JOURNAL ARTICLES
N. Gillani, R. Eynon. Communication Patterns in Massively
Open Online Courses (2014). The Internet and Higher Education, 23,
18-26.
N. Gillani, T. Yasseri, R. Eynon, I. Hjorth (2014). Structural limitations of learning in a crowd: communication vulnerability and
information diffusion in MOOCs. Nature: Scientific Reports, 4, 6447.

CONFERENCE PAPERS
R. Eynon, I. Hjorth, N. Gillani, T. Yasseri (2014). Vote Me Up If You Like My Ideas! Experiences of Learning in a MOOC. 2014
ICA Pre-conference working

paper: Innovation in Higher Education: Building a Better Future?.

N. Gillani, R. Eynon, M. Osborne, I. Hjorth, S. Roberts (2014). Communication Communities in MOOCs. Poster at the 2014 KDD
Workshop on Data Mining for Educational Assessment and Feedback.
P. Van Hentenryck, N. Gillani, C. Coffrin. Joint Assessment and Restoration of Power Systems (2012). Proceedings of the European
Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI), France, 792-797.

BOOK CHAPTERS
R. Eynon, I. Hjorth, T. Yasseri, N. Gillani (2016). Understanding Communication Patterns in MOOCs: Combining Data Mining and
Qualitative Methods.

Data Mining and Learning Analytics: Applications in Educational Research.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Gillani, N. A data-informed

approach to community fundraising. K

han Academy Data Science Blog. October 2015.
http://data.khanacademy.org/2015/10/a-data-informed-approach-to-community.html
Nurmohamed, Z., Gillani, N., Lenox, M. A New Use for MOOCs: Real-World Problem Solving. Harvard Business Review. 3
July 2013. https://hbr.org/2013/07/a-new-use-for-moocs-real-world.html

Gillani,

N., Jain, A. What MOOCs Can Offer Social Entrepreneurs. Forbes Ashoka Blog. 3 May 2013.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2013/05/03/what-moocs-can-offer-social-entrepreneurs/
Gillani, N. MOOC-Sourcing for Social Good. T
he Stanford Social Innovation Review. 11 March 2013.
http://ssir.org/articles/entry/mooc_sourcing_for_social_good

SKILLS
Computer: Proficient: Python, Java, MATLAB, SQL
Language: Urdu/Hindi (Advanced)

Experience: C/C++

Web: Django, AngularJS, HTML, CSS, Javascript