FREEVERSE CASE STUDY— AMPLIFYING EDUCATION WITH LIVING ASSETS
Reimagining continuous education with MyLearningNFT
¨Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.¨ — Malcom X.
Individuals and organizations strive to continue learning but naturally, memories weaken over time and a steep drop in retention happens soon after learning.
As education evolves the progression in technology advances too. Merely twenty years ago, education was solely based on books and lectures. Students would have to spend hours in libraries with the intention of memorizing the factual information of certain subjects. Beyond students, teachers and employees are also required to go to professional development courses to learn, a new curriculum has been adjusted, new technology has been invested and this happens very frequently.
The problem to solve is how students, individuals, and organizations can continue to learn without a natural depreciation in learning investments.
How can graduates continue to explore new learnings in their sector post-studies? The answer is short, MyLearningNFT. A dynamic certificate that appreciates over time as you continue to explore and complete new courses. On the flip side, students will be accountable for a depreciated certificate if no learning actions are applied.
Nevertheless, companies looking to hire the next workforce fall victim to fraudulent CV’s or overspend on further leadership courses without a trackable process. This results in billions of dollars spent without minimizing the natural risk of depreciation in learning. After all, a development of proper incentives whilst rewarding students, employees and organizations can lead to infinite stimulation and a landscape of opportunity.
At Freeverse, we associate this utility to what we call Living Assets.
Here’s how it works: Combining blockchain with education
Envisioned and developed by two professors of Caltech Executive Education, Peter C. Evans and Hari Abburi are co-founders of MyLearningNFT. The birth of evolutionary certificates backed by traceable properties for continuous engagement can be seen in the image below.
- Visual differentiation
At each stage the student takes action and completes a course, (reading articles, writing a 500-word essay, listening to podcasts, attending a webinar, etc…) the certificate will then change attributes and glow in color as more actions are taken throughout a given period of time. A visual differentiation brings a level of satisfaction and gamifies the process of learning — the same way a rank-up in a video game comes with rewards and gratification.
2. Learning accountability
How often is it that you come from a course, event or conference and feel as if you haven’t taken advantage of every opportunity? The retention level after such events fall deep through the cracks and naturally so. For these reasons, a course delivered to 40 digital leaders globally via Boston Scientific were issued each a MyLearningNFT as part of an effort to continue learning beyond the course, for up to one year.
3. Reward proposition
An incentive to continue to learn on top of the generic features of blockchain technology such as traceability, security, efficiency, and among many others, permits organizations and service providers to dive deep into creative offerings for those who participate regularly in appreciating their certificate. SHRM Tech Conference India in May 2022 held a session covering applications of dynamic NFTs to 100 CHROs. Again, participants received a dynamic certificate to keep learning about the subject even after the event came to an end. As a reward, those who maintained their learnings in the top three levels were given a special rate for the next conference in 2023.
This model was recycled during the MIT Platform Strategy Summit. To promote learning and minimize forgetting the subjects shared at the event, an incentive to keep learning for a period of six months is applied. Those who’ve maintained their NFT in the top three levels were eligible for a potential special rate at next year’s event.
Solution: A first glance at Living Assets
The evolution is recorded on a graph which appreciates and/or depreciates over time unless the student applies new learning actions, hence adding value to the Living Asset (digital evolutive certificate).
The actions taken by the student equal a specific value amount and are also recorded on the distributed ledger. The properties and evolution are then available for verification on Polygonscan, which hosts all smart contracts.
Learning Investments
As per research.com, the total spending on employee training globally reached $370.3 billion and in North America alone it reached $169.4 billion. Doesn’t this large and fluctuating investment play an important role in personal and business objectives? Then it goes without saying, learning deserves the properties of: traceability, accountability, and recognition.
Market leaders, small and medium organizations, and educational organizations continue to customize learning topics without updating the technical approach. Thanks to a frictionless process of associating one’s learning with Freeverse technology, the participant’s NFT will change its properties and gain value as the student takes on learning actions.
In many ways this will reduce tedious screen checking and fraudulent use cases that occur in learning, training and onboarding.
Into the future: Untapped potential of alumni
Nowadays, institutions and organizations have the chance of connecting with students like never before and it doesn’t have to end at graduation.
Here’s a real-world example: An alumnus of 10 years ago who honorably receives the invitation to go back to university and share a story with new graduates on graduation day also has the opportunity to demonstrate that level of engagement on the blockchain with the organizer. This provides educational organizations the possibility to expand on their loyalty, rewards and efforts to those who keep learning. They can continue certification and recognition for professionals who commit to sharpening their skills through higher learning, over an entire lifetime.
Just like those who’ve not stopped learning, and knowing all things built are intended for end users, how ready is your organization to increase retention by enabling dynamic certificates for verifiable upgrades?
A new era has arrived between organizations and user engagement — it’s getting real!
