Blockchain’s Expercoin Hopes To Spur New Method of Education

Announcements, Education, News | June 5, 2018 By:

Expercoin, incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab, is a system of decentralized networks of learning communities and marketplaces called Republics, with a charter to advance learning and create jobs for the digital economy.

By leveraging parent company Experfy’s infrastructure powered by AI and blockchain, anyone is able to create a specialized community with marketplaces for training, assessments, mentorship, jobs, and financial aid.

“According to McKinsey, 850 million people in just seven countries are either unemployed or underemployed,”said Expercoin co-founder Sarabjot Kaur. “The culprit is our educational system, which needs serious reform. As the world moves toward a skills-based economy and automation eats away traditional jobs, the Expercoin protocol would enable continuous up-skilling by creating dynamic learning paths and simulated apprenticeships using AI. Combining skills-based education with hands-on work would usher a highly trained workforce for an increasingly digital world.”

Expercoin co-founder and Harvard University scholar Dr. Harpreet Singh added, “With Expercoin, we are proud to introduce a game-changing protocol empowering non-technical individuals to create specialized learning economies with the ability to instantly monetize them. According to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, half of all American colleges are bound for bankruptcy in the next few decades. By providing an alternative that enables the integration of learning with relevant work experiences, we hope to bring about a meaningful change in an industry facing massive disruption,” said Dr Singh.

Anyone can launch an Expercoin Republic to bring together education in its various forms (courses, assessments and mentorship) with hands-on work opportunities (internships, gigs and jobs). For instance, there can be a “Republic of Smart Manufacturing,” “Republic of Nanotechnology,” “Republic of Blockchain,” or “Republic of Public Speaking.” Subject matter experts would seek “citizenship” in each Republic to create learning experiences, provide mentorship, and other services.

Expercoin token holders would receive an Expercoin Trust Quotient, which would determine the amount of influence they will have in the governance of the decentralized network. Expercoin intends to tokenize all interactions within its ecosystem to disincentivize bad actors and reward contributors. Using the Expercoin Protocol, developers will be able to build new apps and monetize them by listing them in Expercoin’s App Store.

BLOCK TRIBUNE:  How would someone with an idea for a course proceed with this?  Are there templates that will walk you through this?

HARPREET SINGH: Expercoin is providing the infrastructure and technology to those who want to build a learning ecosystem. The first step would be for someone to launch a ecosystem called a Republic that could consist of a training platform and a course marketplace, among other things.  For example, one could create a Republic of Journalism.  Once such a Republic is created, then subject matter experts would be able to launch their courses using a wizard and templates that look like this: https://screencast.com/t/2wcMLlYDTOr
BLOCK TRIBUNE:  How are jobs created with this?  Are tokenized wages paid for them?
HARPREET SINGH:  Companies looking for talent in that specialization will be able to post their requirements.  The Republic can then create a training program against that requirement and produce talent that meets the company’s need. The training would include simulated apprenticeship using AI.  The most successful program would have industry partnership to ensure the training and upskilling is aligned with the needs of the market.
BLOCK TRIBUNE: Is this intended to replace college or vocational education, or supplement it?
HARPREET SINGH:  In the beginning, it will supplement college education.  We are in talks with several colleges to use this platform to modernize their curricula and interact with industry.
BLOCK TRIBUNE:  What kind of certification is given upon completion?
HARPREET SINGH:  Each Republic will design its own certification program in consultation with the industry and this can vary widely.
BLOCK TRIBUNE:  Does anyone vett the course titles or content?
HARPREET SINGH: Courses will be peer reviewed and assigned a Trust Score.  The peer-reviewers will be incentivized with tokens.

BLOCK TRIBUNE: What languages will the courses be taught in?  Will there be any monitoring of the courses to make sure they are comprehensible?

HARPREET SINGH: Peer review will ensure they are comprehensible. Each Republic can decide which languages to use.