Who doesn’t want to be better at their job? Whether you’re a web developer, or a doctor or even a chef, you never want to settle for mediocrity or irrelevance. Every industry is constantly evolving with new technology and practices, and this wave of change is forcing professionals to either surf or drown. It’s no wonder, then, why companies and their employees invest billions of dollars annually — $360 billion, to be exact — in professional development worldwide, with North America accounting for nearly half the global spend.
There’s no shortage of outlets that offer professional development training, and these outlets have become lucrative businesses. Traditionally, an economy of professional conferences, outside consultants, and advanced degree/certification programs have thrived in this space. More recently, the internet has emerged as a more convenient and affordable resource for professional training. Lynda.com, where users can log on and watch video lessons on just about any topic, might be the most familiar destination. The platform’s popularity caught the eye of professional networking powerhouse LinkedIn, which purchased Lynda for $1.5 billion in 2015. Following in Lynda’s footsteps is Pluralsight, which specializes in online video training courses for tech professionals. Pluralsight raised $310.5 million off its IPO in May 2018 and has seen its market cap grow to $3.5 billion.
Both Lynda and Pluralsight have capitalized on insatiable demand in this space, but that demand is about to launch into a new stratosphere. This explosion is motivated at least in part by the next revolutionary technology: blockchain. Investors have pumped billions of dollars into blockchain technology as a next-generation solution for information and financial transactions, and professionals are racing to learn blockchain’s nuts-and-bolts to innovate new products and services. So it only makes sense that if you’re going to learn blockchain, you might as well use a platform that’s built on and thrives within blockchain infrastructure.
And that’s where Education Ecosystem comes into play. Much like blockchain, Education Ecosystem is decentralized and disruptive, facilitating peer-to-peer project learning for professional development. This means that professionals can follow along as their peers — or “content creators” — work on relevant projects on the ecosystem’s first product, the LiveEdu platform. Just like a student in any learning environment, professionals can ask questions, offer suggestions, and otherwise interact directly with the content creator. Project resources — including the instructional videos themselves — are made available to professionals so that they can learn when it’s most convenient for them.
Of course, when most people think of blockchain, they think of cryptocurrencies, and Education Ecosystem similarly uses its own currency for transactions across the platform. When users subscribe to LiveEdu they’re effectively buying LEDU coins that they can spend on activities on the site. They can be used to enroll in project learning courses and purchase accompanying resources. Content creators are also rewarded for their work with LEDU coins, and site moderators are provided LEDU coins as rewards for identifying bugs or otherwise improving the quality of user experience on the site. To put it succinctly: LEDU coin provides a secure economic system for the Education Ecosystem.
LEDU coins can be traded outside the ecosystem, where users can buy and sell them just like any other cryptocurrency. Unlike other blockchain projects which are now beginning from scratch, Education Ecosystem’s LiveEdu is already an active platform used by more than 1,000,000 people in 194 countries across the world. These numbers only promise to grow as LEDU builds its team and adds more muscle to its marketing efforts. The company is particularly focused on China, where the market for personal and corporate training is expected to double from $71 billion in 2015 to $142 billion in 2020.
To be clear, Education Ecosystem is not a destination only for those who want to learn blockchain-related material. Professionals can learn from top peers in several disciplines under the LiveEdu umbrella, including design, programming, data science, artificial intelligence, VR/AR, game development, and cybersecurity. In the coming years, Education Ecosystem will expand to new verticals that promise to help professionals expand their knowledge in several industries both in and out of tech. All of it, of course, will be fueled by LEDU coins.
If you wish to learn more about how online education platforms like Education Ecosystem are disrupting the professional development space by using the blockchain then visit the project page to learn more.