PROJECT OVERVIEW.
BitDegree is a smart incentives based education platform, which aims to revolutionize education in the tech sector through gamification and rewarding students for their progress.
The online learning model conceptualized by BitDegree will grant access to the best online courses, which are curated by the world’s leading lecturers in their domain of expertise. It will have a clear and transparent achievement tracking and token-based reward system.
BitDegree will be based on smart-incentives, a smart contract on the Ethereum network that ensures the exchange of tokens between a sponsor (the Incentive Creator) and a student (the Incentive Receiver). The latter will commit to study a specific subject in order to receive tokens (the Incentive). This means that instead of paying for courses, students will actually get paid for taking them.
BACKGROUND.
There is a huge gap, between what we learn and what the employers need. Tens of thousands of dollars are paid for degrees that are becoming increasingly obsolete. The current education system has been designed for the needs of previous generations and is irreparably outdated.
BitDegree will change this status quo by building a future in which everybody can learn the right skills needed in the 21st century. Tech companies can provide scholarship incentives to students who want to invest time and effort into learning new skills. Through this process, companies can introduce learners to new technology and fill learning gaps within their own workforces.
BitDegree will stand out from present MOOCs due to blockchain advantages with smart incentives, gamification and decentralization.
HOW IT WORKS.
Because BitDegree is based on blockchain, it allows students to earn tokens when they make progress. Blockchain’s open-source nature will also allow students and course conveners to transparently check their progress.
Through gamification, boring topics are turned into a game that makes the student feel valued. This will be done by basing BitDegree on the Octalysis framework. This will make studying courses offered as fun as earning XP and leveling up in your favorite video game. You can think of BitDegree as something similar to Minecraft, but for tech education.
The founders believe that the approach of using smart incentives, fun, plus reward-based learning will help revolutionize education, and address the following problems in the tech industry — the lack of preparation for tech students in higher education, the difficulties businesses face in attracting and retaining top tech talent, plus the low course completion rate within the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) industry.
Students can sign up for BitDegree today and start earning tokens as a scholarship and reward. You can take an MVP of BitDegree for a test run now, where you can browse through a selection of available courses. The courses are designed to prepare students for a career in tech, blockchain, programming, and other areas. Sample courses listed today include:
- Web Development Theory.
- Coding Fundamentals.
- Deep Learning.
- Blockchain Basics.
- Smart Contract Development and Solidity.
- Ethereum Development: Truffle and Open Zeppelin.
Over a dozen course names are currently listed on BitDegree. However, the courses are all listed as “coming soon”. The first course is scheduled to launch in January 2018.
USERS.
- Companies recruiting tech talents, branding or advertising.
- Students undertaking in online courses as chosen by a company.
- Third-parties offering digital goods and services.
TOKEN USES.
- Companies spend BitDegree tokens in order to recruit tech talents while also enhancing employer branding and advertising.
- Students can receive BitDegree tokens as smart incentives (scholarships) in exchange for achieving certain milestones in an online course, as chosen by a company.
- Anyone can exchange and redeem BitDegree tokens for digital goods and services.
HOW ADVANCED IS IT?
Having a strong base of more than 29 million users, BitDegree has a precisely calculated roadmap advancing in 2018 Q4, when the platform aims to reach its full functionality.
The BitDegree team is currently working on the MVP and getting ready for upcoming ICO event that is scheduled to take place on 2017 Q4.
SIMILAR PROJECTS.
Coursera.
Coursera is a venture-backed, education-focused technology company founded by Stanford professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller that offers online courses and is based in Mountain View, CA. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, specializations, and degrees in a variety of subjects, such as engineering, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, data science, and others. As of October 2017, Coursera had more than 28 million registered users and more than 2,000 courses.
HackerRank.
HackerRank is a technology company that focuses on competitive programming challenges for both consumers and businesses, where developers compete by trying to program according to provided specifications. HackerRank’s programming challenges can be solved in a variety of programming languages (including Java, C++, PHP, Python, SQL) and span multiple computer science domains.
On the consumer side, when a programmer submits a solution to a programming challenge, their submission is scored on the accuracy of their output. Programmers are then ranked globally on the HackerRank leaderboard and earn badges based on their accomplishments to drive competition among users. In addition to individual programming challenges, HackerRank also hosts contests (often referred to by HackerRank as “CodeSprints”) where users compete on the same programming challenges during a set period of time and are then ranked at the conclusion of the event. HackerRank is seen as a market leader in the growing gamification trend within competitive computer programming and the consumer-side of their website is free for coders to use.
