Edutainment, or forms of entertainment that also educate users in some way, has become a popular teaching tool for educators and businesses due to its ability to make learning enjoyable and interactive in ways traditional learning methods may not be.
As technology has evolved, so too has edutainment, with one of the latest technological advancements being Web3. Web3’s decentralized structure makes it a powerful platform for online education, as it can host gamified, reward-based learning applications like Koala Games, where users earn NFTs, tokens, and credentials through interactive systems, all without having to give up control of their data, as would be the case with Web 2.0.
The Shift Toward Edutainment on the Blockchain
Traditional e-learning methods are functional, but not always optimal. Many traditional systems tend to utilize passive learning formats, making it more difficult for students to retain the information they learn. If severe enough, this issue leads to high dropout rates and general dissatisfaction.
Web3 e-learning methods largely improve upon traditional ones by improving interactivity, providing token incentives, and offering decentralized credentialing. Additionally, since Web3 generally offers more opportunities to interact with a given application’s content and users, edutainment on Web3 tends to see higher engagement.
Participation itself is also often incentivized on Web3 applications, with Coursera explaining how “Web3 users are more than content consumers. They are owners of the community who receive incentives for participation instead of being asked to trade their personal data to access platforms.”
Web3 is also important for accessibility, as applications built on the Blockchain are typically open to anyone with access. This freedom of access could be a major step toward democratizing education, especially in underserved regions where privately owned educational resources cannot or will not reach.
The concept of gamification unites Web3’s technological benefits with the ability to bridge entertainment and education by turning otherwise uninteresting tasks into game-like activities that reward users for completing work or answering questions correctly.
Introducing a New Model for Knowledge Incentives
Learning for its own sake is an admirable approach to education, though it’s not easy to sell to most people. Rewards are a strong motivator, which is why many Web3 platforms now emphasize rewarding users for completing quizzes, courses, and tasks. These rewards can vary depending on the context of the system’s use; rewards in the classroom look different from those in a corporate office, and so on.
Microcredentials are one common and significant reward in professional settings, often offered as the prize for completing an online course or series. With Web3, these microcredentials can be stored on the blockchain, backed by verifiable, transparent proof-of-skills checks that require users to complete a predetermined set of tasks before earning them.
Token ecosystems further encourage continuous engagement and peer-to-peer (P2P) teaching, as Web3 users have greater ownership and therefore control over the distribution of digital assets like tokens. Rather than needing to make exchanges through an intermediary, which often takes more time and can even incur additional costs, P2P transfers via the Blockchain give both parties total control over the process, often making it faster and reducing, if not outright eliminating, costs.
Merging Gaming Studios with Learning Platforms
To take the gamification process one step further, some Web3 learning platforms are incorporating popular gaming mechanics such as leaderboards, quests, and experience points (XP) to enhance their educational UX. These mechanics are common in video games because they strongly incentivize retention and effort, making them useful tools in educational settings where these qualities are often at a premium.
Other prominent features borrowed from video games, such as cross-platform avatars and knowledge-based progression systems, could also help users feel more connected and involved in the applications they use.
The Next Steps for Web3-Driven Education
Despite the concept having been theorized about a decade ago, Web3 is still in its infancy and therefore has a great deal more room to grow. Blockchain enthusiasts have devised many grand plans for Web3’s potential uses since it was first announced, but several concepts in particular appear to carry the most weight.
The recent development of the metaverse has opened many doors for collaboration with Web3. In the context of edutainment, this often works through VR and AR hardware that allows users to appear in a metaverse-based classroom with other users.
By using the blockchain, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) can develop on-chain learning transcripts and DAO-accredited courses that users can access without going through an intermediary program, allowing for greater online independence, freedom, and flexibility.
As Web3 technologies continue to evolve, more opportunities are likely to open up for creators to launch tokenized curricula that offer digital incentives for reaching certain milestones or completing courses. The relative lack of regulations or restrictions in Web3 also provides creators with substantial freedom to build and design their courses as they see fit.
For many people, learning is a laborious and unengaging task that sometimes leaves them feeling they understand less than before they started. Modern e-learning tools have made some progress on this issue, but Web3 applications show particularly strong promise for changing how people interact with and learn from educational materials. In making learning fun and motivating, Web3 edutainment systems could very well change the way learning happens.
