Learning path can be Unique to you just like your fingerprint

Your learning path is unique to you just like your fingerprint. Let me elaborate on this idea a little more. Right now what Mooc’s offers is a list of content items, be it videos or articles ordered in a fashion that if you start and end the list like you should, you have an understanding of the concept like the author/instructor intended. You flow through all the items one by one, and when you get stuck hopefully you find your answers in the discussions or some sort of community. Through sheer will you are able to reach the end of that, say 20 hours long journey, and solve all the assignments that came in your way and you are certified.

This task seems arduous enough that only 3% of people are able to do it, what about the rest 97%. Well clearly there is some scope of improvement to this model.

Now Imagine a world where Shirley wants to learn about golang as she needs that in her new job. She goes onto a platform and starts narrowing down a particular course that best suits her requirements. She hits the bullseye and decides to enroll in it. Now she comes across an item she doesn’t properly understand and needs more context to it. What if she could branch out to an alternate resource someone who previously took the course has attached and take a different path altogether to get a deeper insight on a particular topic.

What if there exists multiple such branches that spawn out of every content item and what if every branch leads her to a deeper understanding of a particular topic, yet its all curated enough so she doesn’t lose herself down the rabbit hole. At every point when she diverts a little off track from the main branch she is making a decision and that’s being recorded by the system. Every decision she makes gives us a better insight on her learning habits and AI is able to curate exactly the branch that would be relevant to her when she faces a difficulty. All the side branches are rated by the community and relevance of a branch is determined by the skillset of the person approaching it. For example Shirly gives a test that’s created on the main branch by the author, and she is weak in some aspects, she could be suggested to go through parallel resources that are curated by AI for her so she gets a different perspective of the material. She can also venture into a the parallel branches and get herself tested there by the tests built by the community.

Shirley can also explore the discussions of every node that she explores. And each node can have content from anywhere from the internet, be it a Youtube video, a link from stack overflow, a particular video from a Moocs course or some resource a someone created at their local system and uploaded to the node.

Shirley is now well versed with the content she has consumed and has given sufficient tests, so now she is confident enough to create new branches of her own where ever she feels is the need. These branches can be ventured by others who get stuck. And this way the system keeps improving itself to an extent where anyone who wants to understand a particular topic would be able to do so in their own way even though all of them started from the same point.

But what about credentialing? Well that was happening all along on a block chain in the form of nano-certifications when Shirley successfully completes a node and assess herself in some way.

And there is a proper certification as well that she gets when she gives the final assessments of a course. If she is only wanting to assess herself with respect to the industry she can do that by bench-marking herself and getting accredited without even going through an entire course. And that is flexibility in the truest sense. Flexibility, Personalization, Variety and Accreditation. Imagine a world like this…

‍

Reference : Prof Mohanbir Sawhney blog - Future of Learning

‍