“Even those who are not involved in bullying are influenced just by watching, lately surveyed at 35% while the rest are involved in one form or another at 65%.” This data was collated across 35 countries. From a policy perspective, prevention programs need to be in place before children are 11 years old.

Add to that eye-opening statistic that there are more ways to bully than ever before – text messages, postings on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all of which devastate children’s developing self-esteem.

Then comes on my viewfinder this thing called EdTech Tsunami. Let me explain.

You can sense that there are BIG changes coming to the education “playground” as the bullies are slowly pushed out and policymakers are initiating sweeping changes that will ultimately impact billions of students. 

As with any big challenge, there are big opportunities for the stakeholders in the Edtech space.

If the right conditions are created, the Internet can offer an opportunity for addressing the learning needs of multicultural groups globally, and at the same time bring resources into the Edtech environment in the form of company profits, and the re-investing of these profits into creating additional tools and systems online for students.

This would also include access to educational material for a large number of learners that are currently out of school, in a scalable and cost-effective way.  

Scalable and Cost-Effective

To achieve the goal of equal education for everyone, the use of new technologies is crucial. Blockchain will have an important part to play as more developing countries are added to the list of places on earth that can access educational tools, and students can be accredited for future employment, are added.

This is about empowering lifelong learners, helping youths obtain the skills that allow them to access employment, supporting women, girls, and disabled people and allowing them to participate in learning without cultural and social barriers. All these can be achieved with a blended learning environment that can leverage the vast resources of the Internet and potentially help connect education to work.

The accurate safe storage of credentials on the blockchain and creating self-sovereignty is an important key to this success.

Digital Navigation

Navigating in a digital world is a vital skill in participating in the global economy, which is dependent on 21st-century skills. 

The examples we have in countries like India, China, and South Korea demonstrates how connectivity serves as a foundation for access to information economy jobs and advancing innovations.

As of April 2019, 56.1% of the world’s population has internet access, and 81% of the developed world. In 2015, the International Telecommunication Union estimated about 3.2 billion people, or almost half of the world’s population, would be online by the end of the year. Source Wikipedia

Using the Internet for learning is a very real possibility globally. Even though billions of people use social media, it has not been harnessed effectively and deliberately to advance education.

Why Internet-led learning for the World Is a good idea

There are great challenges to education in many parts of the world, some of which are not as obvious as you would imagine. 

Here are some thoughts and challenges that need to be considered in achieving the goal, which can be helped by the internet

• There is an absence of learning materials in many countries 
• Access to limited quality and quantity of teachers.
• Dissemination of current content and learning resources at a lower cost.
• Internet can remove the barriers to education that marginalized groups encounter (this includes women and disabled people)
• As the workplace becomes increasingly global, an education that has relevance in the global context is necessary
• Lifelong learning and on-the-job continuous professional development require the flexibility of “time and place education” as employment patterns change

A host of new solutions will be created to access and disseminate education to the developing world, and this in itself will create a Tsunami of opportunity for companies in the Edtech space.

Are Blockchain and Education the perfect partners? Tell me what you think and help me push with the English Forward advocacy to those who can benefit from it.