Ed3 🪄
Posts
How Digital Credentials and AI Are Changing Education

How Digital Credentials and AI Are Changing Education

How Evin McMullen and Bodo Hoenen See the Future of Credentials and Curriculum

Scott Meyer
January 31, 2023

Hello again. 👋

It's great to get back to the keyboard for a new year of Ed3. Ed3 has always been looking at the future of education.

In this new year, we are excited to curate the ideas, people, and projects that are re-imaging education.

If you are an educator, policymaker, founder, investor, or curious parent or learner, this newsletter will help you save time, find great resources, and connect with others working in the emerging education space. And we'll have some fun while we do it! 😅

We are so happy to have you along for the ride! I hope you'll share it with your network - and if someone sent this to you, join us here.

What should you expect in 2023? 🧐

We'll write you twice a week: once with big ideas (that's today!) and once with a roundup of important links and resources you can use.

That's enough pre-amble. Let's jump into some of the big ideas!

Unlock Personal Learning and Experiences with Verifiable Credentials

I had the chance to sit down with Evin McMullen of Disco.xyz - a hero of mine! She is on a mission to create digital versions of credentials we use in the physical world, like diplomas, driver's licenses, professional certifications, etc.

She argues: there is no such thing as over-badging. In her mind, we can personalize credentials we add to our digital backpack. 🎒 These personalized credentials can then ensure experiences specifically for that person - including learning exactly what they want or need to know next.

This conversation is inspiring, deep, and pleasant. Evin makes thick concepts approachable and exciting. List as a podcast or video:

The Personalized Web - Evin McMullen of Disco.xyz on Credentials Unlocking Experience

Listen to this episode from Ed3 Podcast on Spotify. Verifiable credentials are a data type, often thought of as a digital version of credentials we use in the physical world, like diplomas, driver's licenses, professional certifications, etc. Evin McMullen of Disco.xyz is on a mission to change that. She is unlocking the personalized web by creating digital backpacks. In everyone's backpack, we have verifiable credentials that share our likes, preferences, experiences, and more. These credentials enable a personalized web, where every site we visit adapts to us. The potential is to take this technology offline as well, so the world around us responds to our individuality. This conversation is inspiring, deep, and pleasant. Evin makes thick concepts approachable and exciting. I am a total fanboy as you will hear! This episode is a great way to kick off season two, so I hope you'll enjoy it. Read the show notes and subscribe for future episodes at: https://www.ed3.gg/

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6MwGqxlTYdi4QjJkjcEujt?si=690d20af417e4172

The Emerging Educational Ecosystem

We are entering the era of Ed3, where every student receives the knowledge they need when they need it. It's time for just-in-time education.

An ecosystem approach is needed to realize this future. I wrote about this ecosystem and will be trying to work as a connect in our next newsletter. Read these quick thoughts here:

The Emerging Educational Ecosystem

We are entering the era of Ed3, where every student receives the knowledge they need when they need it. It's time for just-in-time education. An ecosystem approach is needed to realize this future.

https://www.ed3.gg/writing/the-emerging-educational-ecosystem/

Creating Curriculum with AI

Generative AI has come to education.

You may have seen AI tools generating art based on a prompt. Bodo Hoenen of Nolej AI is generating learning curriculum based on a link, video, or document.

In a few moments, you'll have flash cards, quizzes, spaced reprition, background definitions, and a summary of the key ideas from the resource.

👉 Imagine the time it can save learners to immediately see what they should know.

👉 Imagine the time it can save teachers who can create lesson plans and assessments on the fly.

Instead of planning days or weeks ahead, a class could create its learning material as topics emerge. This can save hours for curriculum designers and re-imagine what assessment means.

Listen to the conversation as a podcast or watch a video demo of the tool:

Building Curriculum with AI - Bodo Hoenen of Nolej AI

Listen to this episode from Ed3 Podcast on Spotify. Teachers and curriculum designers spend a significant amount of time understanding a concept. Then, they spend more time creating curricula, projects, and exercises based on that material. What if that work could be done in minutes? What if learners could immediately have flashcards to review key concepts and terms? Nolej AI makes this possible. In this episode, we welcome Bodo Hoenen, the first-ever repeat guest on the Ed3 Podcast. Previously, Hoenen discussed decentralized education and how learners could become teachers with his Proof of Learning Protocol. Not surprisingly, Bodo's company was acquired at the end of 2022, joining French start-up Nolej. With his new company, he is helping to launch Nolej AI. Nolej AI makes it easy to develop learning materials. With a single URL, blog post, video, or document, Nolej AI will generate flashcards, quizzes, summaries, and more. Future work will build on Nolej AI and continue creating a learning protocol. This episode is unique because Bodo gave us a sneak peek of the tool! In addition to this podcast, the YouTube video will let you see the tool in action: https://youtu.be/U-tGQW3ANHo

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3m93vkmbEwoSI6hM5jIOOF?si=44a19105fe0f41cc

Let's Learn

I would love your feedback as we work to connect the Ed3 ecosystem! There are exciting ideas, people, and projects emerging. This newsletter will save you time by bringing them to your inbox.

Let me know what you what to see and how we can improve. See you soon with our weekly roundup.

Thanks for being here!

-Scott