Tutor Ninja Token (NTOK)[1] is a global decentralized peer-to-peer platform specially designed for continuing education. It is aimed at allowing tutors and students (NTOK’s key participants) to find each other and interact through the NTOK platform lessons and rating/review system based on a blockchain. The main focus of the NTOK platform is on foreign languages, other popular subjects and topics, preschool education, supplementary instruction for K-12 students, as well as coding and blockchain courses.
History
editDistance learning has been known since the middle of the 20th century. It existed in the form of radio and television broadcast of courses. But the Digital Age has changed the nature of learning and the perception of the learner. Now Information technologies help tutors and students to interact online.
Online private tutoring services are expected very soon become a regular teaching and learning method across a wide range of subjects and topics. School and university students, adults, and parents can choose online private tutoring services as a way of gaining new knowledge or valuable cultural experiences, preparing for exams, improving professional skills, or just learning for fun. Over the next few years online tutoring is forecast to reach more than 70% of the tutoring market.
The NTOK platform is aimed at developing an online tutoring ecosystem. In NTOK[2], every student can find a tutor and every tutor can find a student. Unlike other “middleman” models for bringing students and tutors together, NTOK takes a minimal commission for direct contact. The central part of the platform is the NTOK crypto-token which is used for various purposes, mainly for paying for lessons by students and earning income by teachers and content providers.
Functions
editThe NTOK ecosystem contains two major blocks: the learning platform and blockchain.
The NTOK learning platform provides the following functionalities: search, selection and ratings of tutors, online scheduling, payment, virtual classroom, interactive tests, licensed content, video lessons. The technical platform is based on ReactJS, Golang and audio/video streaming service OpenTok.
The blockchain enables direct payment to tutors using crypto tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. The token buying process may not seem entirely intuitive at first, so short educational videos are distributed to platform members explaining how to conduct transactions directly on a blockchain.
Benefits
editThe NTOK learning platform offers a number of benefits for all participants of the NTOK ecosystem. Students can search and select tutor using multiple search parameters, see free slots in the teacher’s schedule as well as their own upcoming lessons. Payments are made directly to tutors. Participants can enjoy audio and video connection with better quality than Skype, chat or file sharing.
The tutor’s overall rating is calculated based on Ethereum smart contracts. It means that only those students who have attended a lesson with a tutor can leave feedback. This guarantees that ratings are based exclusively on real experiences and are as reliable as possible.
Tutors have the ability to record video lessons (both free and paid) that any student can use.
In addition to the key participants the NTOK platform intends to include providers of courses and educational content, multimedia study tools, and devices. Once these kinds of materials are integrated into the NTOK[3], all tutors and students will be able to make use of the world’s finest study materials in an interactive form.
References
edit- ^ TTR. "Tutor Ninja". tutor-ninja.com. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
- ^ "Tutor Ninja ICO". ntok.io. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
- ^ "Bookbuilding Platform". tokensale.ntok.io. Retrieved 2017-12-02.