How Sheila Marcelo and Kevin Yang are changing the metaverse
Tradition has it that one pays tuition to be able to go to school. Those who can’t afford to take further studies after primary school and secondary school must earn first before pursuing further studies.
Two tech-savvy Filipinos offer a variation of this norm — sort of. Imagine if you could learn and earn or get back what you paid for to study. Imagine if you could earn some money while enhancing your knowledge and skills.
What more could you ask for?
This is what Proof of Learn aims to achieve through Metacrafters.
Proof of Learn is a Web3 education platform with a mission to unlock accessible, high-quality education across the world through blockchain and a learn-to-earn protocol.
The tandem behind this is Sheila Lirio Marcelo and Kevin Yang. Marcelo, cofounder and CEO, is touted as one of the most successful Filipino Americans in Silicon Valley. She is a technology entrepreneur who founded Care.com in 2006 and served as chairwoman and CEO until early 2020 and was involved as well in other ventures.
Yang, cofounder and co-head of Product at Proof of Learn is a Stanford University whiz kid. He specialized in Computer Science with a focus on Human Computer Interaction and Artificial Intelligence.
Yang got early engineering experience at the likes of Uber and as a TA (teaching assistant) at Stanford CS department. Since graduating, Yang has been a technology entrepreneur specializing in mobile apps, smart contracts, and AI.
Last year, Kevin, the grandson of burger tycoon George Yang, helped the McDonald’s Philippines team build and scale the country’s leading mobile food ordering platform — McDelivery — to 10 million users and growing.
Into The Metaverse
Metacrafters.io is the first project launched by Proof of Learn. It is essentially a multi-chain, learn-to-earn game that teaches users to write smart contracts and build on-chain.
Needless to say, it works in the parallel universe called “metaverse.”
It invites crafters to a world of wonder, growth, and possibility where developers can access a world-class Web3 education with immediate earning and employment opportunities in the metaverse.
In all, Metacrafters seamlessly weaves education and an immersive gaming experience that brings the history and lore of blockchain to life.
Working on a learn-to-earn model, developers and engineers are offered grant-funded financial incentives to complete courses as they upskill from Web2 to Web3.
It’s easy, it’s accessible and it’s practical, says Yang.
Sheila says it’s really about making money while learning
“We are moving education into the virtual world,” she says.
Yang, for his part, is likewise beaming with excitement.
As a child, he loved tinkering with computers and has grown developing apps and all that. He definitely knows what he is doing.
“I definitely love this whole space,” he says of technology and the web.
Metacrafters is available to the 32 million developers around the globe for whom these new skills may be life changing and serve to close the significant pay gap between engineers in developed nations and those in emerging markets.
“As Proof of Learn’s premier project, Metacrafters is the perfect place for us to start connecting promising Web3 global talent with gainful global employment,” says Marcelo. “Metacrafters’ mission is to guide, reward and unite a community of learners while connecting them to professional developer opportunities.”
“As someone with strong personal ties to the Philippines, I care deeply about creating Web3 education and employment opportunities in developing economies,” she continues.
Scholarships available
To kick off the project, Metacrafters is launching a pilot program with Yield Guild Games (YGG), a gaming guild that coordinates players around the world to earn crypto-based rewards in play-to-earn games.
The pilot program will give close to a thousand scholars access to its platform along with curriculum design from top Silicon Valley Web3 developers. Scholars are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as spots in the pilot program are limited.
Thus, game scholars will learn to code on the blockchain and earn rewards in a game world for Web2 developers transitioning to Web3.
Initially, Proof of Learn’s go-to-market strategy for Metacrafters targets students in emergent economies such as Southeast Asia, India, Africa, and Latin America — regions with incredible potential and the need for access to Web3 education and job opportunities.
As the learn-to-earn concept promises, Metacrafters’ model will incentivize developers to complete their courses and supplement their income while they are learning, ultimately up-skilling a new generation of Web3 developers.
”More than a billion people will be onboard the Metaverse over the coming years,” says Gabby Dizon, cofounder of YGG. “Many will come to Web3 through play-to-earn games, but we’re excited to see other versions of the X-to-earn model, such as MetaCrafters’ learn-to-earn. YGG’s partnership with MetaCrafters will teach gamers and coders to build in Web3, and give them the opportunity to earn while they learn.”
Blockchain developer talent is recognized as the most in-demand skill for 2022 but, out of an estimated 32 million developers in the world, roughly only 150,000 to 250,000 are Web3 developers, proponents said.
Thus, transition to Web3 is an opportunity to narrow the digital divide by equipping lower-income, high-potential people globally with skills to fit the internet’s next iteration.
Proof of Learn’s Marcelo said that as someone with strong personal ties to the Philippines, she cares deeply about creating Web3 education and employment opportunities in developing economies.
Through the project, Metacrafters students will pay tuition for courses, but upon completion will earn back their tuition plus additional rewards.
Scholars in the YGG pilot program will have their tuition covered by YGG in exchange for sharing a portion of their rewards.
Grant money will be used to fund crypto currency rewards and incentivize students to take developer courses and learn Web3 coding skills. Course completion will also be rewarded with a Proof of Learn NFT minted as a permanent, public credential on the blockchain as well as a Treasure NFT that can be used in the game world or sold to another player in the marketplace.
The game
As for the Metacrafters Game, the game world takes place during a new Dark Age, where the Central Authority controls access to the web through protected portals.
“A brilliant magician named Nakamoto discovers blocks that contain magical properties that when combined, are powerful enough to overcome the Centrallian tyranny.
“Players are invited to join the decentralized resistance, now led by the great Houses of Master Crafters — a union of guilds following Nakamoto’s path to restore freedom to the web,” Metacrafters says in its profile.
The Academy
There’s The Academy where players use secret records of knowledge to connect the sacred blocks to unleash “chain magic,” bringing hope and prosperity back to humanity.
As players grow as Web3 developers, they gain strength as crafters in the game world, ultimately wielding the power to become a Master Crafter and builder of a free and open Web.
It’s a whole new universe indeed and if one can earn while learning and playing, what more can one aspire for?
