Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) ordinarily associated with art and digital collectibles have spent the last year expanding beyond the initial applications, adding new avenues for creators to build and monetize their content. Novel use cases for NFTs have emerged, paving the way for NFTs to be more than a passing fad or digital novelty. Among the emerging applications for NFTs are educational programming and content, which is a channel for educators to disrupt the traditional publishing model.
Through Publisher NFTs, Animoca Brands and TinyTap empower educators to generate revenue from interactive educational content and offer parents a more comprehensive array of learning opportunities for their children. Animoca Brands, which acquired the no-code educational gaming platform earlier this year, has been collaborating with TinyTap to develop a Web3 strategy to expand opportunities for educators, students, and parents worldwide.
Yat Siu, drawing upon his experience as an entrepreneur and prominent digital property rights advocate in addition to his current role at the helm of Animoca Brands, points to the valuable role that NFTs can play. “The significant utility potential of NFTs remains overshadowed by very few use cases that focus on other aspects of NFTs, such as being a vehicle for art and collectability. But NFTs have a much wider range of potential applications.”
Siu adds, “TinyTap’s Publisher NFTs are one such novel and exciting use case. Our aim with this project is to empower educators to build their own equity and accrue value, similar to how NFTs are already revolutionizing other fields. Our first Publisher NFT sale created significant returns for teachers, with the highest-selling NFT delivering significantly more than a year of a teacher’s salary for its creator–and that doesn’t include the future revenue generated by the content or any royalties from secondary sales of the NFT.”
Furthering this educational NFT angle, the organizations have unveiled the launch date for the second series of teacher-authored Publisher NFTs. The second round of limited-edition Publisher NFT auctions is slated to begin on December 15 on the OpenSea NFT Marketplace for 48 hours.
Teachers Tapping the Potential of Web3
The first round of the Publisher NFT auctions saw the entire collection of the first six Publisher NFTs sold for a total of 138.926 ETH (ETH-USD), roughly equivalent to $228,000 at the time of sale (November 7). This round of auctions generated 67.7 ETH (roughly $111,000) for the six teachers who created the content for the corresponding NFTs.
To put these numbers into perspective, the NFT that received the highest bid in the first round generated 22.9 ETH. The NFT linked to the course “Learn English with Gabi” was sold for approximately $37,600, which is 13 times the average monthly salary for an elementary teacher in that region.
Commenting on their Web3 approach, TinyTap CEO Yogev Shelly highlights, “The model of the Publisher NFTs not only allows teachers to better create (and scale) value from their work but also offers value to all participants at every stage in the TinyTap value chain. We see this as a landmark opportunity to build an incentive system that allows communities and educators to come together to create quality learning content in a scenario where everyone, including teachers, can benefit.”
TinyTap creators already earn an income for producing content, receiving a share of the platform’s total subscription revenue. With Animoca Brands’ initiative, TinyTap’s teachers can “tap” into multiple revenue streams, including a share from direct sales of NFTs and royalties from each subsequent sale.
Participating teachers who have created content for the upcoming round of NFT auctions stand a chance to receive 50% of the net proceeds and a 10% recurring share of revenue generated by the course, just like royalties. At the same time, owners of Publisher NFTs receive up to 80% of the total revenue generated by the courses.
