When it comes to scaling online communities, Platzi CEO Freddy Vega thinks that edtech can take a few notes from the video game industry.
League of Legends, for example, doesn’t require players to come to its universe art at a certain time and certain place; instead it lets players naturally connect with others who are learning, and playing, the video game at the same time. Vega, alongside co-founder Christian Van Der Henst, is building Platzi, an online school for Latin American professionals, with a similar ethos, offering pre-recorded material, weekly live learning sessions, and the option to learn with other students who are online at the same time.
“We are creating a generation of people traumitized by online learning because they think it’s Zoom and cohort-based learning, where you have to be learning at the same time and same moment,” Vega said. “Cohort-based learning is based on nothing, and it’s just convenient for business models.”
It’s a hot take, considering how cohort-based learning models seem to be taking edtech by storm. Still, Vega’s vision of a more flexible, basic education has resonated with a slew of investors. Platzi announced today the closing of a
“They had to sacrifice one month of salary to be able to afford Platzi,” he said. “I know I can make it cheaper in the next two years.”
League of Legends, for example, doesn’t require players to come to its universe art at a certain time and certain place; instead it lets players naturally connect with others who are learning, and playing, the video game at the same time. Vega, alongside co-founder Christian Van Der Henst, is building Platzi, an online school for Latin American professionals, with a similar ethos, offering pre-recorded material, weekly live learning sessions, and the option to learn with other students who are online at the same time.
“We are creating a generation of people traumitized by online learning because they think it’s Zoom and cohort-based learning, where you have to be learning at the same time and same moment,” Vega said. “Cohort-based learning is based on nothing, and it’s just convenient for business models.”
It’s a hot take, considering how cohort-based learning models seem to be taking edtech by storm. Still, Vega’s vision of a more flexible, basic education has resonated with a slew of investors. Platzi announced today the closing of a
“They had to sacrifice one month of salary to be able to afford Platzi,” he said. “I know I can make it cheaper in the next two years.”