YOTTA

What YOTTA is

YOTTA, written YOTTA 友讀 on its own site, is a Taiwanese online course platform where independent instructors and partner organizations publish courses and learners buy them for self-study. Its About page calls it "台灣領先的線上學習平台" (Taiwan's leading online learning platform) and says that since 2015 it has offered professional knowledge in the form of crowdfunded online courses (線上募資課程). The site is in Traditional Chinese, and its tagline describes YOTTA as "陪你成長的學習夥伴" (a learning partner that grows with you).

The About page states the mission in one line: to use technology to change how knowledge is passed on, "讓擁有知識者簡易地將知識轉換為教育資源" (so that people who hold knowledge can easily turn it into educational resources), and to give learners good learning quality. It counts more than 1,500 courses, 500 instructors and partners, and more than 500,000 learners. The meta description promises online courses in five fields, business, design, language, technology and life, so that learners can study anytime and anywhere through self-study.

The catalog

Courses are filed under the same five categories: 生活 (life), 設計 (design), 商業 (business), 語言 (language) and 科技 (technology). The learner reviews on the About page show what sits inside them: bread baking and macarons, Procreate drawing, Lightroom photo editing, Zentangle, sketching, botanical illustration, Italic calligraphy, motion graphics, design thinking, photography, stock selection and trading, a Japanese series running from JLPT N5 to N1, and circuit analysis with signals and communications. The teacher directory's featured slots (本日主打) promote a warrant trading course by 權證小哥, an English pronunciation and speaking course by 浩爾, and a talk series called 20・30・40 成長進行式.

The homepage runs limited-time offers (marked 限時11/1-12/31) and invites visitors to explore the five fields. A learner account holds my courses, a profile, orders, coupons and subscriptions, and the site asks for email verification before a purchase.

What learners say about the experience

The About page quotes learners at length, and their reviews describe the learning tools. Shea Lee says "看影片時可以使用側欄的筆記即時記錄" (while watching the videos you can take notes in the sidebar in real time), which helps in finding the matching video section when reviewing, and that homework after the course brings comments and feedback from the teacher. mimi chen also singles out the platform's notes feature. lisa huang says an interrupted lesson picks up where it stopped and that the handouts can be downloaded ("又可下載講義"). 金賀 writes that the teacher's replies to homework were detailed and specific, and Jing2018, who is deaf, thanks a teacher for adding subtitles to the videos.

The reviews also show the range of teachers. Fan Chih-Yuan praises Hiroshi's Japanese courses for drawing on his work as an interpreter, Kevin Hsu says the Lightroom course finally taught the program from basics to depth, and Cat credits a trading course with finally building a consistent trading system. Jenny says a macaron course explained why her shells kept failing and taught a sugar-free filling, grace410 says a sketching course goes step by step until a learner can draw still lifes and landscapes beyond the course examples, and 吳冠霆 notes that one sketching course also covers managing clients and projects. Merci Hsieh says a course on transitions and motion thinking filled the gap that software tutorials found online had left, and Martin Wu says he was lucky to find what he calls Taiwan's finest photography teacher. The tone is that of hobbyists and working professionals learning a craft from a teacher they trust.

Teaching on YOTTA

For instructors, YOTTA is a publishing partner with its own crowdfunding roots. The account menu for teachers shows counts of online courses (線上課程), in-person courses (實體課程) and crowdfunding projects (募資專案), course management, current total income and withdrawable income, income management, and an article and subscriber count with article management, so a teacher can also publish articles and build subscribers. The teacher directory, 超強師資, shows each instructor's category, a one-line description, subscriber count, article count and number of students, with a subscribe button. Among the instructors shown are a macrame creator with 647 students, a children's occupational therapist with more than 10 years of practice and 154 students, a singer-illustrator who freelances, and the owner of Kasasagi Coffee Roasters with 669 students. A learner who cannot find a teacher for a topic can make a wish (前往許願) for one.

The instructor testimonials describe a hands-on partnership. 井上一宏, a Japanese-teaching YouTuber, says that before a new course YOTTA analyzes students' needs with the teacher and plans the course content together, that the teacher can concentrate on making the course while YOTTA's staff help solve problems, and that YOTTA keeps in touch afterward to discuss new courses. 木刻思股份有限公司, a data analysis company, says YOTTA communicates carefully with teachers and listens to students, and 親子天下 calls YOTTA a good partner whose early research into the audience fed back into course design. 陳智揚, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, says YOTTA starts from what learners need and brings in leading practitioners and consultants to build practical workplace courses. The site's Cooperation section (合作申請) is where would-be instructors and partners apply, and the About page closes by inviting people to join and share their knowledge and talent. The site does not state YOTTA's commission or how income is split with instructors.

Milestones and partners

The About page carries a timeline, 大事記, running from 2015 to 2023. It records the website going live, the first crowdfunded course, 從零到一 打造秒懂的視覺化簡報 (a course on visual presentations), raising $1,600,000 as the page prints it, and a later crowdfunded motion graphics course raising $2,100,000. It tracks membership passing 10,000, 40,000, 70,000, 150,000 and 200,000, annual revenue reaching $2,090,000, cumulative revenue passing $10,000,000 and then $20,000,000, a single month above $10,000,000, and the 300th online course going live.

The same timeline lists a long run of partnerships: ASUS, PChome, Readmoo, TAAZE, FamilyMart, hengstyle, 遠見雜誌, 全聯福利中心 and several banks (國泰世華 KOKO, 台新銀行, 永豐銀行 and 兆豐國際商業銀行), plus listings on the 蝦皮商城 online mall and the Yahoo 奇摩 redemption center. It also records Linepay going live as a payment method, a podcast called YO! 這節目有毒, and, for organizations, the launch of YOTTA for Business, a corporate training platform (企訓平台). Brand campaigns such as 敢夢敢學, a learning-grant challenge and a first 金優獎 award also appear, as does the LINE official account passing 1 萬 (10,000) followers. YOTTA keeps channels on Facebook, Instagram, Line@, YouTube and its podcast, and its contact page welcomes media interviews, event invitations and cross-industry partnerships. The footer reads "PressPlay © 2016-2026" and names the company as 瑞奧股份有限公司.

Who it suits

YOTTA suits Mandarin-speaking learners in Taiwan who want practical, self-paced video courses on hobbies, creative skills, languages, investing or work skills, taught by named practitioners, with notes, handouts and homework feedback built into the course. It suits Taiwanese experts, creators and small companies who want a platform partner that helps plan, produce and sell a course rather than a bare tool, with the option of launching a course through crowdfunding. Companies can look at YOTTA for Business for staff training. The catalog, interface and teachers are Taiwanese and the site is in Traditional Chinese, so it is built for that audience.