SkillSwap: A Campus-First Credit-Based Peer to-Peer Skill Exchange Platform

Collaborative, peer-led learningenvironments have been shown to improve studentengagement and outcomes. We present SkillSwap, a webplatform that enables university students to exchangeskills hour-for-hour using a virtual credit system,fostering campus-based learning communities. This papersynthesizes relevant literature and the implementedsystem to argue that credit-based peer mentoring canenhance learning and community. In SkillSwap, userslist skills to teach or learn, search and filter mentors byskill and campus, and schedule sessions using earned“credits.” Gamification elements (badges, leaderboards,credit ledgers) incentivize participation. The platform’sUI/UX is designed for clarity and trust, with features likeverified profiles, consistent navigation, and real-timefeedback (e.g. profile completion, search results). Wecompare peer learning with traditional instruction, reviewstudies on gamified incentives, and discuss how campusbased networks and data-driven matching support mutualgrowth. Finally, we analyze how SkillSwap’s designaligns with these findings. By situating SkillSwap withincurrent research, we demonstrate its potential to reduceaccess gaps, improve motivation, and build cohesivelearning communities across diverse campuses.