Hot take: learning online can actually be quite easy! Wait… how?
When you choose to actively get involved with dedicated peers, learning on the same topic, it makes your rabbithole that much easier to dig. Setting intent to your rabbithole is a superpower.
Today I am going to write about the latest of my experience as a Freelance Graduate Student on my continuous journey down the cryptocurrency/web3 rabbithole.
Learning is a team sport, as much as it is an individual endeavor.
I’ll touch on some of the present groups for learning crypto I am a part of, as well as the ways in which we hold each other accountable.
$FWB Crypto Learning Group
As I have mentioned in previous writing, I am a part of the DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) Friends W Benefits ($FWB). As part of this unique experience, we have our own HQ on a Discord Server. On the $FWB Discord Channel, there is one place in particular I spend an ample amount of time in… the #learning-crypto room.
In a couple of inspired chats on all things related to crypto learning I have had with some of the fellow $FWB members, one of them shared a great resource… Professor Gary Gensler’s MIT course on Blockchain and Money.
This was a course taught back in Fall 2018, amazingly through MIT OpenCourseWare, where you can access all of the course resources for free. Side Note: MIT OpenCourseWare is one of the OG’s in the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) Space and I cannot recommend it enough if you are so inclined to attack lengthier courses/educational material by yourself.
So far I have studied through two of the twenty-four laid out lectures, which are incredibly detailed as well as high-quality. This is the perfect resource for individuals looking to explore blockchain technology’s potential use cases in changing the world of both money and finance.
Interestingly enough… Professor Gensler is now the head of the SEC. So for any of you concerned about the way the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) may seek to regulate crypto in the US, here is a bit of an introduction on how the new head of the SEC feels about crypto.
As far as how the $FWB Crypto Learning Group is engaging with the course material… we are planning on discussing weekly what we have been learning from the class within the #FWB-voice-chat on our $FWB discord server.
Curating a list of educational resources on cryptocurrency and then sharing this within $FWB, is another huge value our learning group within the DAO is looking to create for its members.
At the end of the day, are DAOs the next-wave of educational institutions? How would we distinguish between students/faculty? Is this a dichotomy that even needs to be drawn out?
Crypto for Good - Hyperlink
The second crypto learning group I am a part of: is the Crypto for Good club hosted through hyperlink.academy. This club is led by Daniel Jiang & one of my internet buddies @grin who actually participated in my Newsletter Creator Club.
Just last week, we had our first club meeting where we met everyone involved, and decided on our collaborative learning goals over the next 3 weeks or so until our next meeting on July 22nd, 2021.
As we discussed what together as a learning group we could all devote our time to before our next meeting, we decided that we would work through Crypto Zombies.
Have you ever heard of Crypto Zombies?
CryptoZombies is an interactive school that teaches you all things technical about blockchains. Learn to make smart contracts in Solidity or Libra by making your own crypto-collectibles game.
We are planning on sharing our progress for Crypto Zombies via our #post-your-homework-here room on our Discord Server made specifically for our club. So far I am about three chapters through the first lesson.
I am also eager to start learning more about smart contracts… plus let’s be real: isn’t an interactive school just a fancy way of saying a video game?
Why not learn about making smart contracts?
A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code.
Smart contracts seem to be a place for applications in the future of just about every industry built off of blockchain technologies.
It’ll be curious to see how the group (as well as myself) maintain accountability over a larger duration of time between our next meeting.
Thus far, with online learning groups I have typically been a part of groups that meet on a weekly cadence, so I’m keen to also learn of ways in which learning can happen more efficiently on a longer-term basis asynchronously.
Know of any HAX?
I am also thrilled to announce this week that I have begun a new opportunity working as the Community Manager (Hypeman) of HAX!
HAX is a community dedicated to educating on building wealth together alongside other young investors. Karthik Senthil is the founder of this community, and I am stoked to work alongside him, as we seek to build up a community of aspiring investors.
This Tuesday, we hosted our first course session of “Buying Your First Crypto” with 15 participants via Zoom. This course is set to discuss over the next five weeks, the process of understanding why crypto is actually a once-in-a-generation investing opportunity!
Instead of using the typical Discord server… we are using Geneva, as a place for asynchronous conversation. Getting the server all set up properly and deciding what type of rooms we would like to include for the beginning stages of our community is what I have been tasked with over the past week and for the foregoing future.
Every Tuesday night we are meeting collaboratively as a group, where Karthik takes on a more traditional role in acting as the lecturer for the group. The one part I really enjoyed about our first session is that we gave ample opportunities for the students within the course to ask questions, share comments, as well as give feedback.
It’ll be curious to see how the community aspect will unfold, as we are seeking to create more opportunities for engagement on a peer-to-peer level with the implementation of accountability squads.
Accountability squads are in essence a vehicle for our community members to make deeper connections as well as having a place of support to ask questions they may not feel comfortable asking the whole community. It’s the meta-cohort, the cohort of the cohort… for our first implementation of the “Buying Your First Crypto” course.
We have plans in the pipeline for creating more opportunities for asynchronous/synchronous hangouts… which yet again leaves me so curious about what the future of learning instiutions looks like.
The Future Is Already HERE
Upon reflecting on how I am utilizing these various online communities to amplify my learning in crypto, I recognize that I truly am learning on the cutting edge. Also, I am now in a place where I am getting paid to learn what I actually want to learn.. while simultanously getting a legitimate education.
It is at moments like this: where I recognize that traditional adult education (higher-ed) is due for a disruption. I think this is one of those moments where the change for people to comfortably learn online is builidng up momentum gradually as we all were forced to pivot online due to the pandemic. However, just as with all change, it happens gradually… then hits you in the “blindspot” where all of the sudden learning online becomes the new norm.
My advice in the meanwhile, is to pick a topic to spend some time to learn online. Your general interest may just end up turning into a specialty. Dedicating and sustaining more attention to learning about your specialty online, will cause you to meet others in this realm. Pretty soon, you may even end up getting a job in this realm.
THAT’S RIGHT. You can get paid to learn what you want to learn. No degree required.
Passion outweighs credentials.
The future of credentials for online learning is something I will discuss more at a later date.
This is only the start.
Cheers to lifelong learning,
Adam Bartley
PARTING NOTE
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