Detailed Plan
• Executive Summary
Our proposal provides an on-ramp for kids to discover the power of blockchain through their first badges, a form of credentials, in DID badge passports that they receive from hands-on STEM education programs such as coding and robotics. W3C Verifiable Credentials (VCs) are being rollout as the blockchain-enabled "killer app" — International COVID vaccine passports. In 2019 the annual number of international tourist arrivals is 1.4 billion worldwide.
Cardano is currently lagging behind other leading layer 1 protocols in terms of being integrated into developer SDK tools of DIDs and VCs for a variety of use cases in Government, Border Control (i.e. COVID vaccine passports), Education, Healthcare, Industry licenses, Associations, Insurance (certificate of currency), etc.
We strongly believe that Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) technology would have the biggest social impact if it is widely adopted in primary and secondary education. This project is the first small step towards UN SDG 4 - Quality Education. A coming future of prosperity and abundance where knowledge and abilities/skills become transferable assets, much like digital assets.
• Background and motivation
The idea started from Leo's personal experience with the struggle of fitting into formal education in Japan. After dropping out at 13 years old due to a lack of challenging courses, he utilized the growing movement of free open-source courses (MOOCs) from universities overseas. However, a disconnect between educational resources and globally recognized certifications meant that he still had to go through several rounds of standardized testing, which was not only expensive, hard to access and time-consuming, but also didn't provide any space to showcase his ability in programming or specialized knowledge from MOOCs.
With these kinds of difficulties arising in a wealthy country, it's not hard to imagine the kinds of challenges and barriers holding back bright, self-motivated kids in developing regions around the world.
• Problem Statement
[From a student perspective]
As we move towards a more interconnected and globalized world, students from underrepresented backgrounds are falling behind. As educational entities navigate the digital transformation, their paper certifications become fragile and short-lived.
Primary and secondary school students are exposed to a myriad of extracurricular workshops, excursions, maker fairs, and many more educational experiences during the school years. However, such experiences are rendered futile by the time they have to start university or polytechnic. There's no secure way to document their learning journey, nor a way to bring this agency to the student – strengthening their individual identity.
The Laboratory for the Science of Individuality at the Harvard Graduate School of Education has demonstrated that there is no average student. Students' interests are variable and change over time responding to external influences. A kid's development is extremely nuanced and there should be room for exploration in terms of education pathways.
The future of work will require professionals that understand multiple disciplines and how they relate to each other. And yet, we push our children through a linear progression model with a universal sequence that pays no respect to their individual variability. This average-based model leaves many kids with low self-esteem because they are not good at exams.
What if the youth could own their educational pathway? What if they had the agency to seek their own interests? And what if, by the time they have to decide on what next step to take, they had documentation in their hands that would help them self-guide?
• Our target users
Verifiable Credential Receiver
K-12 Students (13-18 yo) that are engaging with STEM programs (accredited and non-accredited) such as excursions, hour-of-code (https://code.org), makerspace visits, workshops, coding boot camps, etc.
Verifiable Credential Issuer
Educational Program providers - Makerspaces, fab labs, Tech schools (Victoria State, Australia), boot camp organizers, community STEM / STEAM programs, libraries, summer camps, etc.
We are working with Ballarat Tech School for a proof-of-concept and pilot program as part of this proposal. Ballarat Tech School is located at 136 Albert St, Ballarat Central, VIC 3350, Australia. There are ten (10) Tech Schools in Victoria State.
• The market
Micro-credentials and digital badges have been used for over a decade. Open Badges alone issued 43.3 million badges in 2020. Kids are exposed to badges and credentials at a very young age, and that's one of the first *documents* they gather that represents their identity.
Across STEM programs, excursions, and workshops for K-12 students, there's no standard record keeping. Young students have fragile and short-lived certifications that are not portable.
First and foremost, there's a market gap in regards to a digital repository of granular formal and informal educational experiences. Moreover, the few solutions live in extremely centralized institutions on centralized databases. A kid's identity should belong to them, and the W3C Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) that onboard a user at a young age will become his or her default blockchain for Web3.
The EdTech is growing like never - As of 10 Aug 2021, there are now 30 EdTech Unicorns around the world who have collectively raised over $20B of total funding in the last decade and are now collectively valued at $90B.
University entry requirements are moving towards skill-based admission criteria. More and more universities are considering extracurricular skills and demonstrated interests during their admission process. However, anything "non-accredited" during a kid's time in school has no registration whatsoever. By the time they realize they need it - They don't have it.
• The product
In order to drive mass adoption, we intend to bring STEM badges and certificates to the Cardano blockchain. K-12 students will open their first passport in order to receive digital badges related to the educational programs they attended (hour of code, excursion to a makerspace, etc.). That's a gateway to explore the Cardano blockchain without financial commitments.
Badges can play a crucial role in the connected learning ecology by acting as a bridge between contexts and making these alternative learning pathways and skills more portable and impactful. Key benefits include but are not limited to:
<u>Capturing and translating the learning across contexts:</u>
- Capturing of the Learning Path
- Achievement Signaling
<u>Encouraging and motivating participation and learning outcomes:</u>
- Motivation
- Supporting Innovation and Flexibility
<u>Formalizing and enhancing existing social aspects of informal and interest-driven learning:</u>
- Identity/Reputation Building
- Community Building/Kinship
Our development roadmap and Go To Market plan provide a clear on-ramp for DID adoption in the education sector, presented via an easy-to-understand use case, instead of the abstract speculative trading image of crypto held by the general public.
• Our vision
Every child in the world should have access to affordable and personalized STEM education.
Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and VCs enable true digital ownership and control of each student's accomplishments that are immutable, easily verified, and globally recognized.
Achieving inclusive and quality education for all reaffirms the belief that education is one of the most powerful and proven vehicles for UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). This project is the first small step towards UN SDG 4 - Quality Education.
• Our team
- Hans Chang, ex-SanDisk PM, entrepreneur, Maker Education
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanschang/>
- Bernardo Mendonca, EdTech, Maker Education, Product
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/mendonca-bernardo/>
- Leo Lloyd, Full-stack developer, User Research, UX
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/leo-lloyd/>
- Austin John, enterprise DevOps and big data infrastructure
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinjohn1/>
• Advisors and Partners
Ministry of Education, Ethiopia - ICT Team (Cardano Africa - Atala DID)
Bethel Tadesse, Core ICT Team, ex-IOHK
Ballarat Tech School Program Facilitator
<https://ballarattechschool.vic.edu.au/>
RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub
<https://rmitblockchain.io/>
Spruce - Open Source SDK Tools
Trinsic - Open Source SDK Tools
• Milestones
1. [Q4 2021] Proof-of-Concept with one (1) customer
- Work with Spruce DIDKit SDK / Trinsic Studio to rapid prototype for a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) with Ballarat Tech School
- Open standard advocacy and stakeholder engagement for DIDs and VCs in partnership with RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub
- Product Requirements Document (including web wallets and/or mobile app development) for issuing W3C VCs
2. [Q1 2022] MVP of passport → Demo + Testing
- Collaborate with Atala PRISM team (PRISM pioneer program?) on the technical implementation of PRISM after a successful PoC in Australia
- Co-design the UI/UX with Ballarat Tech School as the first customer for a pilot
3. [Q1 2022] Pilot program with 1 Tech School
- Digital certificate of attendance in kids' badge passports
- Schooling Statistics Analytics (web dashboard)
4. [Q3 2022] Roll out with Tech School network (10 locations in Victoria State, Australia) - outside Fund6 (future campaigns)
- 30K passports / K-12 kids by the end of 2022
• Metrics for success
- 3 Months
Define Verifiable Credential standards (W3C etc) and schema.
Rapid UX/UI Prototype with Spruce DIDKit / Trinsic Studio and user validation.
Kickstart development with Atala PRISM SDK.
- 6 Months
Define Verifiable Credential standards (W3C etc) and schema.
Rapid UX/UI Prototype with Spruce DIDKit / Trinsic Studio and user validation.
Kickstart development with Atala PRISM SDK.
- 12 Months
10 Tech Schools use W3C Verifiable Credentials for Badges
The Victorian Skills Authority (VSA) use W3C Verifiable Credentials for some publicly funded training programs
• Public Launch Date
August/2022 (9 months from receiving Fund6 ADA)
• Budget breakdown
Dev Team
Dev Ops $ 15,598.80
Full Stack Developer $ 16,638.72
UX/UI $ 13,518.96
Contractors
Q.A.$ 1,733.20
Graphic Designer $ 3,466.40
<u>Grand Total (USD) $ 50,956.08</u>
* A note on project length: We aim to deliver the pilot program within 3~6 months depending on restrictions.