This is just a quick announcement about a short promotion I'm running on Skillshare. I recently posted a class about blockchain in that community and I'm willing to share it with 20 of my followers.
The class is only available to premium subscribers of Skillshare, but if you access it via the link below, you can watch it for free. This is part of an agreement with Skillshare which allows teachers to promote their courses for free. And "for free" also means I am not getting anything out of it, the minutes you'll watch won't count towards my monthly quota (Skillshare pays based on the number of minutes watched).
So, go ahead and click the link below:
Blockchain 101 On Skillshare
Important: There are only 20 spots!
So if you get a message like: "the link has expired" it means all the spots were taken.
But if you do get there, I'd really appreciate some sort of feedback (posted on Skillshare, if you can, but here would also be ok). Remember, this course is just an MVP, to test the interest for this type of content. It's also geared towards absolute beginners, so if you do have an idea about how things works in the crypto universe, this thing is not for you.
Steem on!
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
https://steemit.com/~witnesses
If you're new to Steemit, you may find these articles relevant (that's also part of my witness activity to support new members of the platform):
Thanks. I hit the Link and got a sit. I also Reestemed your Posts.
Thanks and looking forward for your feedback :)
This is going to be a long, very long reply to give you insight into the mind of a Neophyte search for Blockchain: First of all, I like very much to see you in real person in the Video and I did like the introduction about yourself. I always like to know the type of Brain & Experience I am learning/reading from. Second, the way you posed the problem is very interesting and enlightening to me. What is a BlockChain
Thanks! :)
Going to the beginning of my problem, all started back in March 2016 when I saw a friend of mind, very intelligent, with 3 Antminers, after coming from an expat assignment in the Gulf of Mexico. He is an Oil & Gas Engineer. At that time I said? What that Hell is that? Are you out of mind? expending USD 2,000 per machine to Mind Nonsense!!!. As you see, I was a 100% unaware of Bitcoin Potential, although I had heard the word before..... History will continue...
Chapter 2: What is a BlockChain? cannot be explained in more simpler terms. The Visuals allow you to remember and make neural connections. I have seen this Chapter Twice and I am done with it. Next, is going to be Cryptography Chapter, which I have as a general sense as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cryptography
Chapter 3: Summary
BINGO, Clearly understood. Of course, I have read some material, but your presentation help me to better understand what I had read before.
Now, What I see missing/lacking, is the mentioning of In What Computer Languages are used to model those transactions. How blocks are connected to each other? What kind of Glue is used?.
Some People would like to have a general idea, and others will like to go deeper. I am one of them. I always like to know the underlying dynamics, no matter how complex they can be.
Chapter V: I would replace this Title to: Applications & Examples of BlockChain Technology
Your presentation is heavily shifted to coins.
DONE. View twice. My Feedback is in the above posts. My only complain is lack of explaining how such models are implemented and through which computers languages.
Hope my Input helps you to make your Course, even better than currently is. I enjoy very much going through the training. And as you may see, I took as a priority for the whole morning. I am glad I woke up very early and got probably the 1º seat.
Chapter IV: BlockChain examples: You give there a Financial Example. Very Good, but also I feel you should give an Insurance industry example and a Supply Chain Example. In other words, less coin oriented explanation. The Financial Example help me a lot to understand the FIAT problem.
This chapter clearly conveys the huge impact on other industries that the BlockChain Technology it will have.
The message here is terrifying to banks: IF WE all have confidence and believe in the New Financial Distributed Systems that are rising, Banks will be errase of the face of the earth. Now I see why there is a War going on between Bankers and the BlockChain coins.
Key Points:
Thank you for the invite, I am in !
You're welcome, enjoy and looking forward for your feedback!
It's my first time on Skillshare, but I got in very easily without even confirming my email address.
1st Impression: The "course" seems awfully short: only 14 minutes. Is Skillshare geared to millennial attention spans, or is this just an unusually short course?
2nd impression: your voice is rather soft (compared to the music), even with my volume cranked up to maximum. In the future, perhaps you should increase the volume on your end (postprocessing) before uploading.
The irritating background music (I know, different tastes) makes it especially difficult to hear you clearly. I suggest you keep it only as a short intro, or find some softer, more peaceful music.
As a 40+ year language teacher, I know that some non-native speakers of English may have trouble coping with the music + slight accent combination: adding captions would be very useful (Youtube can help you for free).
In Lesson 3 (Cryptography), you mentioned algorithms, keys and scrambling a message, but you didn't clearly explain what what these terms mean.
If this is truly a beginner's course, some people would surely be mystified. Perhaps a few more graphics would help.
Finished the course: short, but to the point. A little more "flesh" might be a good idea. Hit the "Recommend" button.
Thanks for making this course available for free!
Thanks, really appreciate the time you took to go through it and all the feedback, vey useful!
On Music. It is correct. It distracts. I had no notice the impact, but when I try to think more concentrated on a given point, then Music is an interference. I recommend to get rid of it.
Ok, duly noted, thanks.
I am an non English Speaker and I don´t have any problem understanding you, nor with your voice. I run an ASUS K52J with louser speakers and I have not had any problem with the quality nor the label of sound.
Thanks, it helps :)
To me, length of something means, nothing. What is is important is the quality and deepness of the thought conveyed.
I agree that length in itself means nothing, but for average people the entirely unfamiliar concept of blockchain takes a bit of time to explain clearly. I've worked with computers and cryptography for decades, but as an experienced teacher I can tell when most of my Chinese students will probably have trouble understanding.
@dragosroua Thank you so much for this information!!! I am new in the blockchain developer world. I was on udemy looking for courses on how to build on the blockchain and also courses in cryptography . Do you have any recommendations for a new developer that wants to learn how to build on the Blockchain ?
At this moment the tech is very new, so you should start looking at code on various GitHub repositories. As it gets more mainstream, you will find more palatable ways to learn.
Thanks for sharing this is great information!
You're welcome, looking forward for your feedback!
Excellent, easy to understand information for people who are first being introduced to blockchain.
Will you be doing more in depth courses as well?
I would love to learn about blockchain development xD
Thanks and yes, I'm planning more in-depth courses, if there will be interest for them.
Thanks for sharing awesome post. I resteem your post.
I'm in. Watching it now.
Thanks!
Just finished it. Just top of the head questions (just wrote them as they came to mind):
I wish there was an option to change the video quality for people who have slow connections. My video buffered multiple times and I found it distracting. (Interrupted the flow of understanding)
Basically this is what I got from the course:
a. Decentralize to get rid of the middle man
b. Encrypted using private keys
c. Consensus via proof of something
I may have to watch it again to come up with my own questions.
I also liked what you said about there not being a previous experience.
I liked the info about Ethereum - the last video (although for those interested, may need to dig deeper into it).
Next is, what can I do with these information? And what's the next thing I should know?
Where do I want to go or where will this lead to?
I'm a developer and I want to build an app. How do I choose which token or coin to use or to put under it?
No need to provide answers to my questions above. Will re-watch the course tomorrow with a clearer head. lol
Thank you for the feedback, much appreciated. Now, for the developers, that's a very different topic. I reckon the audience for this type of information will be way smaller so it should be probably ned to be marketed heavily. But I got what you said and if there's enough demand, I may create something like that.
wow