Ed3Weekly: Issue #10 of Web3🤝Education
Aloha and welcome to issue #10. I first want to thank you all for joining me in reaching this milestone. I started this out as a way to share and document my learning in web3 as it relates to education. I appreciate everyone who has read, subscribed, and shared. I look forward to continuing to grow this newsletter as a resource for educators looking to learn about how web3 can help shape the future of education. Once again, mahalo.
I am really excited to share the resources I have curated for you all this week. My sense right now is that there is some real momentum around buidling* projects in web3 that have some real applications. There have been a lot of discussions that this tends to be the trend in bear markets. The quick flippers move out and those interested in the real work emerge.
I am blessed to know some of these people personally. Mike Peck, a technology supervisor for a school district in Pennsylvania, is one buidler* in this space. This week I share a link to his website and blog in which he lays out his background and philosophy about web3 in education. Another educator who is doing important work in this space is Rich Baxter from Toronto, Canada. He recently published a piece about his application of blockchain technology with an analog approach.
In this issue, you will also find a podcast and companion article about Nadav Zeimer, a principal in the New York City school system. He is the creator of hs.credit a nonprofit app offering non-transferable NFTs (ntNFTs) to 11th and 12th-grade students. His podcast interview is with Dr. Jeremy Williams a former principal himself and creator in the web3 space through his company Aspen NFT.
These examples are just some of the amazing work being done in our schools by innovative educators around web3. I know there is more out there and I've made it my mission to find them and share them with all of you. I think this can have a two-fold effect. First, it can open up the eyes and minds of educators on how their work can be supported by this technology. And secondly, it shares the needs of educators with those already working in the web3 space.
Please enjoy all the links below, and as always your likes, Tweets, and Retweets really help spread awareness of this newsletter. Also, if you have any interesting web3 articles, news, or events feel free to share in my DMs, I am always looking to learn more about what is going on out there!
*For more information on the use of "buidl" click here
Blogs
In addition to being an amazing innovative educator, Mike Peck is the co-founder of Ed3 NFT and the Ed3 DAO. I have had the pleasure of getting to know him as part of my work as the community growth lead of the Ed3 NFT. He is purposeful and focused. He thinks deeply about the architecture of schools and the role that blockchain technology will have in helping to restructure this. Check out the link to his blog below, excited for what is to come!
Exploring the Intersection of Education and Web3 – Mike Peck Consulting — edtechmpeck.wordpress.com People, place, and purpose. I recently read an article about learning in a community posted on the Getting Smart website, and the TLDR (too long didn’t read) is that community schools and perhaps innovative schools at large are going to need to leverage networks that address people, place, purpose in meaningful ways. This intersection has been at the focal…
Description here
In Our Classrooms
I was first introduced to Rich Baxter through a mutual friend who simply said, "I think you two need to know each other." How right they were! Rich is a fearless educator with an unyielding passion for making the learning experience for his students the best it can be. Working in an underserved community in the Toronto urban area, Rick has seen firsthand how our systems of education punish the less-resourced. In this article, Rich showcases his innovative approach to change and explains how he uses an analog mindset to introduce students to web3 concepts.
Learn2Earn | Innovation in Education — iiedu.ca Introduction Together on June 8 my Grade 6 class from John McCrae Public School in Toronto, along with parent volunteers, will travel to a local eatery called Shereen’s Bakery, who care enough about us to participate in an initiative designed to help rebuild and regenerate* our classroom community, terribly affected by pandemic lockdowns, by…
Podcasts
Dr. Jeremy Williams' podcast is NFT-focused with an educational twist. He has done some great features on educators in the web3 space and this interview is no exception. Here he talks to Nadav Zeimer who is actively creating an NFT-based credit system for high schoolers. This is a fascinating listen on how the inefficiencies in transcripts and credit recording can be improved through the blockchain.
Episode 079 - How NFTs will upend traditional HS with Nadav Zeimer by NFTeach - Talking NFTs with Dr. Jeremy I was joined by former HS Principal Nadav Zeimer and we discussed how traditional HS could be modernized through Web 3 technology. We discuss - Nadav's background in tech - Nadav's approach to leading schools - How to make "magic" in schools - Where HS can go through Web 3 tech
Articles
If you want to dig deeper into the work of Nadav Zeimer here is a companion article about his project around web3 transcripts.
The High School Transcript, Inverted | by Nadav Zeimer | Medium — principalz.medium.com Web1 brought us digital content publishing with websites and hyperlinks (download). Web2 brought us digital content sharing with social media (download+upload). Web3 brings us digital content…
Tweets
I've been a little crypto-heavy in my last two issues so I wanted to refocus the lens on education. But that doesn't mean there aren't big things happening in the crypto space. Vitalik Buterin, the creator of the Ethereum network, recently co-authored a piece on buidling in web3. It's a heavy read so I wanted to share this Twitter thread that breaks down the main points.
Decentralized Society: Finding Web3's Soul — twitter.com
Zachdavidson.eth breaks down the key ideas of @VitalikButerin + @glenweyl’s Decentralized Society
Thanks again for reading, you can read my blog on the decentralized blogging platform Mirror, sign up to receive my Substack, or go old school and read my bloggy blog. They all link to the same content 🤪