Please describe your proposed solution.
“Most of our current education systems were designed during the Industrial Era. Education that emphasized compliance and competition supported the needs of industry. Systems to maximize compliance and competition no longer serve us, and yet they remain the most common model for education. For example, consider any school where students must obey teachers for 6 hours and where students are ranked, publicly, according to achievement on exams.
As a result, too many students struggle to find meaning and relevance at school. Students become less engaged in learning, which limits the effectiveness of education. At the end of the industrial education pipeline, organizations struggle to find people who are prepared to contribute to real problem solving.” The Education Problem - Andamio White Paper
Gimbalabs exists because we want to help as many people as possible solve problems and build using the tools that Cardano provides. Since before our birth as an organization, learn by doing, collaborating with others and contributing to solve big problems has been a process we've been closely studying and experimenting with since we first set foot in Catalyst at Fund 1. Since our time as Workshop Maybe in 2020 (<https://github.com/workshop-maybe/csk-002>, <https://www.youtube.com/@WorkshopMaybe/playlists>) where we promoted through our Cardano Starter Kits (CSK) the great potential of Cardano tools in improving results for small businesses and local communities; to our current third version of the Gimbalabs Plutus Project-Based Learning 2023 (<https://plutuspbl.io/>) whose objective is to support people like you
to become Contributors to real Projects; traces of the same phenomenon have consistently emerged to shape the conclusion we can now clearly visualize: access to education is not enough. Learn by doing -> collaborate with others -> contribute to the solution of hard problems (at a local and/or global level) is a process that must come alive in the learner at an instinctive level. To do so, like trees, these three concepts must be nurtured and cultivated equally in a space conducive to the search for meaning and purpose, intertwining naturally to build the foundation for students' future career path, in a future where they are their main resource.
While we have certainly not reached the final frontier of education and development at Cardano (our explorations will take much of our lifetime while our purpose will remain the same: helping as many people as possible to solve problems and build using the tools Cardano provides), we have certainly accumulated a respectable amount of knowledge and expertise that has brought us closer than any other organization in the Cardano ecosystem to building what we could define as an efficient learning space with the right environmental conditions for the process of learn by doing -> collaborating with others -> contributing to the solution of hard problems to grow organically in the midst of an ever-changing reality. A space being implemented successfully in our Gimbalabs Plutus Project-Based Learning 2023 (<https://plutuspbl.io/>), described in general terms in Figure 1 below, explained in detail at <https://plutuspbl.io/get-started/framework>, and open to be experienced by enrolling as a student (with a simple click on the "Get Started" button at <https://plutuspbl.io/>). Just as easily, its results can be evaluated at <https://plutuspbl.io/contributors>. In short, a one-stop-shop for all possible community concerns.
The key element of this proposal is centered on the Contribution module (pink box). While Learn by Doing -> Collaborate with Others -> Contribute to solving hard problems begins to be stimulated from the beginning of the student's journey in the Onboarding module (yellow box, where the seeds of the Learn-Collaborate-Contribute trees are planted and begin to grow), this process reaches its maturity stage at the arrival to the Contribution module, where a window of opportunity opens up in front of the student's eyes. The Student Contributor Treasury will be an integrated piece to that module as an engaging component in solving hard problems. The ambitious task of solving hard problems (climate change and environmental protection; bank the unbanked; access to health, education, jobs, welfare; equality; social justice, dignity; defense of those who cannot defend themselves; in other words, the problems that matter) is possible as long as the student builds a frequent relationship with problem solving and connecting with others for that problem solving.
Opportunities where the student achieves such a cumulative relationship with solving hard problems:
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Giving lessons to others (teachers and students) in Gimbalabs Live Coding Session format (<https://plutuspbl.io/live-coding>): these lessons can be given by the student to his own community, in his/her native language. Plutus PBL 2023 is in the process of being translated into 5 different languages.
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Claiming rewards stored and managed by the Treasury management system provided by the Gimbalabs Andamio platform (see below section "Student Contributor Treasury based on Gimbalabs Andamio platform").
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Creating teaching modules for Gimbalabs Plutus Project-Based Learning and other future Project-Based Learning courses: DevOps PBL, Tokenomics PBL, Dandelion PBL(<https://gimbalabs.com/gimbalgrid/11>), others.
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Creating their own teaching programs globally: as is the case of the successful "Cardano Sin Tecnicismos" program of former Gimbalabs student Roberto Mayen (https://twitter.com/cardano_st) and today committed Gimbalabs instructor and Gimbalabs Andamio platform team member (<https://www.andamio.io/>). His program has contributed to advancing the understanding of the Cardano technology fundamentals in Latin American communities and connecting ecosystem projects such as GameChanger Wallet (<https://twitter.com/GameChangerOk>) with these communities in developing countries.
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Being part of Gimbalabs' Andamio platform team (https://hackmd.io/@andamio/B1_gJMDvn/%2FKNDmpf44T–Ix_Kwj7_nYQ, <https://www.andamio.io/>) and contributing to solving big problems, problems that matter.
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With a growing awareness about the importance of the documentation's role in the growth of the ecosystem, producing improved documentation for existing systems or projects, and robust documentation for systems or projects under development (e.g. <https://gimbalabs-docs.vercel.app/>).
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Others.
Note 1: The incentives transferred to the student from the treasury as recognition for their contributions will be managed by the Gimbalabs Andamio platform (see below section "Student Contributor Treasury based on Andamio platform by Gimbalabs").
Note 2: the treasure money will not be a lead element in creating engagement in problem solving, it is a real-life component that will become incorporated into the scaffolding that supports students' search for meaning and connection.
Along with the impact of seeing:
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that what they learn is applicable in reality (learn by doing),
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that their ideas can coincide with those of their peers and grow together (collaboration),
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that together they can improve an existing system or create a new one (contribution),
the incentives managed by the Gimbalabs Andamio platform will complement their vision that it is possible to create for themselves a life of meaning and purpose.
Student Contributor Treasury based on Andamio platform by Gimbalabs
Gimbalabs technology is a work of constant experimentation and progress. As the Cardano blockchain is an essentially human technology, since our early years we have sought to create a learning experience with long-term impact that captures the fundamentals of human nature: problem solving, meaning seeking, project contribution, skill accreditation, emergent reputation. Our work in this area has led to the creation of the Andamio Platform.
The Gimbalabs Plutus Project-Based Learning 2023 (<https://plutuspbl.io/>) is hosted on the Gimbalabs Andamio platform.
The Gimbalabs Plutus PBL - Student Contributor Treasury will be hosted on the same platform, incorporated into the Plutus PBL 2023.
The Andamio Platform by Gimbalabs:
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Provides a Learning Management System (LMS) for onboarding new contributors to your project/organization.
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Is built on Cardano with Plutus smart contracts and UI components for treasury management, skill accreditation, project contribution, and emergent reputation.
You can find an introductory overview of the Andamio platform here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12VLfrZVaqLqzRCv_4ME78t4JERxeCLN8/view?usp=sharing
You can find the Andamio white paper here: https://hackmd.io/@andamio/B1_gJMDvn/%2FKNDmpf44T–Ix_Kwj7_nYQ
Andamio official website: <https://www.andamio.io/>
A high level overview of the backend that supports the Student Contributor Treasury can be found in this video (the Treasury mechanism has been a Gimbalabs technology in constant refinement, however its first principles are still valid): Gimbal Treasury + Escrow Intro for A0 Working Groups
"We envision a world where people are inspired to solve big problems, audacious enough to know they can, and empowered enough to take action." Andamio White Paper
How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?
In its core, Gimbalabs is a school for teaching and promoting Open Source development principles under high standards of collaboration and contribution. Gimbalabs community services such as Dandelion (<https://gimbalabs.com/gimbalgrid/11>, <https://developers.cardano.org/docs/get-started/dandelion-apis/>) and the PBL framework (<https://plutuspbl.io/get-started/framework>, <https://gitlab.com/gimbalabs/ppbl-2023/ppbl-front-end-template-2023>) have contributed to the open source work of former and current students and collaborators on projects such as: jpg.store, Gods of Blocks, Martify (today Mesh), Loxe inc, WADA, Oxford University, Bonfire - Scheduling dApp, Ekival, GameChanger wallet, DCypher, and the list goes on. Therefore, the premise of the OSDE: Open Source Dev Ecosystem challenge of "providing a stream of resources to teams that want to develop their projects and contribute back to the community by sharing part of their efforts in terms of open source projects, open-source frameworks, and accessible knowledge" is fully supported by our purpose as organization. Our work in building development and education infrastructure will continue to contribute to the growth of the Cardano open source ecosystem, as our track record evidences.
How do you intend to measure the success of your project?
"In the Cardano ecosystem, Gimbalabs is the best place to learn". Adriano Fiorenza - Founder of GameChanger Wallet
Gimbalabs has seen some of its students become high-level developers. It saw them launch their own projects. It saw them contribute to the ecosystem on their own, with their own genius. In our experience as educators, one thing is clear to us: education creates superstars, the kind of superstars that take an ecosystem to the next level.
Along with creating an efficient network of spaces (Gimbalabs Playground <https://gimbalabs.com/pbl/playground>, Gimbalabs Live Coding Session <https://plutuspbl.io/live-coding>, Gimbalabs Carnival <https://gimbalabs.com/gimbalgrid/14>) with which we attract unexpected talent (no barriers to entry, no gatekeepers), we have created a measurable educational experience that allows the student to track their growth.
Creating a long lasting educational experience requires constant measurement for decision making. Our obsession with obtaining information from our educational work, represented in the progress of our students, has led us to build our own information system, which we have incorporated into the Andamio platform. This information system provides data mainly in the following formats (check it in <https://plutuspbl.io/contributors>):
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Visual format: charts, plots, images
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Metadata registered through contribution tokens.
The incentives resulting from student contributions will not only be managed directly by the treasury system of the Andamio platform, the occurrence of these incentives will be captured by the information system of the same platform, which will produce an interesting amount of performance information of this proposal in graphical and metadata format, publicly accessible.
How will the innovation affect Cardano’s productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term?
Again, education creates superstars. In our Learn by Doing -> Collaborate with Others -> Contribute to solve hard Problems process, we have seen it happen time and time again. As an organization, we have a strict policy of zero talent retention and zero tolerance for denying students the opportunities that the Cardano ecosystem and the world can offer them (students who have chosen to join our organization have done so voluntarily, finding affinity with our mission). Our educational process is a tunnel whose exit ends directly in the Cardano development ecosystem. Therefore, providing human talent with a strong mindset of collaboration and contribution will continue to be our commitment to the ecosystem and the world.
Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?
Creating a long lasting educational experience requires constant measurement for decision making. Our obsession with obtaining information from our educational work, represented in the progress of our students, has led us to build our own information system, which we have incorporated into the Andamio platform. This information system provides data mainly in the following formats (check it in <https://plutuspbl.io/contributors>):
-
Visual format: charts, plots, images
-
Metadata registered through contribution tokens.
The incentives resulting from student contributions will not only be managed directly by the treasury system of the Andamio platform, the occurrence of these incentives will be captured by the information system of the same platform, which will produce an interesting amount of performance information of this proposal in graphical and metadata format, publicly accessible.