[DRAFT] Proposal for Educational Series at Universities

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S4 Intent 1: Spread Awareness of the Optimistic Vision

Proposed Mission: Proposal for Educational Series at Universities

Proposal Tier 16: Ember

Please verify that you meet the qualifications for submitting at the above Tier: I am a new community member that has not worked with or for the Optimism Collective before.

Baseline grant amount: 0 OP

% of total available Intent Budget: 0%

Please check here if access to upfront capital is a barrier to completing your Mission and you would like to be considered for a small upfront cash grant: Yes

Alliance name: DIY Blockchain Initiative

Alliance Lead: Stanford

Contact info: lh.stanford.goddy@gmail.com

L2 recipient address: 0x890BCB6Aa6e8B67cA5FFeBCA56ea6EB4D8E083F1

Please list the members of your Alliance and link to any previous work:

  • Stanford (professional educationist and blockchain advocate) - LinkedIn

Please explain how this Mission will help accomplish the above Intent:

  • In other to spread awareness of the Optimistic Vision, this proposal aims to deliver the first in a series of educational workshops in select Universities across Africa.
  • The purpose of these events is to onboard new users, developers, and partners who are passionate about the Optimistic Vision and values of the ecosystem.
  • For this proposal, we will initially target students within the higher education sector across Nigeria.

The following are universities currently being considered for the Edu-series:

  • University of Lagos
  • University of Ibadan
  • Federal University of Technology, Minna

What makes your Alliance well-suited to execute this Mission?

  • Stanford - As a professional educationist, has a proven track record of creating engaging and informative content that resonates well with readers. For example, his written content has reached over 17 million users on a top U.S. education platform.
  • He also has a combined experience of over 5 years in the web3 industry as a Quality Assurance Specialist, Project Ambassador, and Web3 Writer.
  • It is also worth noting we would be very much happy to make considerations for possible collaboration that leads to the success of this mission.

Please list the critical milestone(s) that should be tracked to determine if you should receive your grant in one year:

Milestone 1: Workshop Planning and Preparation (End of July 2023)

By the end of July 2023, we will complete the following tasks:

  1. Develop a comprehensive workshop content and curriculum that covers key aspects of Optimistic Vision This will include specific modules and learning objectives.
  2. Finalize the selection of workshop venues and make necessary logistical arrangements.
  3. Secure any required equipment and technical support for a seamless workshop experience.

Milestone 2: Workshop Training (End of August 2023)

By the end of August 2023, we will accomplish the following:

  1. Conduct three weeks of workshop training sessions with a minimum of 100 attendees across the selected universities (University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, and Federal University of Technology, Minna).
  2. Provide recorded or live-streamed sessions of the workshops for wider accessibility and reach.
  3. Include other guest speakers with expertise in blockchain technology to contribute their insights and expertise to the events.

Milestone 3: Workshop Follow-up Report (Mid-September 2023)

In mid-September 2023, we will complete the following tasks:

  1. Publish a comprehensive workshop follow-up report evaluating the effectiveness of the workshops.
  2. Gather participant feedback through surveys and interviews to assess the impact and identify areas for improvement.
  3. Provide valuable insights and recommendations for future educational initiatives.

How should Token House delegates measure progress towards this Mission:

  • Milestone 1| End of July 2023
    Release of comprehensive workshop content and curriculum

  • Milestone 2| End of August 2023
    Achieve three weeks of workshop training

  • Milestone 3| Mid September 2023
    Publish workshop follow-up report

Milestone 1: Workshop Planning and Preparation (2 Weeks)

Completion of this milestone involves designing and curating the workshop content and curriculum, ensuring it covers the key aspects of Optimistic blockchain technology. The milestone also accounts for venue rental and logistical arrangements to ensure a suitable environment for the workshop.

Milestone 2: Achieve three weeks of workshop training (3 weeks)

We are exploring options to provide recordings or live streaming of the entire workshops. Technical support and equipment for a seamless workshop experience are accounted for here. Also, other guest speakers with expertise in blockchain technology will contribute their insights and expertise to the event.

Milestone 3: Publish workshop follow-up report (1 weeks)

This milestone focuses on publishing a comprehensive follow-up report evaluating the workshop’s effectiveness and gathering participant feedback. This milestone ensures that the workshop’s objectives are met and provides valuable insights for future improvements.

How should badgeholders measure impact upon completion of this Mission?

  • Number of attendees: 100+
  • Workshops and content delivered
  • Participant survey/interviews
  • staking pool/time-lock smart contract

Breakdown of Mission budget request:

To drive protocol usage, our original plan was to incentivize workshop participants with OP tokens. However, we’ve decided not to use this approach for at least two reasons.

  1. The one-year lockup rule.

Mission grants are awarded in the form of OP governance tokens. These tokens will be locked for a period of one year (similar to Grants Council builder grants).

  1. The impact = profit principle.

Using this principle, we hope to be considered for RetroPGF if this mission is deemed impactful and then use portions of any funding received to incentivize workshop participants.

  • Operating budget (requires USDC): 8,036 USDC

For a more detailed cost breakdown of the mission budget, please read the doc found here.

I confirm that my grant will be subject to clawback for failure to execute on critical milestones: Yes

I confirm that I have read and understand the grant policies: Yes

I understand that I will be required to provide additional KYC information to the Optimism Foundation to receive this grant: Yes

I understand that I will be expected to following the public grant reporting requirements outlined here: Yes

3 Likes
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Do you have a list of universities you can share?

Are there any other examples you can share here?

These milestones are vague and difficult to measure, I would suggest expanding on these.

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Do you have a list of universities you can share?

As earlier stated in the proposal, for this mission, we hope to initially target students within the higher education sector across Nigeria. The following are universities currently being considered for the Edu-series:

  • University of Lagos
  • University of Ibadan
  • Federal University of Technology, Minna
1 Like
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Are there any other examples you can share here?

Sure, you can find other details about my professional career on LinkedIn.

5

These milestones are vague and difficult to measure, I would suggest expanding on these.

Thanks for your feedback once again Katie. Acting upon your suggestions. To expand on these further, please note the following milestone adjustments which have also been made to the proposal:

  • Milestone 1: Release of comprehensive workshop content and curriculum (2 Weeks)
  • Milestone 2: Achieve three weeks of workshop training (3 weeks)
  • Milestone 3: Publish workshop follow-up report (1 week)

Milestone 1: Release of comprehensive workshop content and curriculum (2 Weeks)

Completion of this milestone involves designing and curating the workshop content and curriculum, ensuring it covers the key aspects of Optimistic vision. The milestone also accounts for venue rental and logistical arrangements to ensure a suitable environment for the workshop.

Milestone 2: Achieve three weeks of workshop training (3 weeks)

We are exploring options to provide recordings or live streaming of the entire workshops.

Milestone 3: Publish workshop follow-up report (1 week)

This milestone focuses on publishing a comprehensive follow-up report evaluating the workshop’s effectiveness and gathering participant feedback. This milestone ensures that the workshop’s objectives are met and provides valuable insights for future improvements.

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The education team at Know the Blocks are planning a blockchain expo in Abuja.They have govt granted access to schools and 3k plus registered students as well as partnerships with other educators. Happy to put you in touch with the founder to discuss collaboration for at least one workshop as the community is 5k strong and growing :slight_smile:

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts @lee0007. We would be very much happy to make such consideration for possible collaboration that leads to the success of this mission. Thanks

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Hi @Blockford!

I’m Vee, I work at the Optimism Foundation running contributions. These are my own questions and notes and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

Really exciting proposal! Please update the proposal with the changes mentioned in the comments, you can edit the proposal as much as is needed while receiving delegate feedback.

I have some questions:

  1. For each of the universities you are considering (mentioned in comments) do you have individuals “on the ground” (at the universities) who could help you run the course? If not I may have connections I would love to share.
  2. You don’t really get into what would be in the curriculum. Above and beyond the standard (how blockchains work, how L2s work, ORUs, etc) I would love to see courses focusing on Optimism cover the vision and values of public good funding (retroPGF) and Ethers Phoenix.

Irrespective of how your Mission proposal goes I would love to get in contact and help out how I can. Education is such an essential piece of building a sustainable Collective <3

1 Like
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Hi Vee, thanks for sharing your observations. I’ve updated the proposal with the changes mentioned in the comments.

Yes, we do have individuals on the ground, but we are also open to possible collaborations with other connections you may have too. Thanks also for sharing your suggestions on the curriculum. We are optimistic this mission would be approved, if so, we would do our best to incorporate this feedback into the final curriculum.

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Hi @Blockford - I see you’ve submitted multiple Mission Proposals in which you are the only Alliance member but the proposals show different Alliance names. You should submit all these proposals under the same Alliance name (ie. DIY Blockchain Initiative) if the Alliance membership is the same across proposals (just you.) Each Alliance is allowed to submit up to 3 Mission proposals, so this shouldn’t be an issue for you :slight_smile:

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Thanks Justine, it was an oversight from me. They’ve been corrected.

You’ve done a great job coordinating so far. :+1:

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:loudspeaker: Attention dear delegates! :loudspeaker:

We’re getting closer to the deadline for delegate approvals, and we require the approval of 4 delegates by June 28th for our mission proposals to proceed to the voting stage.

Please let’s come together and make this happen! We currently have 0 delegate approvals for our proposals, but we need at least 4 more to reach our goal.

If you have thoroughly reviewed our proposal (and we have another interesting one found here) and are eager to see it move forward, we kindly request you express your approval in the format specified below:

“I am an Optimism delegate [Delegate Commitments - LINK], with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.”"

Your support is crucial to our success, and we greatly appreciate your consideration and participation in this important collective decision-making process. Together, let’s make a difference! Thank you.

-Stanford (Alliance Lead, DIY Blockchain Initiative)

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Hi Stanford, I’m liking the idea of workshops in universities that involve building contracts that actually reward the students, what a great motivation to learn.

100% of the OP will be used to directly incentivize workshop participants to interact with the Optimism blockchain. We intend to experiment with creating a staking reward pool/time-lock contract tied to the duration of the academic session/semester exclusive as POAP.

Can you clarify if you’re planning on running this program at all 3 institutions listed or just pick one of them? That would help us get a better idea of the budgeting you’re looking at.

The following are universities currently being considered for the Edu-series:

  • University of Lagos
  • University of Ibadan
  • Federal University of Technology, Minna

Additionally, after the workshop(s), would you consider assisting groups of interested students in setting up clubs (if they don’t exist there already) or if there are clubs there already, as Vee said, helping them focus on the Optimistic Vision as this would help the proposal more precisely fit into Intent 3.

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Hey @MinimalGravitas thanks for taking the time to read through our proposal. Yes, the plan is to run this program at all three institutions. I have added that clarification to the proposal.

Indeed, setting up clubs (if they don’t exist there already) or if there are clubs there already can help the proposal more precisely fit into Intent 3.

Thanks for the feedback.

15

Hey Stanford, giving my thoughts here since you tagged me in discord. Although I do generally support education initiatives, the details in this proposal are very vague, especially around the execution and milestones. Unfortunately I won’t be able to give you my support but wish you the best of luck in your journey to spread educational awareness!

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Hi, @katie.Thank you for taking the time to review our proposal. We appreciate your support for education initiatives. I’m quite surprised that our milestones are still an issue for you after addressing this point when you first brought them up earlier.

It is important to remember, mission proposals in season 4 are still in an experimental stage, and very much time-bound. The milestones again for reference:

  • Milestone 1| End of July 2023
    Release of comprehensive workshop content and curriculum
  • Milestone 2| End of August 2023
    Achieve three weeks of workshop training
  • Milestone 3| Mid September 2023
    Publish workshop follow-up report

In response to your concerns, we have revised the milestones once again to include more specific information and deliverables. Please find the updated milestones below:

Milestone 1: Workshop Planning and Preparation (End of July 2023)

By the end of July 2023, we will complete the following tasks:

  1. Develop a comprehensive workshop content and curriculum that covers key aspects of Optimistic Vision. This will include specific modules and learning objectives.
  2. Finalize the selection of workshop venues and make necessary logistical arrangements.
  3. Secure any required equipment and technical support for a seamless workshop experience.

Milestone 2: Workshop Training (End of August 2023)

By the end of August 2023, we will accomplish the following:

  1. Conduct three weeks of workshop training sessions with a minimum of 100 attendees across the selected universities (University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, and Federal University of Technology, Minna).
  2. Provide recorded or live-streamed sessions of the workshops for wider accessibility and reach.
  3. Include other guest speakers with expertise in blockchain technology to contribute their insights and expertise to the events.

Milestone 3: Workshop Follow-up Report (Mid-September 2023)

By mid-September 2023, we will complete the following tasks:

  1. Publish a comprehensive workshop follow-up report evaluating the effectiveness of the workshops.
  2. Gather participant feedback through surveys and interviews to assess the impact and identify areas for improvement.
  3. Provide valuable insights and recommendations for future educational initiatives.

We hope these revised milestones address your concerns regarding the vagueness of our original proposal. We are committed to executing this project with clarity and transparency, and we appreciate your consideration.

Happy to provide you with more clarification if needed- Stanford.

17

That sounds pretty reasonable to me then, happy to see how this one goes. Good luck with the project.

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

2 Likes
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Update:

Hey dear optimist,

To drive protocol usage, our original plan was to incentivize workshop participants with 100% of the OP tokens requested. However, we’ve decided to adjust our budget from 25,000 OP to 0 OP for at least two reasons.

  1. The one-year lockup rule.

Mission grants are awarded in the form of OP governance tokens. These tokens will be locked for a period of one year (similar to Grants Council builder grants).

  1. The impact = profit principle.

Using this principle, we hope to be considered for RetroPGF if this mission is deemed impactful and then use portions of any funding received to incentivize workshop participants.

We hope these adjustments could better reassure our esteemed @delegates and community members of our commitment to executing this proposal.

Thank you for all your support so far.

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I am a optimism delegate with sufficient voting power I believe this proposal is ready for vote. Delegate Commitments - #71 by MoneyManDoug

1 Like
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I discussed this mission proposal with the proposer outside of this forum, here’s the summary of my thought on this.

I like the idea, but I feel it’s not well prepared right now. The cost breakdown assumes that speaker fees are only ~1k USD or ~12.5% of the total cost. There is no information on the content of the workshops and execution plan (I agree with Vee’s doubts and I don’t think you’ve dispelled them). Given that, with the amount of details we have, I am not sure if the workshops will be of proper quality.

All in all, I am very sympathetic to the idea overall, but I don’t think this particular proposal is ready for a vote.

But as the proposer is not asking for any OP but just for operational expenses and is looking for future RPGF, I think if prepared correctly, it can be executed outside of this mission proposal.

I am open to discussing this idea further with the proposer to make it happen in the future, as the idea is noble and valid, but needs a better plan in my opinion.