[C2VN]: Cardano Blockchain training center for non-native English communities developers

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Tien Nguyen Anh

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Co proposers and Additional applicants

Pham Van Khanh

Ngoc Dung Bui

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

12

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

We are forming a Cardano blockchain blended learning center, starting in Vietnamese, then used as a prototype for non-English communities to adopt all courses and translate into their own languages

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

Project will be fully open source

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

According to the latest software developers shortage report by the World Economic Forum, over the next decade, there will be a global shortfall of 18.2 million IT-related workers. In addition, a 2020 survey from Gartner found that over 2,5 million IT jobs will go unfilled by 2022, and this number is expected to rise as high as 5.5 million by 2025. In a recent McKinsey Global Survey, 87 percent of executives said they were experiencing skill gaps in the workforce or expected them within a few years. This is even more evident with the Blockchain industry in general and Blockchain Cardano in particular. Moreover, in Vietnam, the shortage of Devs working with Cardano is becoming more and more serious.

n the Cardano Foundation's report "Annual Report 2022", it is pointed out that Education is one of the three focus areas of CF's actions in the coming time to boost resources for the Cardano ecosystem.

There are currently several courses in English for Cardano developers:

• Haskell Course (IOG Academy), 
• Plutus Pioneer Program #4 (IOG Academy), 
• Plutus Project-Based Learning 2023 (Gimbalabs)... 

According to our observations, the number of students participating is limited and the completion rate of the course is not high due to the following reasons:

• Lack of interaction between learners and instructors in the course.
• Lack of interaction between students of the same course.
• Courses last for several weeks.
• Obligation: lack of commitment, bonding -> on campus, more dedication, and effort.
• Instant obtains support from the facilitator in face-to-face learning mode.
• Language barriers.

With the above assessment, we offer a solution to establish a training center that provides courses according to the following roadmap:

• Blockchain Basic
• Web3-bootcamp, application integration with Cardano Blockchain
• Developing Smart Contracts: Haskell and Plutus.
• Networking with employers, and projects need people and developers

Courses are organized weekly to help students increase interaction through the following solutions:

• Ask questions during and after each lecture.
• Accompany students in completing homework.
• The course includes practical lectures.
• Building LAB for students to interact directly with Blockchain (Testnet)
• There are tests, and specific products after each course.
• Students who complete the course will be awarded an NFT certificate.

By doing this, we believe that it will bring cohesion, focus, and excitement to students.

We divide the training content into courses with increasing levels of expertise to suit the requirements/abilities of each group of students. This will ensure students feel the course is simple, easy to absorb, and easy to pass. Therefore, students always feel excited during the course.

In each course, there will be questions, minigames (Kahoot), and rewards for students to interact with each other, encouraging self-exploration of in-depth knowledge.

The course will be taught in the native language, which will bring friendliness and closeness to students in accessing new knowledge. As a result, many members will attend and successfully complete the course.

The reasons for our approaching :

According to our research, there is currently almost no widely recognized blockchain platform with training centers in various countries. As a result, developers who want to engage in the ecosystem must explore the methodologies and necessary techniques on their own. This approach is time-consuming, requires persistence, and can easily lead participants astray. Establishing a Blockchain training center would help developers shorten their learning curve, provide specific pathways for the learning objectives of the students and offer guidance and support when they encounter difficulties.

Once established and trained, the center will produce developers with the skills to work on the Cardano Blockchain. This will enable us to connect employers and projects in need of developers with the graduated students.

Ultimately, the center will generate a pool of workforce for business managers and developers to seek out for building internal or commercial enterprise projects.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

The positive impact this project could bring are:

• Creating course materials through slides and videos, which will be publicly available for reuse.
• Providing free training for the community.
• Establishing a knowledgeable workforce experienced in working with Cardano Blockchain.
• Bridging the gap between Cardano Blockchain professionals and projects or businesses in need.
• This project serves as a prototype for other groups and countries to reference and replicate, thereby increasing the quantity and quality of developers within the Cardano ecosystem.
• After completing the course, the student's performance will be evaluated through assignments throughout the course and a final assessment. This ensures that the students possess sufficient knowledge to work with the Cardano Blockchain and participate in Project Catalyst with roles such as Proposers, Community Reviewers, and Implementers. By increasing the number of participants and projects in Project Catalyst, we can contribute to the growth of the Cardano ecosystem as a whole.

and we measure the success of our project by :

• Number of training sessions
• Number of implemented training courses.
• Number of participants in the training courses.
• Number of students who successfully complete and receive NFT certification.
• Number of proposals submitted to Catalyst.

To share the outputs and results of our project, we have the following plans:

1. Project Reports (PoM and PoA): 

We will submit a Statement of Milestones (SoM) which will be published, reviewed, and approved by Community Reviewers. In each Milestone, we will public Proof of Achievement (PoA) to provide evidence that the milestone for which we have already been paid has been achieved. 

1. Release outputs/results on our website

We will outputs/results on our website at UBA, VOER, C2VN where interested individuals can access our update proactively. Discuss or query us about any topics they prefer.

1. Share outputs/results to social platforms (Cardano Forum, Facebook, Telegram, Twitter, Youtube and GitHub):

These will be places we share updates, success stories, and best practices. These will allow us to reach a larger audience and gather feedback and suggestions from the community, fostering a collaborative approach to decentralized identity adoption

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Here's what we've achieved in the Cardano Blockchain space over the years:

• We created an online blockchain technical center "Cardano tech hub"

• Training an offline class on Blockchain basics and Web3-bootcamp

(this is picture of our class)

• Guide 5 groups of students in scientific research to win high prizes in the evaluation period of students' scientific research at the University of Transportation and Communications.
• Organization of building and training groups to learn Haskell/Plutus together for nearly 30 consecutive weeks. Videos are available here
• The members of the project are the core team who organized the Community-Led Events Cardano Summit 2022 and Community-Led Events Cardano Summit 2023. We consist of technical experts from http://Cardano2vn.io and professors from 5 major universities.

(This is the picture of the summit)

• Introduce and promote Blockchain and AI research and development to Universities

• We are collaborating with Gimbalabs to bring the Gimbalabs PPBL2023 course to Vietnamese in our native language.

• We have proposed and successfully executed 8 projects on Catalyst from Fund 6 until now. These 8 projects were completed according to the planned timeline and were highly regarded by the Catalyst community. All the information can be found here.

With the above project implementation experience and the expertise and experience of the team, we are sure that this project will be successfully implemented and that financial management is effective.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Establish the Blockchain Cardano Training Center

Timeline: 1 month

• Set up the infrastructure for online and offline training delivery:
• Invite experts, rent a meeting room online, projector, drink, banner, design backdrop, and invitations
• Rent a room for offline (48 lessons * 330ADA)
• Creating detailed lesson outlines for each course (Blockchain Basics, Web3-Bootcamp, Haskell, Plutus).

Acceptance criteria:

• Infrastructure set up for online and offline training delivery
• Expert invitations and arrangements for online and offline sessions
• Meeting room rental for offline sessions
• Creation of detailed lesson outlines for each course

Outputs:

• Successful establishment of the training center infrastructure

Intended outcomes:

• Availability of training facilities for both online and offline sessions

Creating lecture content(including slides, videos, and exercises)

Timeline: 1 month

• Blockchain Basics Course (4 sessions)
• Web3-Bootcamp Course (8 sessions)
• Haskell course (20 sessions)
• Plutus course (16 sessions)

Acceptance criteria:

• Development of lecture content, including slides, videos, and exercises(Blockchain Basics, Web3-Bootcamp, Haskell, and Plutus course)

Outputs:

• Completed lesson outlines and lecture content for the courses

Intended outcomes:

• Well-structured and comprehensive course materials for effective learning

Conduct Training Sessions

Timeline: 3 months (sessions conducted in consecutive months)

• Blockchain Basic Course Training (04 sessions*3 hours).
• Web3-Bootcamp course Training(8 sessions*3 hour).
• Haskell course Training (20 sessions*3 hours).
• Evaluate participants' progress and learning outcomes.
• Provide assessments and assignments for each course.
• Recording, editing, and uploading video on youtube 1 hour*32 sessions
• Issue certificates or NFTs to participants who successfully complete the courses.

Acceptance criteria:

• Blockchain Basics Course (4 sessions)
• Web3-Bootcamp Course (8 sessions)
• Haskell Course (20 sessions)
• Evaluation of Participants' progress and learning outcomes
• Assessments and assignments for each course
• Video recordings, editing, and upload on YouTube

Outputs:

• Completed training sessions for each course
• Assessed participants' progress and learning outcomes
• Uploaded videos for future reference

Intended outcomes:

• Participants gain knowledge and skills in Blockchain, Web3, Haskell
• Evaluation and assessment of participants' performance
• Successful completion of the courses and issuance of certificates or NFTs

Conduct Training Sessions

Timeline: 3 months (sessions conducted in consecutive months)

• Plutus course Training(16 sessions*3 hours).
• 2nd training course on Blockchain Basics (4 sessions*3 hours).
• 2nd training course on Web3-Bootcamp (8 sessions*3 hour).
• Evaluate participants' progress and learning outcomes.
• Provide assessments and assignments for each course.
• Recording, editing, and uploading video on youtube 1 hour*28 sessions
• Issue certificates or NFTs to participants who successfully complete the courses.

Acceptance criteria:

• Plutus Course (16 sessions)
• 2nd training course on Blockchain Basics (4 sessions)
• 2nd training course on Web3-Bootcamp (8 sessions)
• Evaluation of Participants' progress and learning outcomes
• Assessments and assignments for each course
• Video recordings, editing, and upload on YouTube

Outputs:

• Completed training sessions for each course
• Assessed participants' progress and learning outcomes
• Uploaded videos for future reference

Intended outcomes:

• Participants gain advanced knowledge and skills in Plutus, Blockchain Basics, and Web3
• Evaluation and assessment of participants' performance
• Successful completion of the courses and issuance of certificates or NFTs

Conduct Training Sessions

Timeline: 3 months (sessions conducted in consecutive months)

• 2nd training course on Haskell(20 sessions*3 hours).
• 2nd training course on Plutus (16 sessions*3 hours).
• Evaluate participants' progress and learning outcomes.
• Provide assessments and assignments for each course.
• Recording, editing, and uploading videos on youtube 1 hour*36 sessions
• Issue certificates or NFTs to participants who successfully complete the courses.

Acceptance criteria:

• 2nd training course on Haskell (20 sessions)
• 2nd training course on Plutus (16 sessions)
• Evaluation of Participants' progress and learning outcomes
• Assessments and assignments for each course
• Video recordings, editing, and upload on YouTube

Outputs:

• Completed training sessions for each course
• Assessed participants' progress and learning outcomes
• Uploaded videos for future reference

Intended outcomes:

• Participants enhance their skills in Haskell and Plutus
• Evaluation and assessment of participants' performance
• Successful completion of the courses and issuance of certificates or NFTs

Complete the project:

Timeline: 1 month

• Summarize, evaluate, write, and create a video for the final report of the project.
• Project management: 2 hours/per week x 52 weeks
• Event Marketing and communications
• Labor cost for website DevOps- for arranging video on a website
• Create completion video and report

Acceptance criteria:

• Final project report, including a summary, evaluation, and video presentation
• Ongoing project management and event marketing
• Website development and video arrangement

Outputs:

• Completed final project report and video presentation
• Effective project management and marketing activities
• Updated website with arranged videos

Intended outcomes:

• Comprehensive documentation and summary of the project
• Successful project management and marketing efforts
• Availability of project materials and information on the website

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Our core team member are:

Nguyen Anh Tien

Role: Project Manager, Product Owner, Blockchain Developer

Bio: the founder of the VILAI stake pool, and a computer science expert working in the Cardano/Crypto space since 2018. Cardano Ambassador, Funded Proposer, member of Plutus, Atala Prism Pioneer Program, a Challenge Team member and Co-host for Eastern Town Hall.

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Telegram

Hoang Van Thong

Role: Program quality Assurance Officer,

Bio: Lecturer (since 2001) and Dean of Faculty of Information Technology (since 2020), University of Transportation and Communications, computer science experts, developed many websites

• Fields research: fuzzy logic, soft computing, data mining, machine learning.
• LinkedIn
• Email: thonghv@utc.edu.vn
• Facebook

Cao Thi Luyen,

Role: Program Development member

Bio: Lecturer (since 2001) of the Faculty of Information Technology, University of Transportation and Communications, received a Ph.D. in mathematical assurance in computational systems at the military academy of science and technology (since 2018). developed many applications.

• Fields research: watermarking, data hiding, machine learning, blockchain. 
• LinkedIn
• Email: luyenct@utc.edu.vn 

Mai Manh Trung

Role: Program Development member

Bio: Lecturer (since 2007) and Dean of Faculty of Information Technology (since 2004), University of Economic and Industry, computer science expert.

• Fields research: Security, application programing, data mining, machine learning.
• Email: mmtrung@uneti.edu.vn

Ngoc Dung Bui

Role: Program Development member

• Senior researcher in AI and computer vision
• Senior lecturer at Information Technology, University of Transport and Communications, Vietnam
• 16 years experience in AI
• https://scholar.google.com.vn/citations?user=zxiSmOAAAAAJ&hl=en

Pham Van Khanh, Dr.

Role: Program Development member

Bio: Lecturer at Military Technical Academy, Hanoi, Vietnam.

• Scientific Research profile

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Milestone 1- Establish the Blockchain Cardano Training Center: ₳24040 <=>15.01%

• Set up the infrastructure for online and offline training delivery:
• Invite experts, rent a meeting room online, projector, drink, banner, design backdrop, and invitations .....
• Rent a room for offline (48 lessons * 330ADA)
• Creating detailed lesson outlines for each course (Blockchain Basics, Web3-Bootcamp, Haskell, Plutus).

Milestone 2-Creating lecture content(including slides, videos, and exercises): ₳40320 <=>25.18%

• Blockchain Basics Course (4 sessions)
• Web3-Bootcamp Course (8 sessions)
• Haskell course (20 sessions)
• Plutus course (16 sessions)

Milestone 3: Conduct Training Sessions: ₳23800 <=>14.86%

• Blockchain Basic Course Training (04 sessions*3 hours).
• Web3-Bootcamp course Training(8 sessions*3 hour).
• Haskell course Training (20 sessions*3 hours).
• Evaluate participants' progress and learning outcomes.
• Provide assessments and assignments for each course.
• Recording, editing, and uploading video on youtube 1 hour*32 sessions
• Issue certificates or NFTs to participants who successfully complete the courses.

Milestone 4: Conduct Training Sessions: ₳21560 <=>13.46%

• Plutus course Training(16 sessions*3 hours).
• 2nd training course on Blockchain Basics (4 sessions*3 hours).
• 2nd training course on Web3-Bootcamp (8 sessions*3 hour).
• Evaluate participants' progress and learning outcomes.
• Provide assessments and assignments for each course.
• Recording, editing, and uploading video on youtube 1 hour*28 sessions
• Issue certificates or NFTs to participants who successfully complete the courses.

Milestone 5: Conduct Training Sessions: ₳24360 <=>15.21%

• 2nd training course on Haskell(20 sessions*3 hours).
• 2nd training course on Plutus (16 sessions*3 hours).
• Evaluate participants' progress and learning outcomes.
• Provide assessments and assignments for each course.
• Recording, editing, and uploading videos on youtube 1 hour*36 sessions
• Issue certificates or NFTs to participants who successfully complete the courses.

Milestone 6: Complete the project: ₳26040 <=>16.26%

• Summarize, evaluate, write, and create a video for the final report of the project.
• Project management: 2 hours/per week x 52 weeks
• Event Marketing and communications
• Labor cost for website DevOps- for arranging video on a website

Total: ₳160120.00

Budget details here 

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The cost of the project represents value for money for the Cardano ecosystem in several ways:

1.High-Quality Education: The project aims to establish a training center that provides comprehensive and high-quality education on Cardano blockchain technology

2. Skilled Workforce: By training individuals in blockchain technology and Cardano Blockchain specifically, the project contributes to the development of a skilled workforce. These trained professionals can then contribute to the growth and innovation of the Cardano ecosystem by working on projects, developing applications, or providing consulting services. The cost of the project, therefore, translates into a valuable asset in terms of human capital.

3. Cardano Ecosystem Expansion: The project contributes to connecting graduates with relevant blockchain projects and businesses thereby expanding the Cardano ecosystem.

4. Return on Investment: The cost of the project can be seen as an investment in the future of the Cardano ecosystem. By nurturing a skilled workforce and fostering educational initiatives, the project contributes to the long-term sustainability and success of Cardano. The benefits derived from a well-trained and knowledgeable community can potentially outweigh the initial costs incurred.

Overall, the cost of the project represents value for money for the Cardano ecosystem by investing in education and developing a skilled workforce. Therefore, it can contribute to the sustainable development and success of the Cardano ecosystem.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund Rules and also that data in the submission form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept