Work Courses: Accelerating Ecosystem Growth With Cardano MastersClass & Proof-Of-Knowledge

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Sean Davies

[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

Main Proposal Applicant

Sean Davies - the founder and lead developer of The Working Dead & Work Courses - is submitting this proposal to Project Catalyst on behalf of the Work Courses team.

Contact/Reference Information

Personal Twitter: https://twitter.com/seanworkingdead

Personal Email: sean@work.courses

The Working Dead Website: https://workingdead.io

Work Courses Website: https://work.courses

Work Courses Documentation: https://docs.work.courses/

[GENERAL] Requested funds in ada

330000

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

6

[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)

Develop industry-grade Cardano courses with certification verified on-chain. Empower developers, businesses, and users with essential resources to accelerate ecosystem growth and innovation.

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

No

[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?

No

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

The Project's output will not be fully open source but will be made fully available for review by the Grantors throughout each Milestone and the completion of this Project.

[METADATA] Horizons

Education

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Background Information on Work Courses:

Work Courses is a pioneer of blockchain technology and the EdTech industry, developing revolutionary educational projects with blockchain applications on Cardano and beyond. Standing at the forefront between the remnants of Web2 and the revolution that is Web3, Work Courses aims to revolutionize the academic sector with proprietary solutions offered virtually nowhere else.

With our flagship platform - that's proven to be a battle-tested educational platform with 150+ courses and 9,000+ registered users - along with our proprietary White-Label Solutions and Products, Work Courses has demonstrated itself to be one of the most established companies with incredible solutions that can revolutionize a variety of lucrative industries.

By seamlessly applying blockchain technology to our Products in a way that enhances the experience of a traditional Web2 user rather than inhibits it, developing a User Experience that is superior to the major competitors in the EdTech industry, and sustaining our ambitious goal to revolutionize and modernize education for the betterment of the globe; Work Courses has garnered significant success in a variety of mannerisms.

Work Courses has also garnered the interest of major players in the broader cryptocurrency industry such as Minswap, the Cardano Foundation, the Hedera Hashgraph Association, Project Newm, IAMX, Learn Cardano, as well as many other notable content creators and figures within the ecosystem. We are also in early conversations with other major institutional players both within and outside of the Cardano ecosystem that are showing viability and potential.

Background Information On The Work Courses Platform

Our flagship platform Work Courses is a revolutionary educational platform that empowers creators with immense monetization opportunities while simultaneously supporting students with a unique learn-to-earn system that incentivizes learning. With features that make the user experience superior to major players such as Udemy and Coursera along with blockchain applications never seen before, Work Courses truly is a unique solution - the first of its kind - to academia that can revolutionize the way teachers educate and students learn.

For further information about the Work Courses platform and all that it provides, our team directs you to our comprehensive documentation linked here: https://docs.work.courses/

To visit our live platform to test its current capabilities, our team directs you to our platform linked here: https://work.courses/

Background Information On Work Courses White Label Products & Services:

Work Courses has introduced our White-Labeled Products & Platforms to content creators, SPOs, consultants, academic institutions, and organizations to utilize the core infrastructure built out by the Work Courses team. Our White-Label Suite offers a wide array of capabilities and features, including:

● Token-gating content behind paywalls, staking requirements, or NFT ownership

● Tier-based reward systems based on NFT/token ownership or task completion

● Cross-chain SocialFi components for user engagement and social media platform development

● Cardano native token sale features with dynamic market-based pricing

● Integration with Dex Aggregators

● Content monetization opportunities for creators

● Custom platform development for client engagement

● Course/content libraries from universities and academic institutions

The platform's infrastructure possesses a wide variety of features - many with Cardano applications attached - that make it fully flexible to a client's needs and desires for their own customized platform. Work Courses provides the tools and infrastructure virtually everybody needs but currently lacks: including content creators, stake pool operators, universities, firms, and organizations.

Our White Label Solutions can not only service a wide variety of clients in Cardano and the blockchain industry, it can also service a wide variety of industries and institutions outside the realm of Web3 by developing educational platforms and training programs for clients, creating a very lucrative and promising development venture of Work Courses. Through fair licensing agreements of our comprehensive white-labeling service, our White Label Solution aims to be the core infrastructure provider for web-based applications for virtually all client bases in the crypto industry and beyond.

Moreover, our team is currently developing an entirely new LMS product geared specifically to target (1) universities, (2) elementary and high school districts, as well as (3) internal training programs for businesses. This revolutionary product will expand our wide array of White Label Products and Solutions for our clients, turning what was once considered impossible into a reality. Our new LMS product will target the broader EdTech industry, competing with multi-billion dollar players such as Canvas and Moodle.

Our products are superior, proprietary, and scalable; enabling Work Courses to inevitably consolidate our foothold in lucrative industries and generate revenue through a variety of valuable avenues. Work Courses as a platform is a testament to what is possible with our proprietary technology, and our White Label Solutions are ever-expanding. With this Proposal in Fund 13, we aim to truly utilize our technology for the betterment of Cardano, accelerating ecosystem growth and exponentially increasing user adoption.

For an overview of our White Label Products and Services, we refer you to our service site: https://buildmyutility.com/

Problem Statement:

Despite its technological prowess and ambitious vision, Cardano faces an existential crisis that genuinely threatens to impede its growth and widespread adoption in an already saturated industry driven by hysteria-fueled narratives. At the heart of this issue lies the fragmented, unstandardized, and unaccredited nature of educational resources available to developers, users, and businesses seeking to enter our great ecosystem.

Currently, those looking to learn about Cardano must navigate a variety of information sources, ranging from official documentation provided by founding entities to community-led initiatives and third-party content creators. This fragmented approach to education creates significant barriers for newcomers, deterring onboarding processes altogether and deterring promising talent from placing their capital and ideas into the ecosystem. Moreover, the lack of a unified, easily accessible platform for comprehensive Cardano education makes it challenging for users to gauge the credibility and depth of the knowledge they acquire.

Perhaps most crucially, the absence of standardized, recognized certifications for Cardano-related skills leaves a gap in professional accreditation. This void not only makes it difficult for developers to demonstrate their expertise to potential employers or clients but also complicates the process for projects and businesses within the ecosystem to verify the qualifications of potential collaborators. Without a clear "Proof of Knowledge" system, the Cardano community risks undermining trust and hindering the rapid, confident deployment of new projects and innovations.

Additionally, without a Proof Of Knowledge Protocol that verifies accreditation; academic platforms and products such as ours can not utilize Cardano's potential to the fullest extent. Cardano has long been used as a financial ledger primarily, but it has not realized its potential to serve as a ledger for data encryption, record keeping, accreditation verification, identity verification, and so much more to serve the best interests of institutions and academia. This fragmentation in educational resources and professional accreditation poses a significant threat to Cardano's ambitions of becoming a leading blockchain ecosystem.

Furthermore, the lack of a robust Proof Of Knowledge Protocol prevents Cardano from establishing itself as the blockchain for academia and institutions. Addressing these issues is not just desirable but essential for fostering a thriving, knowledgeable community capable of fully leveraging Cardano's potential and driving its adoption on a global scale. In the era of governance, it is crucial now more than ever that we address these issues head-on with great care, focus, and speed. Not only for the sake of our ecosystem's continued existence but more importantly, its continued growth and hopeful dominance.

A Q2 2024 Quarterly Report was conducted by Messari, showing a staggering decline in key metrics for the Cardano ecosystem that threatens its standing as one of the top blockchain ecosystems around the globe.

It found the following concerning revelations:

1.) "Revenue (USD) decreased 44.3% QoQ to $0.74 million. This was impacted by Cardano’s 27.5% QoQ decrease in average daily transactions, which fell to 31,800."

2.) "TVL (USD) fell from the all-time high set in March, down 41.2% QoQ to $219 million."

3.) The "stablecoin market cap fell for the first time ever in a quarter, down 26.2% QoQ to $16.4 million."

4.) "The NFT sector continued a downtrend that has sustained for over a year. Average daily NFT sales fell 57.4% QoQ to under 730, while average daily NFT volume (ADA) fell 44.2% to 150,000."

5.) It found a decrease in the average daily active wallets from 47.5K in Q1 to 31.8K in Q2.

6.) Total staked ADA has remained stagnant at 22.7B ADA since Q3 2023

7.) Average daily transactions fell from 70.9K in Q1 2024 to 51.4K in Q2 2024

8.) Average daily DApp transactions fell from 53.3K in Q1 of 2024 to 34.3K in Q2 of 2024

9.) Cardano's DeFi TVL fell from $372M in Q1 2024 to $219M in Q2 2024

10.) Cardano's quarterly fees generated from transaction volume fell from $1.32M in Q1 of 2024 to $0.74M in Q2, and from 2.23M ADA in Q1 to 1.6M ADA in Q2

11.) The annualized real staking yield fell from 0.6% in Q1 of 2024 to 0.5% in Q2

Messari's report perfectly illustrates and quantifies the variety of metrics Cardano is slowly declining in, showcasing the clear concern that has been echoed by many that Cardano's continued growth since 2017 has deteriorated since 2023 and the ecosystem is actually facing recessionary impacts. This decline must be reversed or this ecosystem will pay the price for years to come.

View the Q2 2024 Quarterly Report by Messari for Cardano in the link below: https://messari.io/project/cardano/quarterly-reports/q2-2024

In comparison to the Q2 2024 Quarterly Report by Messari for Solana, we can objectively visualize that both on key metrics and overall ecosystem movement; Cardano is sadly lagging behind because we're not retaining or onboarding new users.

Although Solana shows concern in some metrics such as a consistent QoQ decline in their Average Weekly Active Developers in the Ecosystem, key metrics such as the Total Stablecoin Market Cap, Liquid Staking Rate, and Average Fee Payers have increased QoQ this year.

Solana has experienced a wave of onboarding that few ecosystems have in the last 12 months. It is important to note that this was largely driven by institutional integrations of Solana and the memecoin mania that ensued for months, but it is also important to simultaneously note that their educational and onboarding infrastructure is frankly superior to that of Cardano's processes. This standardized system of education and onboarding has show objective success and Cardano's lack of it has shown objective concerns for the ecosystem's longevity.

Cardano was founded in 2017 as the blockchain for the future, but the ecosystem and its beloved community has found itself in an era where we are onboarding new users through methods of yesteryear. If the ecosystem does not adapt to these volatile times, we will surely be left behind while others such as Solana thrive because of their adoption of new methods to their onboarding processes.

Proposed Solution:

To address the critical challenges facing Cardano's educational landscape and declining key metrics, we propose a comprehensive approach that will standardize, exponentially increase the quality of content, and elevate the learning experience within the ecosystem to onboard millions of new users, thousands of new developers, hundreds of businesses, and billions in capital to Cardano.

Our Proposed Solution in Fund 13 is the final chapter of our multi-faceted approach to establish Cardano as the blockchain for academia and create a model on Cardano for education and onboarding processes that other ecosystems will replicate, building off of the amazing work we have been able to accomplish thus far with our existing and new products.

Our solution encompasses four key pillars designed to create a robust, accessible, and verifiable educational framework for all Cardano participants to increase the key demographics that have been declining continously:

By implementing these interconnected solutions, we aim to create a unified, accessible, and trustworthy educational ecosystem for Cardano. This comprehensive approach will not only standardize the learning experience but also provide clear pathways for personal and professional growth within the ecosystem.

The Proof of Knowledge Protocol, in particular, represents a groundbreaking use of blockchain technology in education, setting a new standard for credential verification and professional accreditation in the Web3 space.

Through these efforts, we envision accelerating Cardano's adoption, fostering a more knowledgeable and capable community, and ultimately positioning Cardano as the leading blockchain ecosystem for innovation, education, and real-world application.

Accreditation legitimizes an industry and the economy within our ecosystem, it drives costs for businesses in terms of developer expenses down by offering more opportunities to developers outside the ecosystem to offer their services at competitive rates

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1.) High-Quality Curricilumn For Onboarding End Users To Cardano

The first pillar of our proposed solution lies in our proposal to develop high quality and comprehensive curriculum for all topics related to Cardano that a newcomer to the ecosystem should be reasonably educated on in order to deter fraud, be financially responsible, and explore the ecosystem in its beautiful entirety. We will develop a series of carefully curated courses tailored specifically for end-users of the Cardano blockchain. These courses will cover a wide range of topics, from basic wallet management to advanced interactions with decentralized applications (dApps).

From engaging in governance to delegating your ADA to an SPO. Users will learn how to navigate decentralized exchanges, NFT marketplaces, lending protocols, and other essential components of the Cardano ecosystem. They'll become fully educated on being able to participate in Cardano's governance, delegate to a DRep, vote in Project Catalyst, and so much more. By providing clear, step-by-step guidance, we aim to significantly lower the entry barrier for newcomers and enhance the capabilities of existing users.

Our vision is to work with business leaders, thought leaders, the founding entities (if they are willing to do so as we are), businesses, creators, video editors, marketing consultants, and institutions to develop high-grade courses that comprehensively showcase all that Cardano has to offer. With a unified and organized curriculum that covers all ranges of topics related to Cardano, users can get a grasp of Cardano in its entirety, thus empowering their experience within the ecosystem. This deters fraud and onboards new users in a more seamless and informative manner.

Proposed Curriculum For End Users:

• a.) Creating and Managing a Wallet
• b.) Delegation to Stake Pool Operators
• c.) Participation in Project Catalyst
• d.) Participation in Intersect
• e.) Participation in Governance
• f.) Fraud prevention measures
• g.) Interactions on DApps
• h.) Utilizing Lending Protocols
• i.) Utilizing Decentralized Exchanges
• j.) Utilizing NFT Marketplaces
• k.) Understanding Non-Fungible Tokens
• l.) Understanding Fungible Tokens
• m.) Understanding Cardano's Capabilities
• n.) The History Of Cardano
• o.) Utilizing Centralized Exchanges

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2.) Business and Developer Onboarding Curriculum:

Building off of our proposal to develop curriculum geared towards onboarding and educating new end-users to Cardano, we aim to expand on this to have our curriculum also target the other key demographics necessary for this ecosystem's survival. Recognizing the crucial role that businesses and developers play in ecosystem growth, we will create specialized courses designed to onboard these key stakeholders to have our curriculum serve as a multi-faceted solution to target all key stakeholders in the ecosystem.

For businesses, our courses will focus on integrating Cardano technology into existing operations, leveraging blockchain for innovation, and understanding the unique value propositions of the Cardano ecosystem.

Developer-focused courses will dive deep into Cardano's technical architecture, smart contract development, and best practices for building secure and efficient DApps. This targeted approach will accelerate the development of a robust and diverse ecosystem of Cardano-based applications and services.

By developing curriculum that empowers and incentivizes businesses and developers to be onboarded into the Cardano ecosystem, we want to ensure that this ecosystem is the most inviting and lucrative of any other ecosystem within the broader blockchain industry. Competing chains such as Solana has an abundance of resources on a central platform that empowers businesses looking to utilize their technology and showcases the lucrative opportunities within their ecosystem. We want to take inspiration from this model that has shown objective success to Solana based on key user metrics, and develop a far superior model that creates the growth this ecosystem desperately requires.

Making Cardano business-friendly and developer-friendly is crucial to our ecosystem's survival, and with comprehensive courses that allow them to appreciate what Cardano has to offer, we can achieve that goal.

Proposed Curriculum For Developers:

• a.) The Basics Of Aiken (Beginner's Course)
• b.) Full Comprehensive Course On Aiken (For All Skill Levels)
• c.) Aiken 101 (Expert Course)
• d.) Building With Aiken Series: (1) building transactions, (2) building smart contracts, (3), building DApps, (4) minting Fungible Tokens and Non-Fungible Tokens, (5) wallet connection, (6) profile generation, (7) security measures, and many more
• e.) The Basics Of Plutus (Beginner's Course)
• f.) Full Comprehensive Course On Plutus (For All Skill Levels)
• g.) Understanding Development On Cardano (For All Skill Levels)
• h.) The Basics Of OpShin (Beginner's Course)
• i.) Full Comprehensive Course On OpShin (For All Skill Levels)

As detailed above, our curriculum for developers will be comprehensive and high quality, offering developers the ability to develop with any of the major languages and toolchains: (1) Aiken, (2) Plutus, and (3) OpShin.

Haskell and Plutus have long been staples of the Cardano ecosystem, but languages and toolkits such as Aiken and OpShin offer Cardano the opportunity to onboard developers from unorthodox avenues. Web2 developers familiar with Python can instantly begin deploying beautiful products with the power of OpShin, and developers familiar with Solidity can easily get a grasp of Aiken.

This can only happen if we have the resources FOR them to showcase the potential to develop amazing things within this ecosystem with familiar-feeling languages. Our Proposal aims to fill this gap by creating a unified curriculum that covers all these languages and provide concrete examples on certain products and dApps being built by esteemed developers within the ecosystem.

Proposed Curriculum For Businesses:

• a.) Utility & Opportunities Of Cardano
• b.) Training Your Employees On Cardano's Capabilities
• c.) Integrating Cardano & Blockchain Technology With Your Business/Product
• d.) Developing Products On Cardano
• e.) Fraud Prevention & Security Measures
• f.) Working With Cardano Businesses

As detailed above, our curriculum for businesses aims to establish Cardano as a far more business-friendly ecosystem that is more inviting than the narratives on social media might suggest because of futile controversies.

We aim to create comprehensive curriculum that (1) educates businesses on the ecosystem as a whole, (2) informs them of the dynamics at play within this globally governed economy, (3) how to integrate Cardano into their business and products, (4) offering them resources to train their staff/workforce, (5) providing resources for businesses to avoid fraud or other harmful circumstances, and so much more.

Establishing Cardano as the epicenter for business in the broader blockchain industry with vast resources that educate any business regardless of its scale is crucial to sustaining our ecosystem's growth.

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3.) Cardano MastersClass: The Platform For Education On Cardano

With the production of comprehensive curriculum for all key stakeholders within the ecosystem, our team proposes the development of a superior learning platform utilizing our infrastructure/technology to host that content and become the ultimate hub of educational resources on Cardano for all key demographics.

Cardano MastersClass- tentatively named simply for informative purposes, the name may ultimately be changed to something superior - as a platform will become the fantastic solution to hosting all of our curriculum on a Cardano-centric platform to offer a beautiful learning experience not offered in any ecosystem within the broader industry.

High-quality educational resources serve a purpose individually when they exist in a fragmented state, but the entirety of these resources are limited by their reach to new users when hosted on an abundant number of entirely separate platforms. With a central platform to host this content, we can onboard all key stakeholders and truly solve the crisis that our team outlined in our Problem Statement.

With mapped-out user flows to seamlessly guide users based on their ambitions within the ecosystem; we can guide end-users, developers, and businesses to the appropriate resources with ease in a superior manner that increases the key metrics Cardano needs to see improvement on to thrive.

The Platform will consist of courses that are divided based on the user's ambitions. If they are an end user exploring Cardano for the first time on a personal basis, they'll be guided to our onboarding curriculum. If they are a developer looking to build on Cardano, they would be guided to our developer resources. If they are a business or institution looking to explore opportunities on Cardano, they would be guided to our business resources. The goal is to allow this platform to be one that can service all demographics without hindering any demo's experiences.

Proposed Developments For Cardano MastersClass:

• a.) Massively inviting, comprehensive, and aesthetically pleasing Home Page to onboard all the key demographics
• b.) For Business Pages that showcases our curriculum and guides businesses to the complexities of Cardano and its integration into their companies
• c.) For Developer Pages that showcases our curriculum and guides developers to the complexities of building products and dApps on Cardano
• d.) For Users Pages that showcases our curriculum, displays the history and superiority of Cardano, and guides users through the complexities of the Cardano ecosystem
• f.) Forum Pages that allows course participants of specific courses to interact with and learn from one another (only when actively enrolled in the course to avoid abuse)

Proposed Features For Cardano MastersClass

• a.) Course certification upon course completion
• b.) Web2 & Web3 login functionality for account generation
• d.) Collaboration & communication between users
• f.) Personalized guidance based on user ambitions
• g.) Proof-of-Knowledge Protocol (expanded upon below)
• h.) Proof Of Submission For Developers (expanded upon below)
• i.) State-of-the-Art Quiz Components For Developers With Code Verification

As detailed above, these minor developments and additional features combined with our existing technology in our White Label Products & Services are best dealt with a team as equipped, established, and capable as the Work Courses team has become. This platform will build off of the foundation our flagship platform has set for Cardano, but specifically focus on Cardano with the curriculum available on Cardano MastersClass. This platform allows the content we generate to truly serve a purpose in a superior hub of education not offered on Cardano nor anywhere else.

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4.) Proof-of-Knowledge (PoK) Certification Protocol:

At the heart of our solution is the addition of the innovative Proof of Knowledge Protocol to the Cardano MastersClass Platform and all future White Label Products. This blockchain-based system will securely record and verify educational achievements within on-chain. Certifications will be minted as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and stored on-chain, providing an immutable and easily verifiable record of an individual's educational accomplishments.

Our framework of accreditation can be built by delivering certification upon course completion to enrollees in the form of a non-fungible token that is permanently bound to their wallet, making it unmovable from the user's connected wallet to avoid abuse or fraudulent displaying of certification to ensure the integrity of such an accreditation system. For enhanced privacy, users will have the option to encrypt their records while maintaining the ability to selectively disclose their achievements.

Additionally, the protocol will support encrypted on-chain storage of more detailed educational data, such as grades and course completion records, ensuring both privacy and verifiability for our other products we have developed and/or are actively developing. To add tangible value to the educational experience and provide a clear path for professional development, we will implement a rigorous certification and accreditation system for all courses.

Upon the successful completion of a course or a series of related courses, participants will earn certifications that verify their knowledge and skills. These certifications will serve as a standardized measure of expertise within the Cardano ecosystem, helping to establish a meritocratic framework that rewards learning and incentivizes continuous skill development.

This framework of accreditation allows the B2B and B2C elements of Cardano to thrive, allowing consumers to verify the qualifications of the developers actively working on the projects they utilize/support and businesses to verify the qualifications of the developers the employ/collaborate with. It legitimizes the profession of blockchain developers within Cardano, enables the onboarding of far more developers into the ecosystem, accelerates ecosystem growth, and lures in further businesses/capital.

Accreditation in this specific context primarily serves its purpose for the developer demographic rather than the end-user or business taking their respective courses. Developers need to generally showcase their abilities, and without a proper certification system; developers are forced to be reliant on their social connections and prior employers to verify their abilities to attract employment elsewhere. Legitimizing the profession of Cardano development with responsibly issued certification enhances the economy within this ecosystem.

Working with a superior minting partner to issue such certification - our team has plans to approach NMKR with our Proof of Knowledge concept to allow their minting services to mint the corresponding course certification upon course completion - we will issue certificates that remain bound to the student's wallet to preserve the integrity of such accreditation. Certificates specific to a course or catalog will be minted for all enrollees will be minted under the same Policy ID to ensure the certification can be clearly verified. Moreover, this Proof of Knowledge Protocol possesses the potential to have on-chain verification of course completion, quiz completion, assignment completion, and so much more without the issuance of certifications but rather simply the signature of the course enrollee.

Proposal For The Proof-of-Knowledge (PoK) and Proof-of-Submission Protocols:

• a.) Comprehensive Technical Documentation detailing the functions of the PoK and PoS Protocols
• b.) Proof-of-Knowledge Product that issues accredited course certification upon course completion in the optional form of a soul bound non-fungible token
• c.) Proof-of-Submission Product that ensures students submit courses individually without the assistance of others by signing their wallet signature after submitting quizzes, exams, assignments, discussions, or other tasks

This element of our Proposal will consist of technical documentation explaining our Proof-of-Knowledge Product through certification issuance and Proof-of-Submission for course/assignment/quiz completion. Moreover, it will also have several products we develop and deploy both to Cardano MastersClass and our White Label Products. This revolutionary protocol builds off of the years-long effort at Work Courses to utilize blockchain technology in unconventional means to revolutionize the way we educate.

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5.) Advanced Quiz/Exam Components for Developer Courses:

In our mission to revolutionize the onboarding process on Cardano, we recognize that theoretical knowledge alone is insufficient for developers. To address this critical issue, we propose the development of advanced quiz components specifically designed for programming courses in an initiative designed to move beyond traditional assessment methods to create a truly immersive and practical learning experience in an industry that has been failed by traditional learning methods.

The core of this proposal lies in expanding our existing quiz modules to incorporate hands-on, code-centric challenges that mirror real-world development scenarios. By doing so, we aim to bridge the gap between academic understanding and practical application, ensuring that developers who complete our courses are not just knowledgeable, but also capable of contributing meaningfully to the Cardano ecosystem from day one. Education is not centered around the regurgitation of information taught by instructors, but rather the real-world application of said information to great success.

These advanced quiz components will transform the learning process by allowing developers to write, test, and debug code within the course environment itself. This approach not only reinforces theoretical concepts but also builds muscle memory for coding practices specific to Cardano's unique architecture.

The significance of this proposal extends beyond individual learner benefits. By raising the bar for developer education, we are directly contributing to the overall quality and security of applications built on Cardano. Developers who have honed their skills through practical, challenging exercises are better equipped to create efficient, secure, and innovative solutions. This, in turn, enhances the robustness of the entire Cardano ecosystem, making it more attractive to users, businesses, and investors.

Furthermore, these advanced quiz components will serve as a powerful tool for talent identification within the Cardano community. Businesses and projects looking for skilled developers will have a more reliable means of assessing candidates' practical abilities, streamlining the hiring process and ensuring that the most capable developers are matched with opportunities to contribute to the ecosystem's growth.

Key Features of Advanced Quiz Components:

a.) Interactive Code Editors: Integrated development environments (IDEs) within the quiz interface, allowing students to write, test, and debug code in real-time.

b.) Automated Code Evaluation: Systems that can analyze submitted code for correctness, efficiency, and adherence to best practices, providing instant feedback to students.

c.) Project-Based Assessments: Larger, multi-step coding projects that simulate real-world development scenarios, requiring students to build functional applications or smart contracts. d.) Language-Specific Challenges: Tailored coding challenges for Plutus, Haskell, Aiken, and other Cardano-specific languages.

e.) Peer Review Systems: Functionality for students to review and provide feedback on each other's code, fostering a collaborative learning environment.

f.) Performance Metrics: Detailed analytics on code execution time, memory usage, and other relevant metrics to help students optimize their code.

g.) Integration with Proof-of-Submission: Ensuring the integrity of submitted work by requiring wallet signatures for final project submissions.

These advanced quiz components will not only assess a developer's understanding but also their ability to create functional, efficient, and secure code within the Cardano ecosystem. By integrating these features into our courses, we can ensure that developers completing our curriculum are truly prepared for the challenges of building on Cardano, thus elevating the overall quality of development within the ecosystem.

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

Our consistently revolutionary educational initiative is poised to transform the Cardano ecosystem as well as the broader blockchain industry, catalyzing growth across all key metrics and stakeholder groups. By addressing the critical needs for standardized, accessible, and high-quality education, this Proposal does not merely fill in a gap – but it genuinely pioneers a new foundation for blockchain adoption and development.

This solution has the potential to position Cardano at the forefront of the blockchain industry, setting new standards for user onboarding, developer training, and business integration. The ripple effects of a well-educated and skilled Cardano community will extend far beyond immediate user numbers or developer counts. We're laying the groundwork for a self-sustaining ecosystem where innovation thrives, adoption accelerates, and the true potential of blockchain technology can be realized.

By investing in education at this scale, we're not just building a better Cardano – we're shaping the future of decentralized technologies and their integration into the global economy. The impact of our proposal will be felt across the entire blockchain landscape, solidifying Cardano's position as a thought leader and innovator in the space.

However, it's not just about the legendary precedent it would establish for ecosystems within this industry. Truly, our material impact will be primarily and most importantly felt by the Cardano ecosystem. Our Proposal will make an impact by increasing user adoption, attracting more businesses, persuading more developers to build on our chain, and luring in more capital due to the standardization of education within this global economy and the outlined Products we aim to develop.

Overall, our outlined Proposal makes a material impact on the Cardano ecosystem in these key ways:

• Positions Cardano as the leading blockchain for education and developer onboarding
• Attracts significant capital inflow through increased business and developer participation
• Accelerates ecosystem growth by addressing key barriers to entry for users, developers, and businesses
• Enhances the overall security and efficiency of the Cardano network through a more educated and skilled community
• Sets a new standard for blockchain education, potentially influencing the broader crypto industry
• Accelerates ecosystem maturation in terms of professions within this global economy
• Increases the consumer and business expectation of quality by increasing the talent pool of developers
• Promotes community cohesion with standardized education, accredited certifications, shared experiences, and collaborative learning methods
• Provides a sustainable and continuous influx of qualified, informed, and quality users to Cardano
• Promotes governance and civic participation within Cardano by better informing the broader populace within this global economy
• Enhances the ability for users and businesses to trust developers building products on-chain
• Increases the quality and scale of products launching on Cardano by onboarding and training qualified, accredited, and professional developers to the ecosystem

To be specific, here is the material impact of all five elements of this Proposal:

1.) High-Quality Curriculum for End Users:

Our end-user curriculum serves as the gateway to Cardano, dramatically lowering barriers to entry and fostering a knowledgeable, engaged user base. This foundational education will accelerate adoption, enhance ecosystem participation, and create a more resilient and informed community. This curriculum for end users will impact Cardano because it:

• Accelerates user onboarding, potentially increasing the Cardano user base by millions
• Reduces the learning curve, making Cardano more accessible to mainstream adopters
• Enhances user understanding of Cardano's features, leading to more active participation in governance and staking
• Decreases instances of user error and susceptibility to fraud, improving overall ecosystem security
• Fosters a more engaged and knowledgeable community, driving organic growth and adoption

2.) Business and Developer Onboarding Curriculum: By providing comprehensive, tailored education for businesses and developers, we're catalyzing the growth of Cardano's ecosystem from the ground up. This curriculum will not only attract new talent and capital but also ensure that those building on Cardano are equipped with the skills and knowledge to create robust, innovative solutions. This curriculum geared towards businesses and developers makes a material impact because it:

• Attracts thousands of new developers to the Cardano ecosystem, addressing the critical shortage of blockchain developers
• Facilitates the entry of hundreds of businesses into the Cardano space, potentially bringing billions in capital

Accelerates the development of new DApps and use cases, enriching the Cardano ecosystem

• Bridges the gap between traditional businesses and blockchain technology, speeding up real-world adoption
• Creates a standardized knowledge base, improving the overall quality of Cardano-based projects

3.) Cardano MastersClass Platform: The Cardano MastersClass platform represents a paradigm shift in how blockchain education is delivered and consumed. By centralizing high-quality resources and fostering community interaction, we're creating a hub of innovation and learning that will become the gold standard in the industry. This revolutionary platform will certainly make a valuable material impact because it:

• Provides a centralized, easily accessible hub for all Cardano-related education, streamlining the learning process
• Increases visibility and discoverability of Cardano's capabilities to potential users, developers, and businesses
• Fosters community interaction and knowledge sharing through forum features
• Enhances Cardano's reputation as a leader in blockchain education and innovation
• Serves as a model for other blockchain ecosystems, positioning Cardano as an educational pioneer

4.) Proof-of-Knowledge & Proof-of-Submission Our Proof-of-Knowledge (PoK) and Proof-of-Submission (PoS) Protocols introduce a new level of credibility and standardization to blockchain education. By providing verifiable, blockchain-based certifications, our team aims not only to just recognize achievement – but simultaneously develop a new asset class of knowledge credentials that will drive professional development and ecosystem growth. These proposed Protocols will make a genuine material impact because it:

• Establishes a verifiable standard of expertise within the Cardano ecosystem
• Enhances the credibility of Cardano developers in the broader blockchain industry
• Provides businesses with a reliable method to assess developer skills, potentially increasing hiring within the ecosystem
• Incentivizes continuous learning and skill development among Cardano developers
• Demonstrates a practical use case for Cardano's blockchain in credential verification

5.) Advanced Quiz/Exam Components for Developer Courses: These advanced components represent a leap forward in developer education, bridging the gap between theory and practice. By providing hands-on, real-world coding experiences, we're ensuring that Cardano developers are not just knowledgeable, but truly capable of building the next generation of blockchain applications. This proposed quiz component makes a positive material impact on Cardano as a whole because it:

• Elevates the quality of Cardano developers by ensuring practical, hands-on experience
• Reduces the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, leading to more robust and secure DApps
• Accelerates the learning process through real-time feedback and interactive coding environments
• Facilitates the creation of a talent pool of highly skilled Cardano developers
• Showcases Cardano's technical capabilities through practical, code-based challenges

In essence, while the value proposition focuses on the immediate benefits of the educational platform and courses, the impact highlights the transformative effects these elements will have on the Cardano ecosystem as a whole. The consequences of implementing this proposal extend far beyond the educational realm, potentially reshaping Cardano's position in the blockchain industry and its influence on global technological advancement. Most importantly, this Proposal genuinely provides Cardano the opportunity to reverse the decline in key metrics it has faced for the last few Quarters that spell massive concern for the ecosystem as a whole. This Proposal aims to be more than a lifeline, it aims to be a catalyst that reverses that decline and returns Cardano to the era of growth it experienced QoQ from 2017 to around early 2023. Our Proposal truly is a Solution that aims to serve as a Catalyst for growth, frankly on a scale unlike any proposal from any funding round has offered.

[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?

We have prided ourselves on our battle-tested commitment to delivering a project that embodies the highest levels of delivery, trust, and accountability. Our unwavering confidence in our capabilities stems from a solid foundation of experience, expertise, and a proven track record of delivering a comprehensive platform like none other. With a clear vision for our plans to revolutionize the way we educate with an established platform built out, we are capable of navigating any challenges that may arise, sustaining our promise of transparency and excellence.

Our team has a (1) proven track record of development capabilities building out a successful educational platform utilized by prominent figures in the content creation space and large institutions/foundations with no legal disputes or controversies, (2) lead developer that has served as a developer on Cardano staples such as The Ape Society & Angel Finance for Levvy Finance and other services, (3) reputable Professor as an advisor for consulting/feedback purposes to ensure features are delivered in a way that truly enhances the end-user experience for both students and teachers, (4) a Chief Operations Officer that has managed all business operations for 7 months with no critical issues and a massive scaling upwards of the business, (5) a concrete marketing campaign to ensure the success of these products once deployed to the public, and (6) immense connections and external resources with our third-party partners.

Moreover, our team has been able to deliver the following:

1.) Work Courses: our flagship platform that is live to the public with enormous success, becoming the largest Learn-To-Earn platform in the entire industry with cross-chain compatibility.

2.) Work Courses White-Label: our flagship White Label Product built off our Work Courses infrastructure both utilized and gauged interest by major business interests and academic institutions.

3.) White Label Back-end Suite: currently under development and nearing completion, our Back-end Suite is a full-service suite for our White Label clients to obtain full control both aesthetically and administratively over their White Label Platforms.

4.) New University LMS Product: also currently under development, our LMS Competitor to major players such as Instructure's Canvas and Moodle is an ambitious new Product of Work Courses that is tailored specifically to service large-scale academic institutions, universities, and internal training programs for businesses globally.

5.) Cross-Chain Wallet Connector For Profile Generation: a revolutionary feature of our Platform and White-Label Products, the Cross-Chain Wallet Connector allows Profile Generation with wallets from multiple cryptocurrency ecosystems.

If our proposal is successfully funded in Fund 13, we are immensely confident in our team's capabilities to deliver the outputs we have outlined in our Project Proposal. Our collective development and business expertise in-house along with our third-party partners combined with adequate funding ensures this Project's success in its entirety. This funding is crucial to allow us to work with our external resources, development partners, and course curriculum developers. Not only will this funding serve to realize our efforts on this front, its impact will serve Cardano by an order of magnitudes.

Our objectively ambitious proposal to (1) standardize and revolutionize education within the Cardano ecosystem to accelerate Cardano's economy, (2) increase user adoption, (3) attract more developers to learn compatible programming languages, and (4) lure in businesses and their corresponding capital is just that - ambitious - but not impossible. We are confident in our team's capabilities to deliver on this Project exactly as promised in our Proposal just as we have promised and obliged by throughout our company's lifetime.

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

Milestone One: The Development Of User-Centric Curriculum

Milestone One will be responsible for the production of our course curriculum geared towards onboarding and better informing traditional users and traders as well as non-traditional users outside of Cardano and the broader blockchain industry.

Milestone Outputs:

Proposed Curriculum For End Users:

a.) Creating and Managing a Wallet Course

b.) Delegation to Stake Pool Operators Course

c.) Participation in Project Catalyst Course

d.) Participation in Intersect Course

e.) Participation in Governance Course

f.) Fraud prevention measures Course

g.) Interactions on DApps Course

h.) Utilizing Lending Protocols Course

i.) Utilizing Decentralized Exchanges Course

j.) Utilizing NFT Marketplaces Course

k.) Understanding Non-Fungible Tokens Course

l.) Understanding Fungible Tokens Course

m.) Understanding Cardano's Capabilities Course

n.) The History Of Cardano Course

o.) Utilizing Centralized Exchanges Course

Acceptance Criteria

Milestone completion for Milestone One will be accepted under the criteria that (1) the courses listed above in Milestone Outputs geared towards end-users will be fully written out, designed, and edited as well as (2) the courses listed above in Milestone Outputs are live on the Work Courses platform.

-> a.) Courses geared towards the end-user are fully produced

-> b.) Courses are live on the Work Courses Platform

Evidence Of Milestone Completion

Evidence of milestone completion will be substantiated by the courses listed above in Milestone Outputs geared towards end-users being published live to the public to our flagship Work Courses Platform for review by the Grantors and made available to the general public.

-> a.) Grantors can substantiate milestone completion by reviewing the courses outlined in Milestone Outputs for traditional users on Work Courses

Milestone Two: The Development Of Developer-Centric & Business-Centric Curriculum Milestone Two is responsible for the production and publishing of our course curriculum geared towards both (1) developers and (2) businesses for review by the Grantors upon completion.

Milestone Outputs Proposed Curriculum For Developers:

a.) The Basics Of Aiken (Beginner's Course)

b.) Full Comprehensive Course On Aiken (For All Skill Levels)

c.) Aiken 101 (Expert Course)

d.) Building With Aiken Series: (1) building transactions, (2) building smart contracts, (3), building DApps, (4) minting Fungible Tokens and Non-Fungible Tokens, (5) wallet connection, (6) profile generation, (7) security measures, and many more

e.) The Basics Of Plutus (Beginner's Course)

f.) Full Comprehensive Course On Plutus (For All Skill Levels)

j.) Understanding Development On Cardano (For All Skill Levels)

k.) The Basics Of OpShin (Beginner's Course)

.)l Full Comprehensive Course On OpShin (For All Skill Levels)

Proposed Curriculum For Businesses:

a.) Utility & Opportunities Of Cardano

c.) Training Your Employees On Cardano's Capabilities

d.) Integrating Cardano & Blockchain Technology With Your Business/Product

e.) Developing Products On Cardano

f.) Fraud Prevention & Security Measures

g.) Working With Cardano Businesses

Acceptance Criteria

Milestone completion for Milestone Two will be accepted under the criteria that (1) the courses listed above in Milestone Outputs geared towards developers and businesses will be fully written out, designed, and edited as well as (2) the courses listed above in Milestone Outputs are live on the Work Courses platform.

-> a.) Courses geared towards both businesses and developers are fully produced

-> b.) Courses outlined in Milestone Outputs are live on the Work Courses Platform

Evidence Of Milestone Completion

Evidence of milestone completion will be substantiated by the courses listed above in Milestone Outputs geared towards developers and businesses being published live to the public on our flagship Work Courses Platform for review by the Grantors and made available to the general public.

-> a.) Grantors can substantiate milestone completion by reviewing the courses outlined in Milestone Outputs for traditional users on Work Courses

Milestone Three: The Development Of The PoK & PoS Protocols Milestone Outputs

a.) Comprehensive Technical Documentation detailing the functions of the PoK and PoS Protocols

b.) Proof-of-Knowledge Product that issues accredited course certification upon course completion in the optional form of a soul bound non-fungible token

c.) Proof-of-Submission Product that ensures students submit courses individually without the assistance of others by signing their wallet signature after submitting quizzes, exams, assignments, discussions, or other tasks

Acceptance Criteria

Milestone Three will be completed under the criteria that (1) technical documentation for both the PoK and PoS Protocols have been produced, (2) the Proof-of-Knowledge Product has been designed and deployed, and (3) the Proof-of-Submission Product has been designed and deployed.

Evidence Of Milestone Completion

Evidence of milestone completion will be presented for Milestone Three with the following:

-> a.) Recorded demo of the Proof-of-Knowledge Product being utilized upon course completion

-> b.) Recorded demo of the Proof-of-Submission Product being utilized during course enrollment

Note: these will not be live on the Cardano MastersClass Platform as the Platform won't be fully developed until Milestone Five but will be demonstrated in a private testing environment with our White-Label Solutions

-> c.) Our technical documentation for the Proof-of-Knowledge Product and Proof-of-Submission documentation has been submitted for review by the Catalyst Grantors

Milestone Four: The Development Of Programmer-Centric Quiz Components & IDE Milestone Outputs

a.) Interactive Code Editors: Integrated development environments (IDEs) within the quiz interface, allowing students to write, test, and debug code in real-time within isolated testnet environments.

b.) Automated Code Evaluation: Systems that can analyze submitted code for correctness, efficiency, and adherence to best practices, providing instant feedback to students.

c.) Project-Based Assessments: Larger, multi-step coding projects that simulate real-world development scenarios, requiring students to build functional applications or smart contracts.

Acceptance Criteria

Milestone Four will be accepted under the criteria that (1) the IDE integration into our products for developer-centric courses has been completed, (2) the automated code evaluation to ensure students have programmed the code correctly before allowing them to move on to the next question has been designed and deployed, and (3) a more interactive coding and learning experience has been created in-line with this Product.

Evidence Of Milestone Completion

Evidence of milestone completion for Milestone Four will be presented to the Grantors with:

-> a.) Recorded demonstration of the White-Label IDE Product for review by the Grantors

-> b.) Recorded demonstration of the White-Label Code Assessment & Evaluation Products for review by the Grantors

Note: these will not be live on the Cardano MastersClass Platform as the Platform won't be fully developed until Milestone Five but will be demonstrated in a private testing environment with our White-Label Solutions

Milestone Five: The Development Of The Cardano MastersClass Platform

Milestone Three will be responsible for the production of our White-Label Cardano MastersClass Platform with our existing Solutions and Products to allow for the publishing of our curriculum on the platform.

Milestone Outputs

a.) Massively inviting, comprehensive, and aesthetically pleasing Home Page to onboard all the key demographics

b.) For Business Pages that showcases our curriculum and guides businesses to the complexities of Cardano and its integration into their companies

c.) For Developer Pages that showcases our curriculum and guides developers to the complexities of building products and dApps on Cardano

d.) For Users Pages that showcases our curriculum, displays the history and superiority of Cardano, and guides users through the complexities of the Cardano ecosystem

e.) Forum Pages that allows course participants of specific courses to interact with and learn from one another (only when actively enrolled in the course to avoid abuse)

f.) Integration with the Proof-of-Knowledge Product

g.) Integration with the Programmer-Centric Quiz Components & IDE Product

Acceptance Criteria

Milestone Three will be accepted as completed under the criteria that (1) the home page has been fully designed and deployed, (2) the For Business Page geared towards guiding businesses on the platform through the curriculum has been designed and deployed, the (3) For Developer Pages geared towards guiding developers on the platform through the curriculum has been designed and deployed, the (4) For Users Pages geared towards guiding traditional users on the platform through the curriculum has been designed and deployed, the (5) Forum Pages have been designed and deployed, (6) the platform is operational and capable of uploading courses onto the platform. (7) the PoK Product has been integrated, (8) the developer-based quiz components have been integrated, and (9) the Final Report has been produced.

Evidence Of Milestone Completion

Evidence of milestone completion for the Grantors to overwhelmingly approve of our efforts will be substantiated by their ability to do the following on the live platform:

-> a.) Grantors can visit the live platform

-> b.) Grantors can sign in with their Cardano wallet or their preferred Web2 login method

-> c.) Grantors can navigate the platform and the outlined pages in Milestone Outputs

-> d.) Grantors can take one course and view its contents live on the platform instead of Work Courses

-> e.) Grantors can utilize the Proof-of-Knowledge Product on the platform

-> f.) Grantors can utilize the Developer-Based Quiz Components on the platform

-> g.) Grantors can review our final report in its entirety

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

Sean Davies

Email: sean@work.courses

Twitter: https://twitter.com/seanworkingdead

(Founder of The Working Dead & Work Courses) - Lead Developer

Role: Sean is the invaluable leader of the Work Courses platform and team, serving as the lead developer for the project while displaying a wide array of talents and skill sets suitable for any aspect of the platform. Sean will serve as the Lead Developer for this ambitious proposal in coordination with Max, the Director Of Operations.

Background: Sean Davies is an ambitious developer pushing the limits of education and cross-chain in web3 using Cardano as the core technology under the hood. He was one of the first in the United Kingdom to become a certified cross-platform mobile app developer using Xamarin.Forms. In his career, he has been working commercially leading the development of production-ready mobile applications and websites for almost a decade. He started his career working at an e-learning company building powerful e-learning courses for large brands in the hospitality sector. He has been actively involved in the Cardano community since 2021 and is the creator of Work Courses, an innovative cross-chain, mobile compatible, Learn and Earn platform leveraging both the Cardano and The Working Dead ecosystems. Previous experience as a developer at the prominent Cardano NFT project Ape Society.

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Max or 'The Cardano Times'

Email: max@work.courses

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mxm_us or https://twitter.com/TheCardanoTimes (Founder of The Cardano Times, Real Estate Manager) - Director of Operations

Role: Max serves as the director of business operations of Work Courses; managing a variety of tasks to scale the business. Max was responsible for the production of this proposal and and its corresponding plans for development. As Director of Operations, Max will also coordinate with Sean to oversee the successful deployment of our white label suite solutions and LMS solutions as well as the creation of the legal framework and production of marketing materials.

Background: Max - better known by his pseudonym The Cardano Times - is a real estate manager with tens of millions of dollars under management and ownership through his real estate company, managing dozens of tenants and hundreds of thousands in revenue annually. Max has overseen a variety of succesful development projects that were funded for hundreds of thousands of dollars in the real estate industry, making him a reliable executive director of the proposed project to ensure funding is allocated appropriately and the plan is executed to completion. Max is also the sole founder, investigator, and writer for The Cardano Times; one of Cardano's most recognized media platforms for quality tutorials, news content, and controversial investigations. Max & The Cardano Times were nominated for Cardano Educational Influencer of The Year at the 2023 Cardano Summit Gala Awards as recognition for their efforts to help keep people educated, informed, and safe in the ecosystem.

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Danny or 'ItzDanny'

Twitter: https://twitter.com/itzdannyADA (Community Manager At Liqwid Finance) - Community Manager & Core Team Member

Role: Danny serves as an invaluable core team member since Work Courses' inception, providing valuable community engagement opportunities and assisting in the core operations of the business from the very beginning. In this project specifically, Danny will serve as a junior developer working under the leadership of Sean Davies, and assist in community management and marketing of our newly deployed/released features.

Background: Driven by his passion for educating others about the opportunities presented by Cardano DeFi, Danny advocates for financial literacy within the community often highlighting ways of generating a yield within the ecosystem. He firmly believes that empowering individuals with the knowledge and tools to participate in decentralized finance is crucial for fostering adoption of crypto assets and decentralized finance. Danny is an apprentice software developer undergoing university training and serves as a community manager at Liqwid Finance, a leading decentralized lending protocol built on Cardano. In this role, he plays a pivotal part in fostering engagement, providing support within the Liqwid community. With his multifaceted role as both an educator and a community manager, Danny embodies his strong belief in the importance of education as a catalyst for driving adoption and innovation within the Cardano ecosystem.

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Rodrigo Gomez

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rodg_drmz (

Founder of DRMZ Academy, Professor) - Strategic Academic Advisor

Role: Rodrigo (better known as Rod) serves as the strategic academic advisor for Work Courses, offering years of experience in academia as a Professor for our educational solutions. Rod will be responsible for offering consultation from the viewpoint of academia and our target client bases, ensuring our features are compatible for teachers, students, and universities we service. Offering invaluable expertise, Rod will serve to create feedback loops and proper user testing practices to ensure our features outlined in this Proposal actually benefit the client bases we aim to target.

Background: Rod is an esteemed Cardano community member, founding DRMZ Academy years ago to better provide educational solutions given his experience as an esteemed Professor at a notable University. Rod has years of expertise in Academia that enables him to understand what solutions teachers, students, and universities require to be empower with digital learning solutions.

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

Cost Breakdown/Allocation Summary:

Total Funds Requested: 330,000 ADA

Milestone Cost Breakdown:

Milestone One: 30,000 ADA

Milestone Two: 75,000 ADA

Milestone Three: 65,000 ADA

Milestone Four: 90,000 ADA

Milestone Five: 70,000 ADA

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Work Courses Responsibility Notice

Our team wants to recognize the esteemed honor and responsibility an entity has when receiving funding in the form of a grant from Project Catalyst and the Cardano ecosystem. Not only have we made tremendous efforts to ensure transparency in our funding allocation as outlined below in our Proposal, our team is committed to transparency for how the funding is allocated and spent throughout our Project Milestones, Funding Milestones, conversations with Project Catalyst Grantors throughout our development process, and our community. Our team is also firmly committed to making ourselves readily available for and releasing Funding Allocation Reports upon request to the Grantors to ensure transparency throughout the process. Our team has prided itself on operating in good faith over many years with transparency, legal compliance, and commitment to streamlined delivery of our goals; and our Funding Request will further that commitment to operating as a good-faith actor in an industry filled with malicious actors.

Conversion Rate:

Our team is making the proposed budget for the Proposal's Funding Allocation at a conservative conversion rate at $0.40 USD per ADA.

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Milestone One: Production Of The User-Centric Curriculum: 30,000 ADA

We are requesting 30,000 for the production of the user-centric curricilum to fund the costs of course bounties by notable educational creators, the designs for a unified course format, and video editors for any video content we produce.

This significant minority of our total amount of funding will be allocated towards the production of high-quality courses that are superior to virtually anything offered on the market - whether from the founding entities or community led initiatives. With the high production value we aim to offer to ensure these courses contain content that users retain, these costs will accumulate for the third party partners and creators we will work with.

The funding allocated for this milestone will be distributed to pay for the expenses incurred by our partners and external resources for (1) graphic design of our course curriculum, (2) hiring of instructors responsible for producing the course curriculum, and (3) video editing for the corresponding curriculum.

Cost Breakdown For Milestone One: 30,000 ADA Total

1.) Hiring Of A Graphic Designer: 10,000 ADA

Responsibility: Course Designs, Graphics & Illustration Production For ALL Course Curriculum in Milestone One

Breakdown:

10,000 ADA / 15 Courses = ~670 ADA Per Course

670 ADA / 5 Graphics / 1 Course = ~135 ADA Per Graphic

~5 Graphics * 15 Courses = ~75 Graphics

10,000 ADA / ~60 Hours = ~167 ADA Per Hour

2.) Hiring Of Instructors: 16,000 ADA

Responsibility: Course Content Production For All Course Curriculum Topics

Breakdown:

16,000 ADA / 15 Courses = ~1,065 ADA Per Course

1,065 ADA / ~12 Hours = ~90 ADA Per Hour

~12 Hours * 15 Courses = ~180 Hours Of Estimated Labor

3.) Hiring Of Video Editors: 4,000 ADA

Responsibility: Video Editing, Design, and Configuration For All Courses

Breakdown:

4,000 ADA / ~10 Courses = ~400 ADA Per Course

~400 ADA / ~4 Videos = ~100 ADA Per Edited Video

~400 ADA / ~5 Hours = ~80 ADA Per Hour

~5 Hours * ~10 Courses = ~50 Hours Of Estimated Labor

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Milestone Two: Production Of The Developer-Centric & Business-Centric Curriculum: 75,000 ADA

We are requesting 75,000 ADA to fund the production of course curriculum geared towards both (1) businesses and (2) developers and the corresponding expenses incurred by working with our third-party partners, external resources, and notable experts within the ecosystem.

This initiative is designed with the aim to produce truly high-quality curriculum that genuinely enables developers and businesses to retain the information, train themselves and their staff, and ultimately serve its initial purpose in a manner not offered virtually anywhere else.

Similar to MIlestone One - albeit with some slight differences - this segment of the requested funding will be allocated to fund (1) the continued hiring of a graphic designer, (2) the continued hiring of a video editor, (3) the hiring of instructors for business-centric courses, (4) the hiring of instructors for developer-centric courses, and (5) fees incurred by having experts and notable projects make appearances, feedback, or contributions to our course curriculum to ensure its high quality nature.

Cost Breakdown For Milestone Two: 75,000 ADA Total

1.) Hiring Of A Graphic Designer: 20,000 ADA

Responsibility: More Comprehensive Course Designs, Graphics & Illustration Production For ALL Course Curriculum in Milestone Two

Breakdown:

20,000 ADA / 15 Courses = ~1,335 ADA Per Course

1,335 ADA / ~8 Graphics / 1 Course = ~165 ADA Per Graphic

~8 Graphics * 15 Courses = ~120 Graphics

20,000 ADA / ~100 Hours = ~200 ADA Per Hour

2.) Hiring Of Instructors: 35,000 ADA

Responsibility: Course Content Production For All Course Curriculum Topics

Breakdown:

35,000 ADA / 15 Courses = ~2,335 ADA Per Course

~2,335 ADA / ~20 Hours = ~115 ADA Per Hour

~20 Hours * 15 Courses = ~300 Hours Of Estimated Labor

3.) Hiring Of Video Editors: 10,000 ADA

Responsibility: Video Editing, Design, and Configuration For All Courses

Breakdown:

10,000 ADA / ~15 Courses = ~665 ADA Per Course

~665 ADA / ~3 Long-Form Videos = ~220 ADA Per Edited Video

~665 ADA / ~6 Hours = ~100 ADA Per Hour

~6 Hours * ~15 Courses = ~90 Hours Of Estimated Labor

4.) Hiring Of Notable Experts, Business Leaders, etc.: 10,000 ADA

Responsibility: Course Content Contributions, Course Production, and Consultation

Breakdown:

10,000 / 10 Courses = ~1,000 ADA Per Course

1,000 ADA / ~3 Hours = ~335 ADA Per Hour

~3 Hours * 10 Courses = ~30 Hours Of Estimated Labor

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Milestone Three: Development Of Our Proof-of-Knowledge & Proof-of-Submission Products: 65,000 ADA

We are requesting an additional 70,000 ADA to build our proprietary Proof-of-Knowledge and Proof-of-Submission Products to fund the expenses incurred by working with our design and development partners to develop and deploy these products in their entirety.

Aimed at revolutionizing the broader academic industry with unique blockchain applications, this funding will be allocated to enable our team to work with industry-grade developers - both front-end and back-end - as well as our esteemed and trusted design partners to develop this solution in its entirety.

For the development of these Products in Milestone Three, this segment of funding will be allocated to (1) the hiring of a design agency for the designs of the front end user experience, (2) the hiring of front-end developers to deploy the Product's designs, (3) the hiring of back-end developers to develop the Product's infrastructure and core functionality, and (4) the hiring of an academic scholar to produce the technical documentation.

Cost Breakdown: 65,000 ADA Total

1.) Hiring Of A Front-End Design Agency: 10,000 ADA

Responsibility: Designing the PoK Product & PoS Product front-end

Breakdown:

10,000 ADA / ~50 Hours = ~200 ADA Per Hour

2.) Hiring Of A Front-End Developer: 11,000 ADA

Responsibility: Deploying the front-end of both Products

Breakdown:

11,000 ADA / 150 ADA = ~74 Hours

3.) Hiring Of A Back-End Developer: 40,000 ADA

Responsibility: Developing the core infrastructure of both Products

Breakdown:

40,000 ADA / 240 ADA = ~167 Hours

4.) Hiring Of An Academic Scholar: 4,000 ADA

Responsibility: Producing the technical documentation for both Products

Breakdown:

4,000 ADA / 2 Documents = 2,000 ADA Per Course

4,000 ADA / ~20 Hours = ~200 ADA Per Hour

~ 20 Hours / 2 Documents = ~10 Hours Per Document

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Development Of Our Advanced Quiz Components: 90,000 ADA

We are also requesting an additional 80,000 ADA to fund the development of our proprietary advanced quiz components for developer-centric course curriculum to enable us to work with our design and development partners to ensure the Product's superiority as the Cardano community rightfully deserves.

This segment of funding will be allocated to develop the Developer Quiz Components in their entirety, from the design phase to deployment phase. Working with our premier partners, it ensures the Product will be non-exploitive, fully functional, and enhances the user-experience for course enrollees.

For the development of these Developer Quiz Components, this requested funding is needed to be allocated towards the expenses incurred by our design and development partners throughout the entire development phase of these Components. This funding will be allocated towards (1) the continued hiring of our design partners, (2) the continued hiring of our front-end partners, and (3) the continued hiring of our back-end partners.

Cost Breakdown:

1.) Hiring Of A Front-End Design Agency: 25,000 ADA

Responsibility: Designing the entirety of the Advanced Quiz Components

Breakdown:

25,000 ADA / ~120 Hours = ~210 ADA Per Hour

2.) Hiring Of A Front-End Developer: 15,000 ADA

Responsibility: Deploying the front-end of the Advanced Quiz Components live

Breakdown:

15,000 ADA / 150 ADA = ~100 Hours

3.) Hiring Of A Back-End Developer: 50,000 ADA

Responsibility: Developing the core infrastructure of the Advanced Quiz Components

Breakdown:

50,000 ADA / 240 ADA = ~210 Hours

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Milestone Five: Development, Deployment, & Marketing Of The Cardano MastersClass Platform: 70,000 ADA

In the final milestone of this Proposed Solution, we are requesting 80,000 ADA to fund this element of our Proposal to develop the proposed Cardano MastersClass Platform to offer the Cardano Ecosystem a platform with a superior learning experience along with a catalog of industry-grade courses.

Working with our design partners at their respectively esteemed design agency along with our development partners, this funding will be allocated to (1) design the entire platform, (2) develop the back-end infrastructure of the Platform, and (3) develop and deploy the front-end infrastructure of the Platform.

For the development of the Cardano MastersClass Platform, our team requires this funding to pay for the expenses incurred by collaborating with our (1) design agency partners, (2) our front-end development partners, and (3) our back-end development partners.

Cost Breakdown:

1.) Hiring Of A Front-End Design Agency: 20,000 ADA

Responsibility: Designing the entirety of the Cardano MastersClass Platform

Breakdown:

20,000 ADA / 250 ADA = ~80 Hours

2.) Hiring Of A Front-End Developer: 20,000 ADA

Responsibility: Deploying the front-end of the Cardano MastersClass Platform

Breakdown:

20,000 ADA / 150 ADA = ~133 Hours

3.) Hiring Of A Back-End Developer: 30,000 ADA

Responsibility: Developing the core infrastructure of the Cardano MastersClass Platform

Breakdown:

30,000 ADA / 300 ADA = ~100 Hours

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

This proposal genuinely offers exceptional value for the funds granted by addressing critical needs within the Cardano ecosystem to combat declining key metrics such as (1) DEX volume, (2) new wallet addresses, (3) daily active traders and wallets, (4) new businesses launching and deploying DApps on-chain, and (5) capital being infused into the ecosystem.

Through a multi-faceted approach that is part of our longstanding vision to establish Cardano as the premier ecosystem for academic and/or blockchain solutions, this Proposal is a continuation of our commitment to deploy quality products, resources, and materials that make an objectively successful impact on the ecosystem we call home.

Our outputs within this Proposal will provide a substantially large return on the granted funding - by our internal estimations by immense orders of magnitude in terms of monetary impact for Cardano - in the following key ways:

1.) Ecosystem Growth Acceleration:

By standardizing education across the Cardano ecosystem, we aim to create a clear, accessible pathway for newcomers and existing participants to enhance their knowledge and skills. This standardization is crucial for:

a.) Rapidly onboarding new users, developers, and businesses

b.) Reducing the learning curve associated with complex blockchain technologies

c.) Fostering a more knowledgeable and capable community

2.) Targeted Education for Key Demographics:

This targeted approach ensures that each segment receives the most relevant and valuable information, directly contributing to ecosystem expansion and utility. Our comprehensive course offerings are tailored to serve three critical audience segments:

a.) Traders/Users: Enhancing understanding of Cardano's functionality and potential

b.) Developers: Providing in-depth technical knowledge to boost innovation and dApp development

c.) Businesses: Offering insights on integrating Cardano into operations and leveraging its benefits

3.) Quality and Credibility: The high-quality, expertly curated courses we will develop lend credibility to the Cardano ecosystem by:

a.) Demonstrating a commitment to professional-grade education

b.) Attracting serious participants who value recognized certifications

c.) Establishing Cardano as a leader in blockchain education

d.) Onboarding more active users and traders with quality resources to prevent fraud and increase user activity on-chain

e.) Equipping quality developers to ensure they are qualified after training

f.) Equipping businesses and their staff with relevant knowledge, resources, and capabilities related to Cardano

4.) Innovation in Certification and Record-Keeping:

Our blockchain-based certification and encrypted record-keeping system provides:

a.) Verifiable, tamper-proof credentials that enhance the value of completed courses

b.) A showcase of Cardano's technological capabilities in a practical, widely applicable use case

c.) Increased trust and transparency in educational achievements within the ecosystem

5.) Competitive Advantage:

This educational initiative positions Cardano at the forefront of blockchain technology by:

a.) Offering a more comprehensive and accessible educational resource than competitors

b.) Demonstrating practical applications of Cardano's technology in education and data management

c.) Creating a more skilled and confident user base, potentially attracting more projects and investments

6.) Long-term Sustainability:

The platform and courses we develop will:

a.) Serve as a continually updated resource, providing ongoing value beyond the initial development

b.) Create a foundation for community-driven expansion of educational content

c.) Establish a model for blockchain-based educational systems that could be adopted more widely

7.) Economic Impact:

By empowering participants with knowledge and verifiable skills, we directly contribute to:

a.) Increased development activity within the ecosystem

b.) More informed and active participation in Cardano-based projects and governance

c.) Potential job creation as businesses become more confident in adopting Cardano technology

d.) Lowering of developer costs for companies with increased competition between developers

Quantifying & Measuring Our Value:

Our value for money can be quantified and measured objectively on its success after the Proposal's completion and sustained maintenance. As measured with our deployed White Label Solutions and Products, we can measure the success of our efforts through the Cardano-centric platform with the following metrics:

a.) Total Users

b.) Total Page Views

c.) Total Unique Visitors

d.) Total Certificates Issued

e.) Total Accredited Students

f.) Total Users Onboarded From Other Chain Wallets

g.) Total Businesses Utilizing Our Curriculum

For our Proof of Knowledge Protocol, its value can be quantified under the same metrics mentioned above but can also be quantified if the Protocol is used by White Label Clients with the following metrics:

a.) Total Businesses Using Our Products

b.) Total Universities Using Our Products

c.) Total Content Creators Using Our Products

d.) Total Stake Pool Operators Using Our Products

e.) Total Students Enrolled Across All Platforms

f.) Total Courses Across All Platforms

g.) Total Students Trained & Certified With Our Protocol

h.) Total Unique Visitors Across All Platforms

i.) Total Page Views Across All Platforms

As for the calculation of the value our Proposal will generate upon completion, we can quantify that impact on the broader Cardano ecosystem to analyze the trends before our efforts in this Proposal in Fund 13 and after we have fully completed our efforts through the following metrics:

a.) New Wallet Addresses

b.) Daily Active Wallets

c.) Total Number Of Newly-Accredited Developers

d.) Transaction/On-Chain Activities

e.) Active Projects Live On Cardano

f.) New Businesses Launching On Cardano

g.) Total Of Number Of Users Trained

h.) Total Number Of Businesses Trained

i.) ADA Governance Participation Rates

j.) Project Catalyst Voting Rates

k.) SPO Delegation Rates

l.) Total Number Of Live SPOs

The funds granted will not only result in a tangible educational platform geared towards Cardano specifically along with a comprehensive and high-quality course library; but will also catalyze broader ecosystem growth, innovation, and adoption.

The standardization of Cardano education, coupled with our revolutionary approach to certification and record-keeping on-chain, builds on the robust foundation Work Courses has established for sustained ecosystem expansion through academic efforts and the development of revolutionary products.

This initiative represents a strategic investment in Cardano's future and growth, with the potential for exponential returns - monetary and otherwise - in terms of user adoption, capital attraction, startup incentives, and continuous ecosystem growth.

Now more than ever, we must attempt to reverse Cardano's declining trajectory and reinstate the mandate Cardano once had as a superior ecosystem with limitless potential to "bank the unbanked" and if given permission, "change the world" as Charles Hoskinson would say.