The Polkadot Blockchain Academy (PBA), founded in 2022, is an in-depth and groundbreaking blockchain course established by Polkadot Ecosystem, dedicated to helping Web3 innovators and future top programmers people realize their ideas and ambitions.
Polkadot Blockchain Academy was founded by Polkadot founder Gavin Wood and is run by top engineers from the Polkadot ecosystem, Parity Technologies and the Web3 Foundation. In each groundbreaking course, which lasts for more than one month, Web3 development engineers and project founders are provided with various knowledge needed to build blockchain and start a business.
OneBlock has previously been featured in "Start the Web3 Adventure!" The new issue of Polkadot Blockchain Academy is waiting for you to join” has introduced in detail the recent developments of Polkadot Blockchain Academy.
At the 17th Substrate Saturday event held in the YouTube live broadcast room at 19:00 pm on September 9, 2023, OneBlock invited PBA Senior Media and Community Manager Alexandra, Parity Engineer Wang Dachui and 252 netizens to discuss the Polkadot Blockchain Academy. everything!
University-style learning and living experience
Polkadot Blockchain Academy (PBA) is an educational project founded by Gavin Wood, adhering to the educational spirit of the Polkadot ecosystem.
In the Web3 space, education is key to filling skills shortages and an opportunity to cultivate a network of talented developers and founders. The mission of PBA is to provide developers who are interested in becoming blockchain engineers with the relevant knowledge they need, while also providing practical guidance to Web3 entrepreneurs to help them start building their own projects. PBA is suitable for both junior developers and experienced developers and entrepreneurs. The content of the course can meet the learning needs of almost everyone.
Three courses have been successfully held
Currently, PBA has successfully held three courses.
The first course will be launched at the University of Cambridge in 2022, the second course will be held at the University of Buenos Aires in January 2023, and the third course just concluded successfully at the University of California, Berkeley, a month ago. With each course project, PBA continues to innovate course content.
“The name ‘Academy’ was chosen because it is a rigorous and intensive academic program,” Alexandra emphasized. During each five-week program, students can participate in two main aspects: the academic aspect, which includes lectures, assignments, and collaboration opportunities with other students; and the community aspect, which is provided throughout the program. During this period, PBA invited different experts from the Polkadot ecosystem and other fields to serve as guest lecturers, and also organized various social activities to provide students with rich social opportunities. After completing the five-week course, students who successfully complete the course requirements will receive a diploma. This certificate is also a very important certification in the Polkadot ecosystem.
Pay equal attention to learning and socializing
PBA provides a true college classroom experience that takes students back to their college days.
Participants have the opportunity to learn, network and interact with other students and industry experts. In the daily schedule, lectures and learning are arranged from morning to three or four in the afternoon. At other times, students can work spontaneously or arrange to work with other students, so that students can share work experience with each other. Alexandra emphasized that mutual learning is an important part of PBA, which is also an important reason why PBA must be conducted offline so that people can have face-to-face conversations. PBA encourages students to work together and share knowledge, because everyone comes from different life backgrounds, and authentic sharing is the best opportunity to enhance each other's skills and knowledge.
In PBA, in addition to studying in class, practice is equally important.
Through homework and practice, students will regularly transform and apply what they have learned in class in their homework. This can also assess whether students have effectively absorbed all learning materials, and the assessment of assignments will also be included in students' final grades in PBA, so students need to take every assignment opportunity seriously. Of course, PBA also provides a teaching support system including teachers, other students, and teaching assistants to help students truly understand and complete each practical task.
In addition to learning, PBA provides a fun, social environment.
PBA officially organizes various social activities for students to free them from daily classroom study and relax. Activities and social networking are a part of PBA that attaches great importance to, because the interpersonal connections each student establishes during this period will be lifelong resources. They may be your future business partners, employees, and colleagues, and you may start entrepreneurial projects together. They may also become friends who support each other in life.
Because, in Alexandra's opinion, it's important to take the time to get to know other people in PBA because you will have a strong support system around the world.
Polkadot experts and project founders impart the latest knowledge
What kind of course content will you gain from PBA? Who will teach these courses?
Courses for developers and entrepreneurs respectively
PBA offers two different courses. One is a course for core developers, which is a highly technical course suitable for developers who want to truly build blockchain technology in the future; the other is a founder course. Suitable for people who want to create their own Web3 projects in the future.
Founder courses allow early-stage entrepreneurs to learn the skills and knowledge required for the start-up phase of their projects. For example, how to start a project, where to find team members, how to build a community, etc. Alexandra mentioned that this is a fully mature program, and students who apply for PBA will have the opportunity to freely choose between these two courses. It is worth noting that some modules of the two courses will have some overlap at the beginning, and for the two groups of core developers and early entrepreneurs, there will also be some independent course modules to adapt to different needs. the learning needs of the population.
First, the course will provide an overview to help students quickly understand the basics of the blockchain world by studying topics such as cryptography, economics, game theory, and blockchain concepts. Of course, we will also gain in-depth technical knowledge such as smart contracts, Substrate, and XCM in Polkadot, so that students can become truly outstanding blockchain engineers by laying a solid foundation.
With the relevant technical knowledge learned, students can also play the role of project founders, equip themselves with practical skills, and learn how to actually start and operate a project and implement their ideas. In PBA, these learning and co-creation links are completed through in-depth face-to-face interaction with Polkadot ecological experts, which is also a valuable opportunity that cannot be obtained anywhere else.
Teaching and support team
The core team of PBA is a support network composed of outstanding teachers, lecturers, teaching assistants and content creators. They all come from the Polkadot ecosystem. Each one has a variety of skills and is deeply involved in content creation, teaching, and specific topics. Provide mature daily operations and support for speeches, social activities, etc. In the different countries that each phase of the project went to, it also received tremendous support from local partners.
The teaching professional team mainly comes from Parity Technologies, Web3 Foundation, and many outstanding developers in the Polkadot ecosystem will also participate in the teaching session, including founders and CTOs from various parallel chain project teams, who can impart real first-hand experience and knowledge to students. and researchers from the Web3 Foundation, who can take students deep into specific topics such as economics so they can make the right architectural decisions when building blockchains.
“PBA’s courses are the latest,” Alexandra shared. The blockchain world is constantly changing. For example, XCM technology has recently undergone many interesting innovations, and PBA’s courses follow technological innovations in real time. Students are taught by front-line developers who are building blockchains and writing code. This ensures that students receive the latest and most cutting-edge knowledge in a timely manner and receive the best educational opportunities in this field.
Students participating in PBA will receive various supports from the Polkadot ecosystem.
These are the partners of PBA's third program at Berkeley. These project parties will help PBA create various content, provide network support, and conduct teaching so that students can learn in a good network environment.
At the same time, in order to provide students with a more focused learning and social environment, PBA also bears the accommodation costs for students and provides some meals, so that students can have more time and energy to make full use of the learning resources at PBA. However, students need to bear their own round-trip transportation costs.
Continuous journey of mutual aid and development
After successfully completing a course and graduating, the learning journey is not truly over.
Alexandra mentioned that after the end of each project, PBA will also invest in building a supportive community to include students who have participated in the course projects into the alumni program. Regardless of whether they successfully graduate in the end, they will hold various online and offline alumni gatherings. Provide them with opportunities to stay connected with other trainees.
At the same time, PBA also provides a mentorship program to help students find an expert who can provide guidance and help them continue their professional development. By hosting workshops and webinars on specific topics, alumni members can continue to learn more about new areas and find supportive resources and even teaching opportunities within the alumni association or the Polkadot ecosystem. Alexandra happily shared that many students later want to return to PBA teaching or become teaching assistants to truly pass on the knowledge they have gained to more future students.
PBA is preparing to establish a large global expert group to provide visible support and opportunities for projects or technologies that alumni are creating, giving them the opportunity to showcase their results on social media platforms and get some feedback. For example, some students who have started their own projects will share how to obtain financing, apply for start-up capital, and seek advice from other alumni on how to better build applications or systems.
"This is not just a period of learning, but a continuous journey." Alexandra concluded that PBA is actually a solid support network, connecting more knowledgeable people to build the future of Web3.
If you are interested in PBA, you can follow PBA on various social media platforms and truly understand the experiences and gains of past students through the sharing, talks and other information content of many students; you can also subscribe to PBA’s newsletter to get the first-hand information Get the opening application time for the next project.
For new students who are about to join PBA, Alexandra's first suggestion is to learn Rust.
She mentioned that Rust is a crucial language. If you are interested, you can find relevant materials and information about Rust in the FAQ section of the PBA website in advance. Understanding some basic knowledge will help your future. Development has some help.
More importantly, Alexandra hopes that new students can come to PBA with an open mind. Everyone who is curious and wants to make some contribution to the future of Web3 or even make real changes is welcome here.
Conclusion
PBA carries out educational projects in different countries around the world, truly bringing Web3 education to all parts of the world, helping people from different places have better access to related technologies.
Currently, PBA has covered Europe and North America, and Alexandra is happy to announce that the latest phase of the project will be held in Asia. If you are a developer in Asia, please pay close attention to the information about the upcoming opening of applications. The specific location and time schedule will be announced in the near future.
In order to help Chinese developers understand and learn the basic knowledge of Substrate and better use Substrate technology to participate in the construction of the Substrate ecosystem, OneBlock began organizing the Substrate Saturday online live broadcast column in August last year, and has successfully held 17 episodes to date. In each live broadcast, well-known industry experts and technology gurus will be invited to share Substrate technology-related topics and practical experiences with everyone. Industry professionals and technology enthusiasts are welcome to continue to pay attention.