Need help implementing Bitcoin project at kids’ high school

[Tachyon2032]

Need help implementing Bitcoin project at kids’ high school

I want to implement a Bitcoin project similar to the one at MIT (http://bitcoin.mit.edu/announcing-the-mit-bitcoin-project/) at my kids’ high school.  I don’t plan on doing it at the same scale as MIT, but think introducing Bitcoin to kids at this age is a huge benefit to them.  In a nutshell, MIT is giving $100 worth of Bitcoin to every undergrad—no strings.  I emailed them for details of their program and they are still working-out the details and could offer no immediate help.

So, my plan was for the Math teacher to offer this as extra credit for any student that wants to do so.  There are about 60 kids in the 10th grade (including both of my kids).  I was thinking of starting them with $5 worth of Bitcoin (about 0.0092 9938 BTC @ $537.16; or 9,299 bits, or 929, 938 Satoshi).

I am looking for suggestions for implementation.  Specifically:

1)   Funding.  It’s only about $300 (less than 1 BTC), but budgetary issues prevent me or the school funding it.  I was thinking about asking for donations, but getting donations from parents for something they totally do not understand is almost impossible.  Should I a) hit-up some Bitcoin millionaire for a single BTC, or b) approach local businesses for generic “school donations”, or c) some other approach?

2)   Funding logistics.  Let’s say I get the $300 to fund, should I use Coinbase.com to purchase the coins?  In my personal Bitcoin venturing, I avoided Coinbase as well as any other centralized, controlled, on-line Bitcoin services.  My 0.0799 0421 BTC I have now, I bought from a friend, not any service.

3)   Wallets.  The students will have both Android and IOS phones, so, should I recommend one wallet for each or let them choose?  I am thinking that since this is supposed to be a learning exercise, it would be easier if we told them which wallet to use.  I was thinking of Bread Wallet for IOS and Andreas Schildbach’s Bitcoin Wallet for Android.  Since we’re dealing with very small amounts and we want to encourage the kids to buy, sell, trade with each other, I figured we would not push desktop wallets at this point.

4)   Distribution.  My thinking was that once the kids have their wallets set-up, they will email the teacher with their student ID and public key and we would then do a direct transfer at that point.  Another option includes printing 60 paper wallets pre-loaded with 9,299 bits that they could sweep, but  I am concerned about tracking distribution and preventing kids from getting more than one, etc.  I also could see the kids just trading the paper wallets instead of actually using the e-wallets.  The other issue with the teacher (or me) doing it at night once we receive an email and public key, is that I wanted the kids to see the immediate transfer from our wallet to theirs.  There is just something about hitting “send” and hearing that little ching-ching in your wallet that makes a better impression.

I am open to suggestions on all of the above points.  I am also planning on documenting this as well as I can in hopes that other schools can use it as a guide to implementing similar programs there.

Thank you!

[juju]

Need help implementing Bitcoin project at kids’ high school

I want to implement a Bitcoin project similar to the one at MIT (http://bitcoin.mit.edu/announcing-the-mit-bitcoin-project/) at my kids’ high school.  I don’t plan on doing it at the same scale as MIT, but think introducing Bitcoin to kids at this age is a huge benefit to them.  In a nutshell, MIT is giving $100 worth of Bitcoin to every undergrad—no strings.  I emailed them for details of their program and they are still working-out the details and could offer no immediate help.

So, my plan was for the Math teacher to offer this as extra credit for any student that wants to do so.  There are about 60 kids in the 10th grade (including both of my kids).  I was thinking of starting them with $5 worth of Bitcoin (about 0.0092 9938 BTC @ $537.16; or 9,299 bits, or 929, 938 Satoshi).

I am looking for suggestions for implementation.  Specifically:

1)   Funding.  It’s only about $300 (less than 1 BTC), but budgetary issues prevent me or the school funding it.  I was thinking about asking for donations, but getting donations from parents for something they totally do not understand is almost impossible.  Should I a) hit-up some Bitcoin millionaire for a single BTC, or b) approach local businesses for generic “school donations”, or c) some other approach?

2)   Funding logistics.  Let’s say I get the $300 to fund, should I use Coinbase.com to purchase the coins?  In my personal Bitcoin venturing, I avoided Coinbase as well as any other centralized, controlled, on-line Bitcoin services.  My 0.0799 0421 BTC I have now, I bought from a friend, not any service.

3)   Wallets.  The students will have both Android and IOS phones, so, should I recommend one wallet for each or let them choose?  I am thinking that since this is supposed to be a learning exercise, it would be easier if we told them which wallet to use.  I was thinking of Bread Wallet for IOS and Andreas Schildbach’s Bitcoin Wallet for Android.  Since we’re dealing with very small amounts and we want to encourage the kids to buy, sell, trade with each other, I figured we would not push desktop wallets at this point.

4)   Distribution.  My thinking was that once the kids have their wallets set-up, they will email the teacher with their student ID and public key and we would then do a direct transfer at that point.  Another option includes printing 60 paper wallets pre-loaded with 9,299 bits that they could sweep, but  I am concerned about tracking distribution and preventing kids from getting more than one, etc.  I also could see the kids just trading the paper wallets instead of actually using the e-wallets.  The other issue with the teacher (or me) doing it at night once we receive an email and public key, is that I wanted the kids to see the immediate transfer from our wallet to theirs.  There is just something about hitting “send” and hearing that little ching-ching in your wallet that makes a better impression.

I am open to suggestions on all of the above points.  I am also planning on documenting this as well as I can in hopes that other schools can use it as a guide to implementing similar programs there.

Thank you!

I think this is a good idea, I unfortunately do not have much advice on how you should approach this subject. Only thing I can think of is it might be worth trying to use the Bitcoin Testnet to demonstrate functionality it would be basically free to acquire Testnet coins. In regards to mobile wallets that use the test coins, I don't think any exist currently. For training purposes the coins generated on Bitcoins testnet might be sufficient enough to teach the students about how Bitcoin works. Alternatively you could create your own Alternate Coin for educational purposes and just distribute it to the students etc, show them how to mine the currency etc.

[Razick]

Responding to the above reply, there is a Testnet version of Andreas Schildbach’s Bitcoin Wallet for Android. I definitely like the idea. Perhaps if it was done during class, the teacher (or you) could directly send the coins to each student (by scanning their address qr code). That way they would learn what a real transaction is like.

[juju]

Responding to the above reply, there is a Testnet version of Andreas Schildbach’s Bitcoin Wallet for Android. I definitely like the idea. Perhaps if it was done during class, the teacher (or you) could directly send the coins to each student (by scanning their address qr code). That way they would learn what a real transaction is like.

Very cool I knew someone had to have made it, I might have to toss this on one of my Android devices.

Op, You also might be able too reward students with Testnet coins for doing well on tests, or being helpful or something. They could send the coins to you for a tiny benefit in the class in the future ex: Leave class 5 Minutes early or bypass a single homework assignment/test. This could motivate them to learn about the digital currencies as well as motivate them to do well in their courses.

[Razick]

Responding to the above reply, there is a Testnet version of Andreas Schildbach’s Bitcoin Wallet for Android. I definitely like the idea. Perhaps if it was done during class, the teacher (or you) could directly send the coins to each student (by scanning their address qr code). That way they would learn what a real transaction is like.

Very cool I knew someone had to have made it, I might have to toss this on one of my Android devices.

Op, You also might be able too reward students with Testnet coins for doing well on tests, or being helpful or something. They could send the coins to you for a tiny benefit in the class in the future ex: Leave class 5 Minutes early or bypass a single homework assignment/test. This could motivate them to learn about the digital currencies as well as motivate them to do well in their courses.

What would be really cool, but perhaps better suited to a computer science class would be having the students create their own altcoin which could be the de-facto student currency for the school. I could totally see students exchanging and trading in "(high school mascot) Coin" if it got a bit of a push from an entire class of students and help from teachers.

[LiteCoinGuy]

maybe this could help:

http://banksworstfear.com/teaching-kids-bitcoin/

[montello]

Need help implementing Bitcoin project at kids’ high school

I want to implement a Bitcoin project similar to the one at MIT (http://bitcoin.mit.edu/announcing-the-mit-bitcoin-project/) at my kids’ high school.  I don’t plan on doing it at the same scale as MIT, but think introducing Bitcoin to kids at this age is a huge benefit to them.  In a nutshell, MIT is giving $100 worth of Bitcoin to every undergrad—no strings.  I emailed them for details of their program and they are still working-out the details and could offer no immediate help.

So, my plan was for the Math teacher to offer this as extra credit for any student that wants to do so.  There are about 60 kids in the 10th grade (including both of my kids).  I was thinking of starting them with $5 worth of Bitcoin (about 0.0092 9938 BTC @ $537.16; or 9,299 bits, or 929, 938 Satoshi).

I am looking for suggestions for implementation.  Specifically:

1)   Funding.  It’s only about $300 (less than 1 BTC), but budgetary issues prevent me or the school funding it.  I was thinking about asking for donations, but getting donations from parents for something they totally do not understand is almost impossible.  Should I a) hit-up some Bitcoin millionaire for a single BTC, or b) approach local businesses for generic “school donations”, or c) some other approach?

2)   Funding logistics.  Let’s say I get the $300 to fund, should I use Coinbase.com to purchase the coins?  In my personal Bitcoin venturing, I avoided Coinbase as well as any other centralized, controlled, on-line Bitcoin services.  My 0.0799 0421 BTC I have now, I bought from a friend, not any service.

3)   Wallets.  The students will have both Android and IOS phones, so, should I recommend one wallet for each or let them choose?  I am thinking that since this is supposed to be a learning exercise, it would be easier if we told them which wallet to use.  I was thinking of Bread Wallet for IOS and Andreas Schildbach’s Bitcoin Wallet for Android.  Since we’re dealing with very small amounts and we want to encourage the kids to buy, sell, trade with each other, I figured we would not push desktop wallets at this point.

4)   Distribution.  My thinking was that once the kids have their wallets set-up, they will email the teacher with their student ID and public key and we would then do a direct transfer at that point.  Another option includes printing 60 paper wallets pre-loaded with 9,299 bits that they could sweep, but  I am concerned about tracking distribution and preventing kids from getting more than one, etc.  I also could see the kids just trading the paper wallets instead of actually using the e-wallets.  The other issue with the teacher (or me) doing it at night once we receive an email and public key, is that I wanted the kids to see the immediate transfer from our wallet to theirs.  There is just something about hitting “send” and hearing that little ching-ching in your wallet that makes a better impression.

I am open to suggestions on all of the above points.  I am also planning on documenting this as well as I can in hopes that other schools can use it as a guide to implementing similar programs there.

Thank you!

I appreciate your approach and think it will go a long way in developing the awareness campaign bitcoin requires for now.But i however don't have additional inputs to this idea.

[noel57]

A very fascinating innovation and it looks complete enough for execution by my standards.

[giveBTCpls]

I have thought about what would happend if you gave every kid at class a decent amount of BTC.
Would they keep it, or would they inmediately cash out and buy the new Xbox One videogame? 

[Candystripes]

I've always thought, are they really ready to learn all about it? And wouldn't some of them get into gambling?\

[wasserman99]

Responding to the above reply, there is a Testnet version of Andreas Schildbach’s Bitcoin Wallet for Android. I definitely like the idea. Perhaps if it was done during class, the teacher (or you) could directly send the coins to each student (by scanning their address qr code). That way they would learn what a real transaction is like.

Very cool I knew someone had to have made it, I might have to toss this on one of my Android devices.

Op, You also might be able too reward students with Testnet coins for doing well on tests, or being helpful or something. They could send the coins to you for a tiny benefit in the class in the future ex: Leave class 5 Minutes early or bypass a single homework assignment/test. This could motivate them to learn about the digital currencies as well as motivate them to do well in their courses.

What would be really cool, but perhaps better suited to a computer science class would be having the students create their own altcoin which could be the de-facto student currency for the school. I could totally see students exchanging and trading in "(high school mascot) Coin" if it got a bit of a push from an entire class of students and help from teachers.

I think this would give them the incorrect impression that alt coins can potentially have some level of value which is simply not true. There have been some accusations that some alt coins are scam coins, but this is not true, all alt coins are scam coins.

I think a better approach would be to use something to do with the test net and potentially with coins on the testnet.

[bitcoinstarter]

c) some other approach?

If you need to crowdfund it check out my Bitcoin platform and see if it could be of use to you

[franky1]

1)   Funding.  It’s only about $300 (less than 1 BTC), but budgetary issues prevent me or the school funding it.  I was thinking about asking for donations, but getting donations from parents for something they totally do not understand is almost impossible.  Should I a) hit-up some Bitcoin millionaire for a single BTC, or b) approach local businesses for generic “school donations”, or c) some other approach?

2)   Funding logistics.  Let’s say I get the $300 to fund, should I use Coinbase.com to purchase the coins?  In my personal Bitcoin venturing, I avoided Coinbase as well as any other centralized, controlled, on-line Bitcoin services.  My 0.0799 0421 BTC I have now, I bought from a friend, not any service.

if you cant even manage to fundraise $300 through any form of charity drive or self funding, then im going to start to wonder why you should put yourself forward as the fund manager.

3)   Wallets.  The students will have both Android and IOS phones, so, should I recommend one wallet for each or let them choose?  I am thinking that since this is supposed to be a learning exercise, it would be easier if we told them which wallet to use.  I was thinking of Bread Wallet for IOS and Andreas Schildbach’s Bitcoin Wallet for Android.  Since we’re dealing with very small amounts and we want to encourage the kids to buy, sell, trade with each other, I figured we would not push desktop wallets at this point.

seeing as kids are at highschool level. make it so that they learn about bitcoin and the select the app they want to use

4)   Distribution.  My thinking was that once the kids have their wallets set-up, they will email the teacher with their student ID and public key and we would then do a direct transfer at that point.  Another option includes printing 60 paper wallets pre-loaded with 9,299 bits that they could sweep, but  I am concerned about tracking distribution and preventing kids from getting more than one, etc.  I also could see the kids just trading the paper wallets instead of actually using the e-wallets.  The other issue with the teacher (or me) doing it at night once we receive an email and public key, is that I wanted the kids to see the immediate transfer from our wallet to theirs.  There is just something about hitting “send” and hearing that little ching-ching in your wallet that makes a better impression.

I am open to suggestions on all of the above points.  I am also planning on documenting this as well as I can in hopes that other schools can use it as a guide to implementing similar programs there.

Thank you!

once the kids have basic concept of what bitcoin is and they have chosen the app. they simply give their maths teacher their public key (email it to the teacher) and then the funds get dispersed out fairly.

also it might be worth doing it in paper form, after all part of the MIT experiment is to see what the graduates do with the funds.. so by giving the high schoolers paper wallets. seeing them swap paper wallets between themselves in exchange for FIAT or even 5 chocolate bars or whatever, might be worth it to figure out who are the smart kids that hoard the coins and try buying them off people, and who are the dumb kids that do not understand the concept and dont want to keep the bitcoin, and for how little they sell the paper wallet for as it simply doesnt interest them.

which may result in a display of supply and demand where a few hoarders will pay extra to tempt other kids to sell. etc. after all isnt that what free market is about, and also instead of just holding bitcoin they get to play around with it and work out what value is and work out how to calculate value (use of maths)

[cccarnation]

If you get the funds, use the Coinbase email send with students emails and then if they don't take the coins in about 30 (or ?) days, Coinbase sends them back

[unexecuted]

Unless you have something they can buy with the coins, your waisting your time.

[shiwi1985]

Need help implementing Bitcoin project at kids’ high school

I want to implement a Bitcoin project similar to the one at MIT (http://bitcoin.mit.edu/announcing-the-mit-bitcoin-project/) at my kids’ high school.  I don’t plan on doing it at the same scale as MIT, but think introducing Bitcoin to kids at this age is a huge benefit to them.  In a nutshell, MIT is giving $100 worth of Bitcoin to every undergrad—no strings.  I emailed them for details of their program and they are still working-out the details and could offer no immediate help.

So, my plan was for the Math teacher to offer this as extra credit for any student that wants to do so.  There are about 60 kids in the 10th grade (including both of my kids).  I was thinking of starting them with $5 worth of Bitcoin (about 0.0092 9938 BTC @ $537.16; or 9,299 bits, or 929, 938 Satoshi).

I am looking for suggestions for implementation.  Specifically:

1)   Funding.  It’s only about $300 (less than 1 BTC), but budgetary issues prevent me or the school funding it.  I was thinking about asking for donations, but getting donations from parents for something they totally do not understand is almost impossible.  Should I a) hit-up some Bitcoin millionaire for a single BTC, or b) approach local businesses for generic “school donations”, or c) some other approach?

2)   Funding logistics.  Let’s say I get the $300 to fund, should I use Coinbase.com to purchase the coins?  In my personal Bitcoin venturing, I avoided Coinbase as well as any other centralized, controlled, on-line Bitcoin services.  My 0.0799 0421 BTC I have now, I bought from a friend, not any service.

3)   Wallets.  The students will have both Android and IOS phones, so, should I recommend one wallet for each or let them choose?  I am thinking that since this is supposed to be a learning exercise, it would be easier if we told them which wallet to use.  I was thinking of Bread Wallet for IOS and Andreas Schildbach’s Bitcoin Wallet for Android.  Since we’re dealing with very small amounts and we want to encourage the kids to buy, sell, trade with each other, I figured we would not push desktop wallets at this point.

4)   Distribution.  My thinking was that once the kids have their wallets set-up, they will email the teacher with their student ID and public key and we would then do a direct transfer at that point.  Another option includes printing 60 paper wallets pre-loaded with 9,299 bits that they could sweep, but  I am concerned about tracking distribution and preventing kids from getting more than one, etc.  I also could see the kids just trading the paper wallets instead of actually using the e-wallets.  The other issue with the teacher (or me) doing it at night once we receive an email and public key, is that I wanted the kids to see the immediate transfer from our wallet to theirs.  There is just something about hitting “send” and hearing that little ching-ching in your wallet that makes a better impression.

I am open to suggestions on all of the above points.  I am also planning on documenting this as well as I can in hopes that other schools can use it as a guide to implementing similar programs there.

Thank you!

[remotemass]

Don't forget of introducing them to the history of money: Gold, Kings' coins, banknotes, fractional reserve banking...
Maybe you can point them to: https://mises.org/Books/mysteryofbanking.pdf
A beautiful reading, in my opinion.

I suggest they watch also these four videos:

1)
"United Colors of Bitcoin"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6sOFXHlhuE

2)
"How Bitcoin Works Under the Hood"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx9zgZCMqXE

3)
"Why Bitcoin is Better Than Gold" - Big Think video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKkfhi8Eaiw

4)
"Everything You Need to Know About Bitcoin"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNssKmeXrGs

Good work!

[TimeWatch]

Introduce them with history, the physical coins of stone and gold.

Then comes the paper currency.

Next comes the digital money processors

Next comes the cryptos

GL