Blockchain is one of the biggest buzzwords to emerge in this young millennium. It’s potential to disrupt many major industries and its applications for the future are the sources of many think pieces. With its potential in the field of education, should we start teaching children about blockchain?
Currently, blockchain knowledge is mostly limited to people with a background in finance or technology. By expanding the knowledge to a much broader spectrum, the technology has greater potential as technology literacy opens the doors to innovation. As we know that the earlier a concept is introduced to a child, the better able they are to understand it, the argument arises for the importance of teaching children about important technologies like decentralized governance models and open source development. Blockchain concepts are an entry point to the ideas that will drive not just the economy but the culture and politics of tomorrow.
Children are quite literally the future. They will be the ones who go on to develop the next big technologies that will go on to disrupt blockchain. They will be the ones who drive us into a decentralized future. Educating them about blockchain from an earlier age will help them to build upon this system, and develop an even better one. Teaching blockchain to young minds now lays the groundwork for them to create greater innovation.
Regarding educating children and teenagers about technology, books aren’t the way to go. Technology is best taught hands-on. With three-quarters of children in the United States having access to some type of mobile device, smartphone or tablet, there is plenty of potential for incorporating technology into their screen time. Already, apps exist that teach math and reading.
Sesame Ventures, a venture fund formed by Sesame Workshop (the producer of “Sesame Street,” the television show) recently invested into Kano, a company best-known for producing computer building kits for children. With the investment, Kano’s chief executive and co-founder Alex Klein expects the company to expand into teaching children about blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Blockchain may not be around forever, but incorporating it into lesson plans now will help kids to develop better technology literacy and have a better grasp on the technologies of the future, as blockchain may be the groundwork for many of them.