First results of the European project B-Skills

Málaga TechPark

The first phase of the B-Skills project aims to create a Toolkit that will provide key information, guidance, and practical tools to support adult educators and trainers in the implementation of blockchain technology-focused basic training courses for adult learners. The B-skills Toolkit will support educators with technical and pedagogical materials.

To this end, the partners conducted a focus group in each partner country (Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) to gather information on the actual state of the art of Blockchain technology in the participating countries and how to implement a Blockchain training course for adult learners.

Educators and experts in blockchain technology were involved in the various focus groups. The main aim was to investigate on one hand the most suitable training methodologies, supporting materials and training tools for effectively implementing a training path for adult learners on Blockchain, and on the other hand to define educators’ need for competences and methodologies.

From the information gathered, the following conclusions have been reached. Only very few training offers are available in the field of Blockchain technology in the countries of the B-Skills partners. That is why, based on the objectives of the project, that the B-Skills partners agreed on the necessity to implement a two levels course, one basic level oriented to know the utilities derived from the technology (what it does), and how there can be applied to the environment, focusing on the practical use of different Blockchain based applications.

Potentially any sector of society can benefit from blockchain technology, but from the information gathered during the focus groups, certain categories were considered relevant, and these are educational institutions, cryptocurrency traders and future investors, entrepreneurs, end-users, institutions, supply chains and the financial sector for research and innovation.
With respect to the target group of the training, anyone could receive it; however, to achieve a greater impact, the focus group participants pointed out that the training could be aimed at computer science students, specialists, and project managers capable of developing applications, as well as companies, public bodies, and educational institutions.

For the design and implementation of the B-Skills MOOC, which will be one of the main results of the project, there is a need for a comprehensive path that includes not only technical aspects but considers all the actors involved in Blockchain Technology within its applications, from the student perspective, the user, the buyer, and the social impact of the technology. Based on this, skills such as leadership and agile methodologies should be included as well in the training foreseen. It will be important indeed to introduce the concept of agility, the power of integration within a role, and the development team.

The course should also consider all kinds of didactic tools that can help to understand, such as the B-Skills Simulator, which is the second result of B-Skills project, that will visually reproduce how the Blockchain technology works, or applications of real cases, and that students realize application exercises, as these instruments will help a lot at any of the levels.

Based on the findings of the focus groups, a first draft of the Toolkit structure was created. Now the partners will work together to develop the content and resources to be included in the Toolkit.

The final result of the toolkit will be open and available through the online platform also used for the delivery of the B-Skills Simulator and the B-Skills MOOC.

About the B-Skills project

The project aims at supporting educators and adult learners with training and supporting materials for the achievement of basic digital skills related to Blockchain technology. The adult learners will achieve these fundamental skills through flexible and motivating training paths, materials, and tools to prepare them for taking advantage of the Blockchain technology in their daily life and work.

The partnership includes seven complementary entities coming from six different countries: Learnable (Italy), company expert in disruptive educational methodologies, the Technology Park of Andalucía, and the University of Malaga – NICS Lab (Spain), the European Center of Entrepreneurship Competence & Excellence - ECECE (Austria), the creative studio Flow Productions (Portugal), and the non-profit organizations Edu Playground (Bulgaria) and Social Hackers (Greece).

Co-funded by the Erasmus + program of the European Union, the project officially started in February 2022 and will last for 26 months.