I teach twelve bright, interested, motivated students in my Spanish for the World of Business class at a local high school. It's a really fun class and a great way to start off my day.
We learn practical skills that will help you as a consumer or as a worker in many business arenas. I normally teach eight units in the course, ranging from doing your taxes to finding a good deal on a mortgage.
(image via Pinterest)
However, this semester I borrowed a little bit of time from some other spots and taught a ninth unit: cryptocurrency. These kids are very tech savvy and each has a computer and phone with them in class so I was hoping that maybe some of them may have some general awareness around the concept.
I was dead wrong.
On day one of the unit, I asked the students in Spanish if they had ever heard of criptomonedas or cryptocurrency. The answer was a resounding now. Same to Bitcoin. I showed them logos. Still nothing. Tabla Rasa.
This was going to be a process.
I started off with a basic overview of fiat currency, the former gold standard and why a dollar/peso/pound actually has value. We then talked about the differences between fiat currency and gold. One student remarked, "Gold may keep its value better, but it isn't very easy to carry around to pay for things." They were catching on quickly.
(image via DugCampbell)
I then asked them to choose the best things about fiat and gold. They wanted the scarcity and durability of gold, plus the portability and divisibility of fiat. When I told them that such a thing existed, they asked, "Why don't we use that then?"
Enter Bitcoin to their world. We talked about how the blockchain works and nodes communicate by passing a few transaction slips around the class and seeing if they could come to consensus on who the money belongs to.
Once they had the basics down, I introduced them to the world of altcoins. Just like there is more than the dollar, there is more than just Bitcoin.
We created Poloniex accounts and I transferred about 50 cents worth of Bitcoin to each of them. We had already learned about the stock market, so the buying/selling part came natural to them.
Lastly, each student chose an altcoin to research and give a presentation on. One chose Litecoin - she called it Generic Brand Coca-Cola - while others chose PotCoin (of course), Gridcoin and others.
One, however, chose STEEM. He had one simple question after reading a brief overview of the basics behind Steemit. "Why does anyone use tumblr or twitter?"
After his presentation, I could see the wheels turning in many of the students' heads. Two girls - who previously pitched a neat makeup accessory during our Shark Tank unit - thought they could make extra money posting makeup how-to's. One boy said he could make money writing about Barcelona.
It was a great unit and while the kids are certainly not experts in the field of cryptocurrency, I think they'll be on the forefront of adoption when they enter the adult world.
If you have any other ideas for what I could incorporate next time I teach this unit, I'd love to hear them!
P.S. - If you see some great posts about makeup or Barcelona, make sure you give them a big upvote!