@natureofbeing, this is perfect. Thank your for such an insightful comment!
...school isn't as much about accumulating knowledge as it is about learning how to use one's brain, developing patience, critical thinking, discovering how to problem solve in the midst of challenges set up by someone who thinks differently than one does, getting out of one's comfort zone to try new approaches and developing the confidence and skills one can use to approach anything in life.
A person when left to his/her own devices tends to stay within a certain comfort zone simply because we can't know what or how much we don't know and this is where school is so useful.
We 100% agree. It's critical with the "decentralize everything" mindset to keep checks/balances in place. Great accumulation of information doesn't correlate to a better understanding of something. A physical campus is so important to cultivate this balance of exposure, checks and balances as students learn, mature, and are challenged.
What we like about this particular course, is that it's being taught at a graduate level. These students (more so than undergrads) are actively positioning themselves to launch into the professional landscape. We hope that exposure to blockchain / steemit becomes a valuable resource for them in both within the academic setting of next year but also professionally in the next couple years. We hope the timing is good here, in order to yield the best impact. Impact (two ways) in terms of the students and the online community we have here today.
Lot's of exciting work ahead. We look forward to collaborating with Steemit Stewards such as yourself as these students begin to uncover the many layers of the blockchain world.