Steemit Update [January 26th, 2025] : Steemit Learning Challenge - Applications Invited for Season 23
We hope you have all enjoyed Season 22 of the Steemit Learning Challenge.
Season 23 of the Challenge will be starting in early February.
Applications are now invited for the new season.
The Learning Challenge has generally been progressing well but we are becoming increasingly concerned by the growing use of AI for homework tasks - particularly in the text based challenges.
Therefore in Season 23 we will also be trialling something new - Steemit Learning Clubs.
How to Apply for Season 23
We are inviting applications from Teaching Teams.
Teams can just be one person - or they can include one assistant to help with marking assignment posts if they want.
Each Team should cover a particular subject area that they have specialist knowledge of such as photography or crochet or baking or spreadsheets or gardening or painting.
Teams will be expected to deliver a lesson in their subject area each week with a corresponding homework task. The six weekly lessons should ideally form a cohesive course in their subject area.
Teaching Teams should make an application post including…
the subject area they want to cover
details of their experience and expertise in the subject area be it professional or hobbyist
three examples of the weekly lessons they would include in their course.
Additionally we would like teams applying to outline how they will ensure people will not be using AI to do their homework tasks.
There are no restrictions on Steem Power, Reputation, nationality, language or community affiliations. The only restriction is that no team member should be powering down.
Posts should also contain the contact details (Telegram/Discord) of all team members.
Posts should be submitted by 11:59 pm UTC, on Tuesday, February 4th, 2025.
Application posts should include the tag #teachingteam in the first four tags.
Checking & Grading Posts
Teaching Teams should promptly check all assignments.
They should each have a standard comment and grading format that focuses on the quality of the post and how well it has met the requirements of the assignment.
The comment does not need to include any other information about club status or beneficiaries etc. The only checks needed are for plagiarism and AI content generation.
Teams should review and grade participants’ homework posts promptly. They should have a wide enough spread of marks out of 10 and give detailed commentary on how posts can be improved. Good marking comments will be rewarded appropriately.
Homework posts from students following each course do not need to be posted in a particular community and should instead be tracked through the use of appropriate tags.
Selection of Weekly Winners
Each week we would like the Teaching Teams to make a post announcing the 4 best assignment posts for the week.
All the weekly winners, as well as the announcement posts, will receive extra prize votes from @steemcurator01.
Introducing Steemit Learning Clubs
From observing the Learning Challenge teams operating so far it is clear that it is the courses based around practical activities that are least likely to have their homework tasks done by AI.
We therefore want to experiment with Steemit Learning Clubs that will be based solely around practical activities.
These Learning Clubs will be run by teams of up to three Club Mentors who have experience and expertise in the area the Club covers.
Instead of setting specific tasks each week people will be invited to post about a project they have done, or are currently working on, during each week.
The Club Mentors will then comment upon, and give feedback, helpful tips and guidance for the project.
We will also be rewarding other people participating in the Club who give feedback and contribute ideas on other people’s posts.
Initially the Learning Clubs we will be looking to form will be…
Cooking & Baking
DIY (including for example decorating a room, building a bookshelf)
Gardening & Food Production (including for example animal keeping, food preservation)
Knitting, Crochet & Sewing
Repair (including for example fixing a motorbike, mending a washing machine)
Technology (including for example building a PC, installing a CCTV system)
As with the Learning Challenges, the Learning Clubs will make a post each week with their selection of the four best project posts that have been submitted.
Additionally at the start of the week, the Club Mentors should take turns in making a post about a project they have just completed or are currently working on, including tips about what they have learnt from the project.
If you would like to apply to become a Club Mentor, you should make a post including…
the Learning Club you are applying for (from the list of six Clubs above)
details of your experience and expertise in the subject area be it professional or hobbyist
brief details of your history on Steem, and your current stats.
Application posts should include the tag #clubmentor in the first four tags, and be submitted by 11:59 pm UTC, on Tuesday, February 4th, 2025.
From all the suitable applicants we will select teams for as many of the clubs as possible.
In your application post you are welcome to suggest other applicants you would like to work with, but we may not follow those suggestions.
As this is an experimental project the rewards for the Club Mentors will be higher than those for the Teaching Teams.
We are excited to see how these Learning Clubs will work.
Steem has great potential as a learning platform but we must find ways to overcome the challenge of AI.
We welcome feedback on how we can build on and improve what we have started with the Steemit Learning Challenge program.
The exact number of Teaching Teams and Learning Clubs will be determined by the quality of the applications received.
The Crypto Academy will continue as one of the Teaching Teams.
People are welcome to submit applications for both the Teaching Teams and the Learning Clubs but they will only be selected for one or the other.
We hope everyone will enjoy #learningwithsteem.
Thank you
The Steemit Team