Course Syllabus
Welcome to PRDV151: Bitcoin for Everybody
Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.
Course Description
Explore the fundamental ideas behind Bitcoin, an open-source, strictly limited digital money that operates on a peer-to-peer network. Bitcoin offers protection against inflation, seizure, and stoppage of payments by third parties. This course is intended for people interested in learning some of the basic economics, investment, philosophy, and technical concepts of Bitcoin.
Course Introduction
Bitcoin represents a new, open internet standard for hard money. Bitcoin is increasingly being adopted as pristine collateral, a longer-term store of value, and unstoppable money. This course will take you through the basics of Bitcoin for beginners: Bitcoin economics, investment, philosophy, and history, as well as its technical and practical components. Once you have completed this course, you will have a basic level of Bitcoin knowledge and be able to start interacting with Bitcoin by buying, receiving, storing, and spending it.
This course includes the following units:
- Unit 1: Bitcoin Economics
- Unit 2: Bitcoin Investment
- Unit 3: Bitcoin History and Philosophy
- Unit 4: Bitcoin Technology
- Unit 5: Bitcoin in Practice
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- describe how Bitcoin and other monetary candidates arise on the market;
- compare and contrast Bitcoin with other assets for investment or holding;
- explain the key elements of Bitcoin's predecessors and Bitcoin's history, such as proof of work;
- identify important features of Bitcoin's technology, such as the difficulty adjustment; and
- discuss methods for purchasing, storing, or sending Bitcoin and otherwise putting it into practice.
Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.
Course Materials
This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.
All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course by clicking on Resources in the navigation bar.
Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score
Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn a 70% or higher on the final exam. Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you may take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt. Once you have successfully passed the final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate.
Tips for Success
PRDV151: Bitcoin for Everybody is a self-paced course, which means that you can decide when you will start and when you will complete the course. There is no instructor or an assigned schedule to follow. We estimate that the "average" student will take 12 hours to complete this course. We recommend that you work through the course at a comfortable pace that allows you to make regular progress. It's also a good idea to schedule your study time in advance and try to stick to that schedule as best as you can.
Learning new material can be challenging, so we've compiled a few study strategies to help you succeed:
- Take notes on the various terms, practices, and theories that you come across. This can help you put each concept into context and will create a refresher that you can use as you study later on.
- As you work through the materials, take some time to test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned is important for your long-term memory and will make you more likely to retain information over time.
Technical Requirements
This course is delivered entirely online. You will be required to have access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and have consistent access to the internet to either view or download the necessary course resources and attempt any auto-graded course assessments and the final exam.
- To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, you will need to be logged into your Saylor Academy account and enrolled in the course. If you do not already have an account, you may create one for free here. Although you can access some of the course without logging in to your account, you should log in to maximize your course experience. For example, you cannot take assessments or track your progress unless you are logged in.
For additional guidance, check out Saylor Academy's FAQ.
Fees
This course is entirely free to enroll in and to access. Everything linked in the course, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, is available for no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and course completion certificate.