0483 - Blockchain Fundamentals

Course Description

This course provides a foundation in a practical knowledge of blockchain. Beginning with an understanding of blockchain technology and its intended purpose, the course progresses into blockchain architecture. You will review the enterprise implementation and practical use of blockchain, such as in banking, healthcare and government applications. Throughout the course, you will also learn how blockchain evolved from its beginnings with cryptocurrencies and the role it plays in the trading, distribution, and other transactions that occur with cryptocurrency.

• Describe the concept of blockchain and its origins.
• Identify the core problems blockchain solves and how it addresses them.
• Summarize how businesses are applying blockchain and staffing blockchain projects.
• Describe how the concept of ownership is elemental to blockchain technology.
• Describe the purpose and properties of the shared ledger and how it supports data integrity in blockchain applications.
• Define cryptographic hashing and its role in securing blockchain transactions.
• Describe what peer nodes are, what they do, and how they communicate.
• Describe how consensus is maintained on the blockchain.
• Explain the origination, common applications, and usage of cryptocurrencies.
• Explain the common application space for blockchain.
• Explain how to plan and staff a blockchain project.
• Summarize the potential for the future of blockchain and how it is applied.

• Learn how blockchain is widely used in industries, providing secure and real-time systems.
• You'll understand how blockchain works and be able to explain its benefits to stakeholders.

This course is fully online, you require internet access and an email account. The course duration is 6 weeks, followed by a 2-week period to complete the final exam (online, open book). Lessons are released on Wednesdays and Fridays of each week, for a total of 12. You are not required to be online at any specific time. In addition to the specific lesson content, there is a discussion board with each lesson and often there is an optional assignment to apply the learning. Following each lesson, there is a short multiple choice quiz. Your score on these quizzes does not count towards the final mark but completing these helps solidify your learning as well as prepare you for the final exam. The final exam is an open-book, multiple choice exam and you need to achieve a minimum of 65% on the final exam to pass the course. There is only one opportunity to pass the exam. A certificate of completion from WatSPEED is available within four weeks of successful completion of each course and can be accessed in your student portal. Many of the Ed2Go courses are eligible towards the various online certificates offered by WatSPEED.

• This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

• PC: Windows 8 or later.
• Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
• Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

• Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Lesson 1 - Introduction to Blockchain. This lesson begins our study of blockchain by taking a 30,000-foot view of what blockchain is, how it works, and where it is used. We define some of the specialized terminology you need to understand how blockchain works. You'll learn about the beginnings of Bitcoin with a ground-breaking white paper written by a mysterious author, followed by a discussion of other cryptocurrencies and development platforms.

Lesson 2 - Why Is Blockchain Needed?. Why do we even have blockchain? This lesson describes the global financial crisis that led to the problem that blockchain can solve—a lack of trust in traditional financial markets and instruments. Blockchain's greatest advantage is that it secures the data integrity of transactions and supports many common business models.

Lesson 3 - The Blockchain Marketplace & Workforce. This lesson illustrates how blockchain is part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and provides examples of how specific business sectors—such as the financial, healthcare, and supply chain sectors—are applying blockchain. You'll learn about disruptive companies offering new services by leveraging blockchain. Finally, we summarize the common roles and responsibilities of blockchain team members.

Lesson 4 - Ownership Concepts in Blockchain. A key concept in the security of transactions stored in blockchain is ownership. This lesson covers how blockchain works to prove ownership of tangible items like homes and less-tangible things like identity while maintaining privacy. We look at the basic security concepts of identity, authentication, and authorization related to proving ownership in blockchain.

Lesson 5 - The Shared Ledger. This lesson explains how blockchain's shared ledger stores transactions that associate owners with things they own by tracking the history of the item's purchases. Records for an automobile purchase, an airline reservation, medical treatment, bank account information, or payroll records are all examples of transactions that are stored by blockchain's shared ledger. Anyone can access the data while the blockchain conceals the private information of transaction participants through encryption.

Lesson 6 - Securing Transactions with Cryptography. Blockchain's great security is based on its use of hashing functions. This lesson delves into the cryptology of blockchains, describing how hash functions work. The lesson goes on to present the concept of digital signatures and shows how blockchain verifies them to authorize transactions.

Lesson 7 - Distributing the Shared Ledger. Blockchain relies on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks to store and maintain data. This lesson identifies common network structures and their characteristics, then explains the attributes and advantages of peer-to-peer networks. The lesson also illustrates how peer nodes support trust in the blockchain.

Lesson 8 - Gaining Consensus on Blockchain. Because blockchain depends on its network participants to validate transactions and ensure data integrity, the concept of consensus is vital. All nodes on the blockchain must agree that the data presented is valid. This lesson explains how consensus algorithms work, focusing on the Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, and alternative consensus algorithms. The lesson also presents various incentives that blockchain networks use to entice and reward their participants.

Lesson 9 - Cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, was the first and is still the most recognized application of blockchain. This lesson defines cryptocurrency and explains its origins and evolution. It also discusses how cryptocurrencies and tokens are monetized, valued, and exchanged.

Lesson 10 - Blockchain Business Cases. Blockchain provides transparency, data integrity, and security for transactions. How do businesses actually use it in the real world? This lesson examines core use cases, such as proving existence or non-existence. Then it considers enterprise use cases, along with specific implementations of blockchain such as shared business processes. Finally, it covers application use cases, such as payments and settlements.

Lesson 11 - Implementing Blockchain. So how do you know if blockchain may benefit your organization? This lesson describes how to decide whether or not blockchain is suitable for a given project, then explains the roles of blockchain project team members. Also discussed is the issue of which blockchain platform to choose.

Lesson 12 - The Future of Blockchain. The benefits and characteristics of blockchain provide numerous opportunities for improving processes and disrupting industries. This lesson projects potential future implementations and market disruptions. Although blockchain addresses many business problems, the fact that it is still a young technology with room for improvement is also considered.