Why Nearlings Matters: The Starklings Story
When I was learning Cairo for Starknet, we used Starklings as part of our learning process. Our tutor would assign specific exercises as homework to be completed before the next class. We were expected to work through these exercises independently, without documentation, focusing purely on problem-solving and understanding the concepts hands-on.
In the next session, the tutor would ask us to explain what we worked on and what we learned. This made it very easy for the tutor to immediately see who understood the topic and who didn’t. When someone struggled, they could ask questions, misconceptions were corrected, and the tutor would go deeper into the topic where needed.
This simple cycle of practice → explanation → clarification significantly improved my understanding of Cairo and helped the tutor validate whether the class was actually learning what was being taught.
Why I’m Building Nearlings
Because this method worked so well for me while learning Cairo on Starknet, I am applying to build Nearlings to bring the same proven learning model to NEAR communities.
Nearlings will enable community tutors and instructors to:
Assign targeted exercises before classes or meetups
Let students learn by doing, guided by tests instead of step-by-step tutorials
Track real progress automatically through GitHub integration
Quickly identify who understands the material and who needs help
Create interactive, feedback-driven learning sessions
By applying this approach, Nearlings will help NEAR communities teach developers how to truly think and build on NEAR, not just follow examples.
Why this approach works:
Eliminates distractions by separating exercises from documentation, keeping learners focused solely on problem-solving.
Creates natural checkpoints for instructor feedback and clarification
Forces learners to articulate their understanding, building confidence
Develops muscle memory and language intuition
Scales perfectly for bootcamps, university courses, and community group.
$18,000 to be paid inUSDC