Blockchain is becoming an increasingly more utilized technology. While most associate blockchains explicitly with cryptocurrencies, few realize that this is just one of many applications with this technology. The use-case for blockchains goes far beyond making a quick buck with some digital coins. Let's dive into the real purpose behind blockchain development and decentralization.
Blockchains are secure, decentralized ledgers, making them perfect for application across countless industries, including education.
This article will take a deeper dive into blockchain and crypto to see how the two will begin impacting the education sector.
What Is a Blockchain
Before we dive into the details of how blockchain will impact the education industry, it’s essential to have a general understanding of what a blockchain is and how it functions.
As a reminder, a blockchain is a secure, distributed ledger.
A Distributed Ledger
Ledgers are books of records, such as student grades that hold information. Today, this information is typically filed electronically and centralized using specialized software.
A centralized ledger is risky because it runs the risk of being compromised, damaged, or stolen at any time. To safeguard this threat, you can keep exact copies of the ledgers in varying locations, known as a distributed ledger.
Within blockchains, the full copy of the ledger is kept and the individual digital information it holds. The integrity of the document it stores, along with the newly recorded information, is constantly being verified. That way, if the information is compromised for any reason, the information on the ledger is not impacted.
Blockchain in Education
As you can imagine, there are countless applications for blockchain in education that can be incredibly beneficial for both teachers and students. We’ve touched on the importance of data and learning analytics when it comes to creating educational content, but what about the value of blockchain technology? Let’s take a closer look.
For Teachers
Teachers are constantly evolving with technology as it becomes applicable to education. Blockchain technology is not one that should be ignored.
Lessons and Courses
One of the many positive features of blockchain technology is that it is smart-contract capable. For teachers, this concept is beneficial because they can program lessons and courses into the blockchain that are executed only once a student has met the necessary conditions.
In a more specific example, teachers can set up assignments for students using this blockchain technology. The blockchain’s smart contracts would then verify the completion of all the assignments, which would notify teachers and provide students with the proper credits.
Storing Files
File storage space is a constant struggle with educators and institutions. When it comes to storing digital curricula it takes up a lot of storage space on a local hard drive that is shared by hundreds, if not thousands, of others all faced with the same storage capacity limitations.
It’s also worth mentioning that local storage drives are not the most secure place to store this type of information as it is susceptible to being compromised or damaged in different ways.
To alleviate storage capacity concerns, some institutions have turned to purchasing cloud storage. This form of storage is incredibly costly and unfortunately not accessible to all educators and institutions. An alternative solution for storing files would be with blockchain-based cloud storage services.
Publishing Research
Teachers are constantly generating quality material that is worth publishing. Unfortunately, the path to publication is a notoriously challenging one.
With the help of blockchain technology, teachers could break into publishing much easier than ever before. Not only will this technology help to simplify the process for teachers but it will also help with other crucial aspects of the process like piracy protection and rights management.
For Students
On the receiving end of blockchain technology in education are the students. Here are just a few of the ways blockchain technology can help the lives of students in big ways.
Play-to-Earn eLearning
The key component of play-to-learn e-learning is that students gain ownership over in-game assets, allowing them to increase their value by actively playing the game and advancing through the course. Students create value for other players as well as the developers by participating in the in-game economy and are in turn rewarded with in-game assets.
Rewards through play-to-earn e-learning courses may include digital assets ranging from in-game resources that are tokenized on the blockchain to cryptocurrencies.
Metaverse
Through the Metaverse, students can collaborate in virtual meeting spaces from any location. Students can have expressive discussions with the feel of being in person or work together on ideas using a sizable virtual whiteboard.
Diplomas and Certificates
Diplomas and certificates of achievement earned through financial institutions can be issued and stored on the blockchain rather than be printed as hard copies.
Not only does this allow students to keep their records more organized but it also means that employers would just need a link to be able to access these credentials on their own. As a benefit to employers, access to these verified blockchain records would prevent individuals from being able to submit any type of counterfeit degrees or certificates when applying for a job.
Blockchain diplomas are not just an idea of the future. MIT began issuing blockchain-stored diplomas to graduates beginning in 2017.
Student Records
Students have traditionally relied on schools to manage data surrounding their records of learning achievements. Pulling this academic data is not only one of the most labor-intensive but also one of the most time-consuming tasks for institutions to handle and for students to access.
Any time a student is interested in applying for a postgraduate degree they are required to contact each institution they attended and request an individual transcript from each, at cost.
With the help of blockchain technology, accessing student records could become as simple as a click of a button. All pertinent data would be secure, verified, transparent, and accessible with this technology, alleviating the burden on third-party educational institutions entirely.
Especially for students in third-world countries, access to student records through blockchain technology is unmatched in its benefits. Companies are already actively working in this sector. The Cardano blockchain is working explicitly with various African countries to develop this type of technology for their education.
Badges
Similar to diplomas, certificates, and other student records, badges offer additional information to potential employers about a student. Things like fluency in other languages, levels of proficiency in cryptocurrencies, etc. that might not typically be relayed through educational background can help set a student apart from competitors in the job field.
Having badges stored in the blockchain verifies that this information is true and valid, so employers would not need to question the skills listed.
Final Thoughts
At ryco.io, our focus is on the promotion of student growth and encouraging a self-learning atmosphere. Our efforts in personalized learning and gamification are just one of the ways we have successfully been making strides in terms of online educational materials.
Our research now leads us towards the future of blockchain technology in the education sector as we continue to watch it unfold before our eyes.
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