Blockchain Applications in Education
The education industry is just as
important as healthcare, manufacturing or finance — and it has the same
willingness to look to new technology for solutions. A number of
schools and higher educational institutions are either already
using or planning to implement blockchain platforms and tools (as
new as they are) to improve different aspects of their systems. While
blockchain may be most well known as the technology that underpins
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, its uses range far beyond that —
particularly in education — where it touches sectors like cloud storage,
record management, tracking donations and security for the
verification of academic qualifications. Distributed
ledger technology (DLT) is still in its infancy, and its
successful application by a few institutions could pave way for wider use
cases in the future. How then can this technology be used to transform
and improve education? A person’s career prospects are much
brighter if they have a certificate, diploma or degree. Academic
qualifications can also improve one’s social standing. But not all
academic qualifications are obtained legally — there are people who are
prepared to use fraudulently-obtained higher education qualifications in
order to get ahead. There are various kinds of academic fraud. Fake
university degrees are common and can be acquired in several ways:
The New York Times reported in 2015 that there was a growing tide of bogus
degrees. The company behind one particular scame was based in Pakistan,
and had connections to more than 370 educational websites that claimed to have
ties with schools and colleges in the United States. To combat degree
fraud, a number of universities and colleges are turning to
blockchain use in education technology. The University of
Melbourne has issued student credentials on the blockchain,
because data stored on the blockchain cannot be tampered with. The
Ministry of Education in Malaysia is also counting on the immutability of
blockchain technology to maintain the integrity of degrees
issued by the country’s universities. Due to the nature of the new
technology, degrees issued on a distributed ledger are tamper-
proof, and the chances of fake academic credentials being recorded are
minimized. However, this does not completely solve the problem, as university
officials with access to the blockchain for academic record keeping can
still fraudulently enter fake degrees — there is still room for human error.
Education systems store vast amounts of student records and data such as
grades, degrees, payment information, identity and curricula. Storing
this information on hard drives or servers creates an issue of centralization, a
weak point for the security of the entire system. In the future, institutions
could store student information on blockchains to improve security by removing
the need for one centralized database. Blockchain technology has
also brought on the creation of innovative educational technology
platforms that connect educators with learners. One such platform is
Education Ecosystem, a project-based platform that teaches students and
professional developers how to build practical projects. The projects are
created by experienced developers to benefit viewers, who gain valuable learning
experiences in putting their theoretical knowledge into practice. There are
other edtech platforms such as Blockchain Education Network that
are utilizing blockchain in the education sector. Some
donors are reluctant to give to worthy causes due to trust issues. About
one in three people in America are skeptical about how charity groups use their
funds, according to one study. This means that charitable organizations could be
more likely to receive increased donations if they become more
transparent. The same can be said about the education sector. Colleges
received record donations in 2018, but the overall number of individual
donors declined. Blockchain technology can be leveraged to
track donations and increase the transparency of donations given
to education institutions. Donors often do not know how their
donations are (mis)used, and they would like to know if their funds reach
the intended beneficiaries. The blockchain records and secures all the
transactions while eliminating the need for third-party intermediaries. Through
blockchain, donors have an easy way to track their donations. A number of
projects have been created to use the distributed ledger technology to increase
trust levels between donors and charity organizations: for example, social
initiative Luxarity partnered with blockchain firm Consensys to use
blockchain to track donations this January. Blockchain in
education is now more important than ever as education moves
offline due to quarantine restrictions caused by the coronavirus. The technology
is still in its infancy and further research is needed to find its true
potential in education and other sectors. While the use of blockchain in
education is currently limited, every journey begins with a first step.
The education industry is just as
important as healthcare, manufacturing or finance — and it has the same
willingness to look to new technology for solutions. A number of
schools and higher educational institutions are either already
using or planning to implement blockchain platforms and tools (as
new as they are) to improve different aspects of their systems. While
blockchain may be most well known as the technology that underpins
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, its uses range far beyond that —
particularly in education — where it touches sectors like cloud storage,
record management, tracking donations and security for the
verification of academic qualifications. Distributed
ledger technology (DLT) is still in its infancy, and its
successful application by a few institutions could pave way for wider use
cases in the future. How then can this technology be used to transform
and improve education? A person’s career prospects are much
brighter if they have a certificate, diploma or degree. Academic
qualifications can also improve one’s social standing. But not all
academic qualifications are obtained legally — there are people who are
prepared to use fraudulently-obtained higher education qualifications in
order to get ahead. There are various kinds of academic fraud. Fake
university degrees are common and can be acquired in several ways:
The New York Times reported in 2015 that there was a growing tide of bogus
degrees. The company behind one particular scame was based in Pakistan,
and had connections to more than 370 educational websites that claimed to have
ties with schools and colleges in the United States. To combat degree
fraud, a number of universities and colleges are turning to
blockchain use in education technology. The University of
Melbourne has issued student credentials on the blockchain,
because data stored on the blockchain cannot be tampered with. The
Ministry of Education in Malaysia is also counting on the immutability of
blockchain technology to maintain the integrity of degrees
issued by the country’s universities. Due to the nature of the new
technology, degrees issued on a distributed ledger are tamper-
proof, and the chances of fake academic credentials being recorded are
minimized. However, this does not completely solve the problem, as university
officials with access to the blockchain for academic record keeping can
still fraudulently enter fake degrees — there is still room for human error.
Education systems store vast amounts of student records and data such as
grades, degrees, payment information, identity and curricula. Storing
this information on hard drives or servers creates an issue of centralization, a
weak point for the security of the entire system. In the future, institutions
could store student information on blockchains to improve security by removing
the need for one centralized database. Blockchain technology has
also brought on the creation of innovative educational technology
platforms that connect educators with learners. One such platform is
Education Ecosystem, a project-based platform that teaches students and
professional developers how to build practical projects. The projects are
created by experienced developers to benefit viewers, who gain valuable learning
experiences in putting their theoretical knowledge into practice. There are
other edtech platforms such as Blockchain Education Network that
are utilizing blockchain in the education sector. Some
donors are reluctant to give to worthy causes due to trust issues. About
one in three people in America are skeptical about how charity groups use their
funds, according to one study. This means that charitable organizations could be
more likely to receive increased donations if they become more
transparent. The same can be said about the education sector. Colleges
received record donations in 2018, but the overall number of individual
donors declined. Blockchain technology can be leveraged to
track donations and increase the transparency of donations given
to education institutions. Donors often do not know how their
donations are (mis)used, and they would like to know if their funds reach
the intended beneficiaries. The blockchain records and secures all the
transactions while eliminating the need for third-party intermediaries. Through
blockchain, donors have an easy way to track their donations. A number of
projects have been created to use the distributed ledger technology to increase
trust levels between donors and charity organizations: for example, social
initiative Luxarity partnered with blockchain firm Consensys to use
blockchain to track donations this January. Blockchain in
education is now more important than ever as education moves
offline due to quarantine restrictions caused by the coronavirus. The technology
is still in its infancy and further research is needed to find its true
potential in education and other sectors. While the use of blockchain in
education is currently limited, every journey begins with a first step.
