Blockchain & Education

Blockchain is one of the most exciting innovations to enter the world of technology in recent years. Offering benefits like security, convenience, and accessibility, it’s quickly changing the face of many industries across the globe. Through security and transparency, the technology transforms important processes, no matter the sector.

At BairesDev, we’re committed to helping businesses in a wide variety of fields thrive with the help of blockchain consulting services, which leverage the skills of top engineers — the Top 1% of Tech Talent.

One of the important sectors this technology can change for the better is education. Blockchain has numerous implications in and applications to the world of teaching and learning. Just how is it already affecting this field, where advancement is king? And what can we expect in the future? Here are just some of the ways.

Blockchain & Education 1

What Is Blockchain?

Blockchain is most associated with Bitcoin, and that’s fair — it’s the technology behind the wildly successful cryptocurrency, which has transformed the very nature of business and transactions. But its capabilities extend beyond this.

Blockchain is a digital, distributed ledger. Transactions are recorded in “blocks,” each of which contains information. The blocks are linked to form a chain — hence the name “blockchain.” Every time a new transaction occurs, a new block is added to the chain.

Once it becomes part of this ledger, the data contained within the block can’t be altered — otherwise, it would disrupt the entire blockchain. Anyone with access to it can see the information within it, but nobody can change the immutable ledger.

Blockchain also eliminates the need for an intermediary to process a transaction. This makes all exchanges of information quicker than they would be otherwise. For example, in the past, credit card transactions usually required a bank or other financial institution to process them, but this step is eliminated when you use blockchain.

How Can Blockchain Be Used in Education?

How does this apply to the education sector? Given the need for safeguarding sensitive information and storing important data, blockchain has many applications to this world. Below are some of the most notable ways it is affecting the industry.

Record-Keeping

There are many different types of student, faculty, and educational records, including quite a few that contain important data. Among others, they include:

Grades in courses Credits completed Tuition payments Attendance records Degree, certificate, or diploma awarded Teaching credentials Curricula These types of records are used for many purposes, such as admission to another school or verification for job interviews. Using blockchain both adds a layer of protection and enables people who need it to have access to the data.

Transparency

On a related note, the immutability of blockchain ensures that all information regarding students’ academics and faculty and instructors’ credentials is correct and unalterable. This model offers increased transparency in all sectors of education, where verifiability is essential.

For example, if a prospective employer wants to be certain that a candidate actually received a degree from a certain institution, blockchain makes it easy for the organization to verify the data contained within the immutable ledger.

Credentialing

Today, many people are earning credentials beyond their diploma or college degree. If an institution or individual wants to see the entire record of a person’s achievements and qualifications, previously, they would have needed to check with each awarding body. But with blockchain, the history of an individual’s accomplishments, competencies, and skills can be stored in one place, saving time and effort for the person or organization checking.

Increased Engagement

Blockchain can also make the teaching and learning experience more engaging for students. One way instructors can leverage the technology is by “gamifying” the process. For example, they could award badges or tokens, which would be automatically added to the ledger based on the completion of different levels and the fulfillment of course requirements and conditions.

According to research, this can affect overall student retention, enrollment, and advancement, as well as personalize education for learners, who feel validated and encouraged when they have earned badges or tokens after completing levels and attaining knowledge and skills.

Smart Contracts

Smart contracts, which are automatically executed contracts between two parties that are deployed once the agreed-upon terms have been met, lend themselves to many different areas. One of these is the education sector. For example, faculty, teachers, and administrations can hold students accountable for assignments, grading terms, loans, course and degree requirements, deadlines, and more via these smart contracts.

In addition, an instructor could use smart contracts to take attendance and allow students to progress to new levels of a course or assignment, once they have met certain conditions and successfully attained key competencies. Along with streamlining the system, this eliminates the need for paper contracts.

The Future of Blockchain and EdTech

What will the future of blockchain and education look like? With so many innovations already transforming this pivotal sphere already, we can be sure that it is certainly bright. In fact, it’s likely we will see technological transformations in the sector that seem to be beyond the realm of possibility right now.

Is your educational organization in search of ways to innovate technologically? At BairesDev, we have ushered a wide array of important sectors into the age of blockchain. We can’t wait to work with you to help you build and leverage the latest technologies to improve your business and stay competitive in a rapidly changing landscape.

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