As major leaks of personal data occur almost every day around the world, the adoption of technology that ensures the security and permanence of records, such as blockchain, is becoming increasingly necessary. And while the use of this technology has been growing in recent years, many people are still unaware of the social benefits and potential of this technology, especially in education.
Blockchain can be used in schools, colleges, universities, online courses, corporations, internships, and many other fields of knowledge. You can even buy an evaluation essay or other academic paper and pay via Blockchain. Let’s take a look at the main benefits of using a Blockchain in Education!
Using Blockchain in Education
Permanent security certificates
Educational institutions currently issue paper certificates or diplomas, sometimes in an electronic format using the public key infrastructure. These formats are time-consuming and costly to process, especially to maintain and verify, require third-party certification, and are vulnerable to loss or even destruction due to improper storage, natural disasters, conflicts, or simply human error.
By using a public blockchain to issue certificates, each user has a unique signed digital certificate, so it only needs to be matched against a signature on the blockchain for verification. Certificates will be stored securely and permanently, protecting the user if the issuing institution closes down.
Another benefit of third-party validation has to do with solving the problem of issuing a certificate to an educational institution, as they no longer need the resources to validate their validation to others, as they can do it themselves using this technology.
To do this, institutions need software, such as Blockcerts, that allows them to issue certificates with signatures published on the blockchain, as well as software to validate them.
Using blockchain to verify multistep accreditation
Currently, each country has its accreditation system, which means that non-governmental agencies or private companies accredit other agencies so that they can approve the certificate. In addition, for an educational organization to recognize a diploma, it must verify not only its issuance but also the quality of the issuing agency, which leads to a lengthy process.
By issuing accreditations using blockchain technology, institutions can validate a person’s credentials with a simple click. Automating the current process makes it easier to visualize the accreditation chain and verify the validity and reality of the information provided.
Automated credit recognition and transfer
Educational organizations that use credits to validate student learning can use blockchain to transfer those credits. In doing so, the certificate guarantee and the certificate itself will be stored securely and invariably. For students, this means they do not need to involve a third party; they only need to give future employers access to their profile, and their total credits will be instantly displayed and verified.
In addition, when a student goes abroad on an international exchange program, using blockchain can be very beneficial for both the home institution and the host institution.
Currently, credit transfer depends on both institutions agreeing to recognize each other’s credits under certain conditions, which may not lead to any recognition. Using blockchain, these agreements can be written into contracts that, when both parties meet the conditions, automatically transform the credits.
This can only be achieved with a standard for existing loans, a customized blockchain design to store information together, and a large number of participating institutions.
Using a blockchain as a passport to lifelong learning
Many of the alternative credentials on the market provide users with the ability to record their achievements, but very few offer ways to verify experience and credentials. So they end up looking like a box full of paper certificates, but digitally, without any benefits or an effective accreditation process.
Using blockchain, the learner stores their accomplishments from any source, formal or informal, and can share them using this technology for instant verification. This can reduce resume fraud and also reduce the burden on organizations and individuals interested in the person submitting that resume.
This requires the creation of a verified digital federal identity as a metadata standard that can be used by recruitment software that automatically verifies whether a person has the right skills for the job.
Receiving payments from students via blockchain
Currently, students pay for their education with a specific currency, such as dollars or euros, but blockchain-based cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoins, can also be accepted.
While this application may seem far-fetched, it can be very useful because many students do not always have a bank account or credit card, either because of their age, country, employment status, etc., which makes it difficult for them to pay for their education.
Cryptocurrency-based payments can be a solution to this problem, the only requirement is that both the student and the institution have a system to accept and send cryptocurrency.
Use of verified absolute identities for student identification within educational institutions
Students attending a university or large institution regularly have to identify themselves in various parts of the institution, such as entering the library, gym, dorms, etc. In such cases, many people may have access to a student’s personal information, so keeping that information safe can be a big advantage. Especially when it comes to managing access rights for each employee and making sure every device is tamper-proof.
By using blockchain as a verified absolute identity, in addition to the student, only the person responsible for verifying the student’s identity has access to the data. In addition, the organization no longer needs to spend resources managing a complex system to secure student data, it only needs to protect the device or network where the initial verification was done.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, the use of blockchain technology in education is still in its pilot stage, but it has the potential to launch a wave of innovation related to student and organizational data.
Not only can this technology help automate credential, portfolio, and curriculum verification, but it can also significantly reduce the cost of data management for educational institutions and decentralized systems. It can also benefit teachers by allowing them to track the use of their intellectual property.
But these benefits can only be achieved with an open-source blockchain that uses an open-source system, open data standards, and applies autonomous data management solutions. To achieve this goal, the development and application of this technology in education must be seen as a shared competency, balancing the private sector and the public interest.
