Exploring Potential Applications of Blockchain in Education

Complete accessibility of content, simplified management, and creating more motivation to learn through gamification and rewards are among the accomplishments that blockchain application development for educational institutions can provide. If educational institutions need to ensure success in such a competitive world, they must take the first steps toward blockchain education solutions and innovation.

The education sector is facing the same issues that have plagued it for years. Inefficient paper-based record-keeping systems, a lack of openness, weak student and teacher accountability, a lack of real incentive for students to learn and do well in class, and a lack of confidence in educational merits and academic degrees due to falsification are all examples of this.

How Blockchain  Addresses Challenges associated with the Education Industry

Efficiency across Back-Office Operations / Processes  

While blockchain-based university diplomas are a significant step forward, a virtual transcript or record of all educational accomplishments can be an ultimate use case. A verifiable lifetime transcript on the blockchain will minimize CV fraud, streamline student transfers between colleges, reduce certificate verification overhead, and simplify traveling between states and countries. This form of initiative goes beyond record keeping to streamline procedures.

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Advanced Record-Keeping Solutions 

The most exciting application of blockchain in higher education is to turn the “record-keeping” of degrees, licenses, and diplomas by rendering qualifications digital and under the control of the learner, removing the need for a third party to validate them.

Blockchain may also be used for educational institution accreditation, which is a time-consuming process in many countries, allowing them to check quality and teaching credentials.

Because of blockchain's ability to enhance record-keeping, it's a perfect fit for solving intellectual property (IP) management problems, such as deciding whether a concept or innovation is original or registering IP properties, copyright, and patents.

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A New Digital Asset Market Creation

The recipient, parents, scholarship-granting organizations, financial institutions, governments, and educational institutions can all be involved in the payment process. Cryptocurrencies, like custom cryptocurrencies, can be used as a form of student payment in the future.

In 2014, New York City's King's College became the first accredited U.S. institution to recognize cryptocurrencies as payments, removing credit card processing fees from students' bills. This is a clear example of how blockchain could be used to build and exchange new digital assets in higher education.

Additional Use Cases/Applications of Blockchain in Education

Smart Contracts Solutions for Accountability

Teachers may use blockchain smart contracts to enter into digital agreements with students about the completion of their assignments. The agreement spells out all of the assignment specifications, including the guidelines, conditions, due date, and deadlines.

If a student completes the assignment and follows all of the terms of the agreement, they may be given automatic access to the next portion of the course or obtain credit and a certificate of completion.

Finally, smart contracts solutions can help provide individualized learning within a conventional classroom environment, as well as provide the motivating aspect that is often lacking in traditional educational systems.

Incentivization Mechanism for Students and Teachers for Producing Better Outcomes

To empower students and inspire teachers to contribute to the educational process through developing innovative learning materials and engaging in study, cryptocurrency and tokenized credits prove efficient incentive systems. Smart contracts can be designed to reward completed tasks with cryptocurrency. Teachers will be able to further inspire students by offering extra credit to top performers.

Finally, blockchain technology can take modern education to the next level by fully leveraging the gamification feature. Tokenized credits can be available to pay off student loans, buy educational resources, and cover other educational costs.

Rewarding students for completing a particular major and earning a university diploma could dramatically reduce the number of dropouts. 

Also, Read | Incentive/ Rewards Program Management with Blockchain

Verifiable Lifetime Student Transcripts

We've all had problems receiving transcripts from educational institutions. The process of checking credentials and compiling the complete academic record takes a long time and includes several parties.

Blockchain can provide students with an online digital transcript that they can access whenever they need it. This verifiable student lifetime transcript may include all academic accomplishments.  As a result, it will simplify certificate authentication, making student transfers between schools far easier.

Providing students with a Comprehensive Accomplishment Portfolio

Students will build their digital portfolios on an educational blockchain platform. It will store all of their educational accomplishments. For instance, it will include majors/minors and degrees obtained, proficiencies that have been demonstrated by practice, certificates of completion, achievement micro-certificates, additional acknowledgment and accolades, and scores on assessments and attendance records.

A student, whether seeking a job or need to show qualifications for admission to a university, can showcase this portfolio. It will mean that he need not seek repeated verification. In the end, a universal database of possible applicants will be available. Further, businesses can search and evaluate best-performing students.

Also, Read | Enhancing the Education System with Applications of Blockchain

A Real-World Use Case  Example

Making a Disruptive Business Model

Generally, significant higher education blockchain use cases are, for instance, record-keeping and performance optimization. Currently, they rather do not provide true disruptive potential of developing new business models.

Woolf University has aspired to be the world's first blockchain-powered, nonprofit, international university. It focuses on blockchain and smart contracts as the basis of the partnership between learners and educators. It seeks to build the Airbnb of degree courses. A group of academics from both Oxford and Cambridge has created it. 

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This new educational platform uses blockchain smart contracts to automate administrative tasks, protect and secure faculty and students, reduce administrative overhead costs,  and reduce tuition fees while increasing faculty remuneration. Instructors have the option to receive payment in Woolf tokens or their currency. The university has applied for EU accreditation to open internationally in 2019.

Connect with our development experts for more information about how to integrate blockchain in education and simplify the experience innovatively.