Blockchain has gotten a lot of attention as the underlying technology for cryptocurrencies and, more recently, as a data storage solution that has the potential to have a significant, positive impact in underserved industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and education.
In this blog, we will look at how Blockchain technology affects the Education industry and what benefits it offers.
So, let us get started!
The Impact Of Blockchain On The Education Industry:
The term “blockchain” was not widely used a few years ago. Today, we hear a lot about its application in the financial sector. The terms blockchain and cryptocurrency have been used interchangeably in some cases.
Does blockchain have applications in other fields, such as education? The answer is Yes.
When it comes to the most recent technological amalgamation in the education industry, Blockchain will become an integral part of education bodies all over the world in a few years.
Blockchain, as a decentralized and secure ledger, has applications in healthcare, land documentation, and education.
The benefits of using blockchain in education include data security and the ability to protect data even if a specific node is compromised. It could serve as an excellent framework for managing student records ranging from day-to-day information such as assignments, attendance, and extracurricular activities to degree and college information.
What is the Need for Blockchain in the education industry?
When it comes to security, the term “Blockchain” comes to mind. When it comes to data breaches, education is not far behind. Cybercriminals are eager to obtain student information that contains little financial information.
Simultaneously, student verification is becoming a major issue at educational institutions that have been compromised to produce false identities and records. As student information becomes more digital, protecting student privacy becomes more important.
Only at the high school or college level is the verification procedure used. Defending employers, for example, against those who falsely claim to hold degrees. Blockchain technology has the potential to be a powerful tool for combating fraudulent job qualifications and degrees.
Blockchain technology may provide an appropriate framework for managing student records, including daily data such as assignments, attendance, extracurricular activities, and information about degrees and institutions attended.
It would be a safe system with immutable educational records. If potential educational institutions and employers have access to the necessary records, they may rely on these.
Students, particularly those in higher education and research, can use skill badges to demonstrate their proficiency. This would allow teachers to select the most capable students for projects.
Using a Blockchain-based ecosystem, it is also possible to create a scholarship program that rewards students for their consistency and academic performance.
How will blockchain affect The Education Sector?
As the world becomes more digitally advanced, the education industry is poised for disruption. We have benefited from the EdTech industry for the past twenty years. This pattern has accelerated educational modernization.
It is now time for blockchain technology to significantly accelerate the process. Textbooks are being rapidly replaced by technologies such as the blockchain’s distributed ledger, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML).
Let’s look at how blockchain technology can impact teaching and learning:
Smart Contracts For Courses And Assignments:
Using smart-contract-capable blockchains, you can automate lessons and tasks. That is, lessons and courses can be programmed into the Blockchain and automatically executed when certain conditions are met.
A teacher, for example, could assign tasks to students. Smart contracts on the Blockchain could automatically verify the completion of each assignment. Teachers could be paid in crypto tokens for completing all tasks, and students could be awarded credits. Entire courses could be designed in this manner.
Degrees, Report Cards, And Paperwork:
The immutable ledger technology of blockchain creates a chronological record of current events. This can be useful for displaying student transcripts, displaying a detailed report card, tracking attendance, and informing students and stakeholders of their progress. Students can use blockchain to turn in assignments without worrying about misplacing them.
Furthermore, rather than receiving their degrees and diplomas on fragile paper, students can now receive them digitally. Digital degrees and certificates are preferred because they are convenient, organized, and time-saving.
Streamlining Fee Payments:
Tuition payments for students are a time-consuming and inconvenient process. Students, parents, banks, foundations or government agencies for scholarships, lenders, and various university departments are all involved.
This procedure, however, can be streamlined using blockchain, resulting in lower administrative costs and possibly even lower tuition rates.
Incentivization Of Education:
Tokenization is a critical component of Blockchain technology. Professors will soon be able to motivate students by rewarding them with cryptocurrencies if they achieve high grades or complete a specific major. Furthermore, educational institutions can incentivize students to repay their debts on time.
The gamification component of tokenization’s teaching methodology has proven to be extremely effective. Despite its early stages, Blockchain in Edtech has already been recognized as “the appropriate technology” for modernizing an outdated system.
Universal Access And Lower Cost:
Aside from its potential to support lifelong learning, blockchain technology could be used to enable universal access to open educational resources such as books, podcasts, and films that are in the public domain and free to use and redistribute. Blockchain allows these resources to be shared cheaply and securely in a public network.
Blockchain has the potential to change the educational landscape by opening up new, more affordable avenues of learning and disrupting the existing connection between schools and students.
Managing student tuition payments is a time-consuming process that involves students, parents, scholarship foundations, private lending businesses, federal and state organizations, and the often-massive bureaucracies of university financial departments.
Blockchain technology has the potential to streamline this process, lowering administrative costs and, as a result, potentially lowering tuition costs.
In the Field of University Research:
Professors devote a significant amount of time to conducting original research, publishing their findings, expanding the boundaries of their subjects, and revealing future-oriented research areas.
The impact and reach of those articles are significant because they can have an impact on researchers’ ability to secure significant funding for ongoing research. Furthermore, authors have a vested interest in monitoring how their work is used and can combat outright piracy.
Researchers would be able to publish without restrictions but in a way that would allow them to track how their research was reused.
For example, how frequently their work is cited and used as teaching materials, allowing them to track its impact in the field, which is important because it can lead to recognition and future funding.
Conclusion:
This technology has the potential to transform the education sector for the better by streamlining record keeping and sharing, simplifying the hiring process, improving data security and trust, and providing students with lifetime ownership of their academic records.
The use of Blockchain in Education improves the efficiency of the school ecosystem and optimizes resource utilization. Concerns such as data privacy, cost, scalability, and interoperability with legacy systems must be addressed during the process.
Blockchain has the ability and enormous untapped potential to change the educational environment by creating new, more accessible learning channels and upending the current relationship between academic institutes and students. The use of blockchain in the education sector will greatly benefit future generations.