A Guide To Blockchain Technology In The Education Industry
The educational landscape has changed dramatically from traditional classroom settings to eLearning and blended learning. Schools worldwide started utilizing online platforms and Learning Management Systems (LMSs) to teach pupils as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which hastened the adoption of digital learning. It’s this shift that has brought blockchain into the education industry.
A distributed ledger tracks transactions via a network of computers, and blockchain technology is decentralized, meaning that no single institution controls the entire chain. In this context, a ledger is a system for maintaining records in which data or transactions can be noted. Since the transaction information is dispersed across the nodes in the chain rather than being stored in one location, each node and network user has a copy of the whole chain, and updates are continuously propagated among the nodes.
As such, blockchain in the education industry makes it possible to develop transparent records of academic achievements, including grades, certificates, and other academic achievements.
How To Leverage Blockchain Tech In The Education Industry
The globalization of technology is putting the education sector in a disruptive position. Over the past 20 years, the EdTech industry has helped us, and this trend has pushed the modernization of education. Blockchain technology has the potential to significantly speed up the process right now. Textbooks are quickly being replaced by blockchain distributed ledger technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML). Let’s examine the potential impact of blockchain on education:
- Smart contracts for courses and assignments
- Incentivization of education
- Degrees, report cards, and paperwork
- Universal access and lower cost
- Streamlining fee payments
1. Smart Contracts For Courses And Assignments
Smart contracts are often used with blockchains. This can assist educators in developing blockchain-based curricula. Upon fulfilling all prerequisites, the course will initiate automatically and proceed at its own pace. A smart contract that specifies the parameters of an assignment, its due date, and the deadline for grading could be signed by instructors and students.
2. Incentivization Of Education
One of the most important applications of blockchain technology is tokenization and cryptocurrency. Soon, instructors can encourage their pupils by rewarding them with cryptocurrency if they succeed or finish a particular degree. Academic institutions will be able to provide incentives for students to pay back their loans on schedule. Tokenization’s gamification element has the potential to alter the teaching-learning process permanently.
3. Degrees, Report Cards, And Paperwork
Blockchain’s immutable ledger technology records current events in chronological order. This could be helpful for keeping track of attendance, generating a comprehensive report card, showcasing student transcripts, and providing stakeholders and students with progress updates. With blockchain, students can turn in homework without worrying about losing it.
Furthermore, instead of receiving their degrees and diplomas on brittle paper, students can now obtain them digitally. The advantages of digital degrees and certificates are ease of use, organization, and lack of burden.
4. Universal Access And Lower Cost
Blockchain technology can facilitate lifelong learning by providing free and open access to publicly available educational materials such as podcasts, videos, and books. These resources can also be used and distributed freely.
Blockchain makes it possible to share these resources on a public network inexpensively and safely. So, if you look for professionals to integrate blockchain into your education system, the cost to hire blockchain developers will be based on skills and experience.
5. Streamlining Fee Payments
Paying for student tuition is a laborious and time-consuming procedure. Students, parents, banks, foundations, government bodies that provide scholarships, lenders, and different university departments are some of the parties involved. Blockchain technology, however, can expedite this process, saving money on administrative costs and possibly even lowering tuition.
Challenges Of Blockchain Technology
Despite the clear advantages of blockchain technology in education, its adoption by academic institutions has remained the same. Their fear stems from the following roadblocks:
- Scalability concerns
- Security issues
- Cost
- Legacy solutions
1. Scalability Concerns
The growth of students and qualifications creates a massive amount of data for educational institutions. Scaling up blockchain systems becomes difficult as data storage volume rises. The straightforward reasoning is that transactions get slower as data volume increases. Peer-to-peer verification also lengthens the transactions. At the moment, new techniques for scaling blockchain systems are being developed.
2. Security Issues
Despite its reputation as one of the safest technologies, blockchain is not impervious to harm, and the volatility of cryptocurrencies may make it incompatible with EdTech companies’ standards. To increase security, further security measures such as tighter data encryption and permissions should be created that may increase the cost.
3. Cost
Despite the many advantages of implementing a blockchain system, the authorities in educational institutions initially find it to be relatively inexpensive. While integrating blockchain technology will require a major renovation of the current infrastructure, some institutions may find it difficult to spend a considerable amount of money. Therefore, efforts must be made to put the startup costs within the university’s means, and the government must provide incentives in addition to the original expenditure.
4. Legacy Solutions
Many educational institutions continue to use antiquated document management techniques that require a lot of paperwork. It is necessary to raise awareness of the benefits of migrating systems to the blockchain and emphasize its potential to transform the educational system.
Conclusion
It’s imperative to dispel any doubts and fears about blockchain technology. Blockchain technology will undoubtedly significantly impact education, with its potential to drastically alter the education landscape. Technological advancements in education will dramatically change how students enroll in and use courses. With smart contracts built on blocks, blockchain disruption in EdTech will automate learners’ learning paths and course advancement, giving them complete control.
Blockchain technology is going to be quite helpful for the education sector. It makes it possible for educational establishments to safeguard student data. If you are operating an educational institute and want to integrate blockchain with your education system, it would be better for you to hire an eLearning app development company for a better outcome.
