Blockchain: Transforming the Face of Education in the 21st Century

The use of blockchain in education brings with it the promise of positively disrupting the education industry and changing the way stakeholders have approached education in the past.
EdTech has already taken over K-12 education in India and the world. Even in the midst of the Pandemic, this is one industry that shone through and brought with it a glimmer of hope.

Higher education can benefit immensely from the use of blockchain. Specific pain points, like keeping records of students, such as educational qualifications or admission details, are the most in-demand areas of the use of blockchain in education.

The benefits of usinge of Bblockchain in education:

The EdTech industry is finally waking up to the use of blockchain in education. Some businesses, though, still prefer to tread cautiously and are waiting for the results to show promising outcomes before they fully adapt to blockchain technology in higher ed.

On the other hand, some are skeptical of the hype and the potential risks of blockchain and are shying away from adopting it into their systems. Then there are others who are satisfied with the existing technology that supports their processes and systems and do not wish to adapt to a new technology altogether.

There is, however, a significantly large section of people in the K-12 education industry today who have already tasted success with the use of blockchain in education.

These people, in turn, are trying to educate others and spread awareness of the benefits of this technology. These efforts might finally enable them to unleash the potential benefits of blockchain in EdTech.

How is the use of blockchain in education revolutionizing higher education?

Blockchain has the power to usher in a new era of education. Here are the top five ways in which the use of blockchain in education stands to benefit the entire industry:

1. Act as a repository of educational qualifications

Storing records in a physical format is a nightmare for students and educational institutions. To add to it, there’s the constant fear of tampering and wear and tear.

What if there was a system to store everything digitally and securely with encrypted safety features? Fortunately, there is one, thanks to the evolution and rapid development of the EdTech industry.

It is now possible for universities, colleges, and schools to generate tamper-proof certificates for students, securely store degrees and diplomas in their database and even allow easy access to the concerned individuals with the use of highly secured credentials.

2. Facilitates online learning exchanges

No longer do you have to worry about teachers not turning up for their assigned lectures or students missing classes. In K-12 education, attendance remains a big concern.

Equally concerning is the lack of peer-learning facilities or the scope of expanding the sources of learning new things or getting mentored for higher ed preparations.

The use of blockchain in education can take care of these problems by acting as a learning platform for both students and offices. It can also help students sign up for online learning or training as and when the need arises.

An independent trainer or teacher can also set up their own learning platform and manage everything: from class schedules to fee payment tracking on one single platform.

This is quite similar to the corporate CRMs used by companies. The same platform will also allow you to store documents related to students, examinations, forms, progress reports, grade cards, etc.

3. Provide secure payment options

Using a blockchain platform, students can easily pay their tuition fees for school or an independent teacher. This is very beneficial for international students who find it difficult to make payments in cheques and demand drafts.

These are way more secure than sending a courier halfway across the world, not knowing whether it will ever reach the desired destination in the end. Online payments are much more secure and come with encryption that ensures your financial data is not visible to anyone else on the internet.

4. Use of blockchain in education benefits authors

Plagiarism and the piracy of books have been on the rise in recent times. Especially in the Internet era, where everything is so readily available on the web, copying someone else’s work and publishing it in your name is not a big deal.

If you are a researcher or a higher education aspirant preparing your SOP or thesis, you would want to secure your paper with the highest safety standards. Blockchain allows you to do that. It can monitor and even control the distribution or duplication of your content on the internet if it is copyrighted.

5. Prevents identity theft

Who doesn’t dread being robbed of their identity or someone else using their identity to wash out their bank accounts?

In the era of internet banking, it is a fear that everyone lives with. But with distributed blockchain ledgers, you can rest assured that only you can make payments and verify your own identity. This makes it easier to pay your tuition fees online. You can even store your digital signature online and can access it as and when required.

The use of blockchain in education has the power to revolutionize EdTech like never before. This can unlock unlimited potential for the entire educational industry in the long run.

WRITTEN BY

Akhil Mittal

Akhil is a C# Corner MVP, Code Project MVP, ex- Microsoft MVP, a blogger, author who loves to write/read technical articles. He brings an experience of more than 12 years in developing, designing, architecting enterprises level applications primarily in Microsoft Technologies