A couple of years back, Blockchain was a word known to quite a select few. These days, many people are conversant with the word, even if it’s just recognized as something that makes Bitcoin tick. Nevertheless, it is impossible to know about Bitcoin and not have an idea about Blockchain, mainly because they are interchanged.
Often, people are more knowledgeable about other cryptocurrency terminologies like altcoins, stable coins, mining, Ethereum wallet, and tokens. Although cryptocurrencies are the major application of blockchain technology, they possess several potential and immediate uses. For example, having a secure, decentralized storage ledger can be utilized in many fields, like education.
In this article, we’ll underline the value blockchain can bring to education and look at how it can solve many educational problems.
What is Blockchain, and How Did It Come Into Existence?
For the benefit of those that might still not possess all the information about Blockchain, here’s a brief explanation. Blockchain describes the technology that houses a distributed database spread across multiple computers without using a central form of governance.
Blockchain is coined from the secure method of information storage, where each block of information is connected to a chain leading to another block. This chain linking the information block serves as a key to creating and recording new information based on pre-existing data. This continuous interconnected chain-like structure gives Blockchain its ultimate security, transparency, and decentralization.
Apart from Bitcoin, it is already being used in some industries and services to handle badges, credits, and qualifications. These establishments are often known as blockchain companies because this immutable decentralized network runs their operations. These business operations that profit from blockchain technology usually have several blockchain stocks.
Blockchain’s Importance in Education
As education becomes more widespread and digitalized, it remains important to maintain trust in certification and proof of learning. Blockchain helps provide increased focus on relevance and transparency. It can give a massively open and secure database for education.
Interestingly, this innovation doesn’t only benefit physical schools; it can also impact how online education is run. That way, education is accessible to everyone regardless of their location or field of study.
How Can Blockchain Improve the Education System?
Many individuals believe that Blockchain is still finding its feet in the educational sector when it’s already being implemented in various applications. Blockchain can be used for and within different educational institutions of both national and international orientations.
The most common usage of blockchain technology for education is blockchain-based applications that significantly upgrade data security and promote swift verifications. Other usages of Blockchain in the physical and virtual educational sector include:
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Certification Issuance
Blockchains can be used to issue certificates, thereby simplifying verification processes for institutions worldwide. For example, a recent study by the University of Rome showed that verifying diplomas can cost the institution more than $20,000 annually. It takes a lot of money and requires a lot of time for verification. Thus, utilizing blockchain-issued certificates can make students’ academic records take only minutes to verify.
Another advantage is that students who don’t reside in a particular country would not have to travel there to get their certificates. By leveraging the Blockchain, these individuals can access their certificates online in the most transparent way possible.
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Diploma Verification
Using blockchain technology for data security can also benefit employers by speeding up verification processes for job applications. Due to the added security blockchain provides, it is harder for applicants to falsify any academic credential. This solves the problem of document falsification and assures employers that new hires have the skills to succeed in the workplace.
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Lowering Education Costs
Blockchain possesses the massive potential to revolutionize the educational landscape by assessing new and more affordable pathways to education. So often, managing students’ tuition payments is a time-consuming process that involves numerous parties and the use of financial departments. Blockchain technology can easily optimize this process by reducing administrative congestion while lowering education and management costs as a positive by-product.
Blockchain can also directly lower personal costs for students. For example, if certificates stored on a blockchain network are accessible for management by students, they can easily share them at will. Traditionally, institutions control the records, and students rely on them to access and share such records.
If the records are stolen or destroyed, students will have to go through the trouble of paying fees to access them. On the other hand, Blockchain can provide direct access and ownership of personal records to students, giving them control of their academic data. Undoubtedly, they can only access such documents and not compromise them, ensuring the outcome is as transparent as possible.
Although blockchain technology for education is still in its initial stages, it is promising, with several implementations already bearing fruit. Blockchain is a major problem-solver for the education sector, with a long way to go. However, it’s time many educational institutions start embracing the prospects this innovation offers and start implementing the same.
