A few years back, the word "Blockchain '' was known to very few people. Nowadays, most people must have heard about blockchain. The big universal application of blockchain technology is cryptocurrency. Blockchain technology is secured and a decentralised ledger. It can be implemented in various sectors that include education. Securing documents is a complex task, and the education industry can be transformed because blockchain secures documents.
What is blockchain?
For a few people who do not know much about blockchain - Blockchain is a distributed ledger. You can say they are like books where all valuable records such as educational certificates, pupil's grades, accounting records are kept. The bulk of them are electronic and are maintained by using software, normally centralised. Suppose if the centralised ledger is damaged, stolen or compromised, it may be an issue. So, keeping the exact copies of the ledgers in various locations can be a good option for safeguarding provided every copy is verified, faithful and just the same version of the original one. It is the reason blockchain is referred to as a distributed ledger. In the blockchain, every single node keeps a complete copy of the ledger. It continuously verifies the integrity of the latest recorded information and also the copy it is storing. If many or even a single node is compromised, information on the ledger stays intact. Students thinking about the security of data can secure educational documents with blockchain.
Blockchain technology can prove advantageous in several fields and parallel to hold ledgers. Blockchains offer many other services like built-in rewards systems, smart contracts etc.
What blockchains can do for the education sector?
There are numerous benefits and applications of this blockchain-based ledger technology for education. Let us have a look:
1) For keeping records of students
The most time taking process for educational institutes are academic transcripts. It is labour-intensive work in many institutions nowadays. Before issuing the certified transcript of marks or grades of a student, every entry has to be verified and authenticated manually for ensuring authenticity. Another type of pupils' record that is required frequently is the certification of course contents. Even keeping educational certificates for many students is a tough job. In some universities, the full course content can be around 700 pages, and for every student who needs it, every single page has to be stamped and signed for maintaining accuracy. Isn't that so tough and time-taking work for both students and issuer? If that information is stored in the blockchain, through a few clicks only, students can obtain a full, verified record of courses and academic achievements.
2) Creating badges
Apart from the degrees, the typical resume of a person usually consists of loads of information that can be relevant to the employers (Like technical knowledge, foreign language skills etc. that the students have gained). These vital skills are not easy to get verified and if these valuable records are stored in blockchain, it can prove that the person has gained those skills.
3) Student credentials (certificates and diplomas)
Similarly, like the marks or grades, certificates, diplomas and other important credentials can be issued as well as stored on the blockchain. Rather than asking educational institutions, releasing diploma certificates for certifying paper copies is a time taking task. It is best to keep those educational certificates on blockchain and it can prevent persons from submitting fake degree certificates to potential employers.
4) Saves storage space
If the educational institutions want to keep digital records, degrees, curricula and other information, they will use loads of file storage space. To save every bit of information in local hard drives can lead students to a problem of centralising those files. If those hard drives become damaged or compromised, that can be a problem. So, cloud storage is a great option but again purchasing the cloud storage space required can be away from a few institutions. The most possible solution is - blockchain-based cloud stores.
5) Proper implementation of courses and lessons
Blockchain is capable of smart contracts. With that, courses and lessons can be programmed into blockchain technology. It can be executed automatically after meeting particular conditions. Completion of every single task can be verified automatically by "smart contracts" of blockchain. The complete process of courses and lessons can be thus simplified.
6) Publishing
Many undergrad students and teachers generate quality material continuously but the path of publication is not at all an easy one. Publishing on the blockchain can help new writers in this industry and help to avoid piracy.
So, you can see how blockchain technology is impacting the education sector. In the future, both primary and higher educational institutions can implement blockchain to keep records and issue valuable credentials of students. Verification, authentication, and sharing educational certificates can become easier than manual tasks. Blockchain's future in the education industry is quite a promising one.
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