Flattening the Learning Curve: How Blockchain Is Transforming Education

Innovative blockchain applications like FiO Learning Curve help the education system. More specifically, both teachers and administrators can free up their precious time and reinvest it back into their students.

Many educational institutions, from kindergartens to high school to universities, are now interested in using blockchain-based tools in their schools due to the many benefits they offer. The use of open-source blockchain technology is set to transform the educational sector in the 2020’s with a myriad of use cases to lighten teachers’ workload, ease administrators’ data recordkeeping duties and costs, and of course help students to improve their performance and make their achievements visible to future employers or other schools.

One of the biggest current challenges for schools and overworked teachers dealing with bigger classrooms and increasingly difficult curriculums is how to accommodate both technology and the extra amount of time required to check student work and record the results in a timely manner.

FiO Learning Curve’s educational blockchain application helps educators to record every aspect of their students’ learning progress, thereby creating a holistic and transparent picture of educational progress, which can be utilized in further data applications and shared with authorized stakeholders.

But how else can blockchain be used in education for the benefit of both students and educators?

Data Safety

Currently, it can be risky for schools to store students’s personal information, such as photos, emails, and other documents, as it takes up a lot of storage space and the records can be lost if the centralized data’s hard drives are damaged or compromised in any way.

One possible solution would be a blockchain-based cloud storage service that runs as Dropbox, Google Drive or Amazon Web Services. Many blockchains are also intelligent and contract-able, meaning that lessons and courses can be programmed and run on the blockchain if certain conditions are met.

Immutable records

Blockchain prevents participants from manipulating records after they have been saved. This helps new employers and higher learning institutions verify the certificates and achievements claimed by students from anywhere in the world, creating a powerful resume for learners that can’t be faked.

Certifying achievement

Blockchains also offer the opportunity to develop reward systems, such as a reward system for teachers, students, and even teachers themselves.

By storing all certification credentials acquired by students in a single blockchain database, they will become verifiable and easily accessible, reducing the need for the traditional diploma market, which is riddled with false positives and false negatives such as fraud, misrepresentation and lack of validity.

For example, during the course of training, pupils can acquire certificates that demonstrate individual learning performance. There can be a positive correlation between learning a certain skill and success can be recorded on a blockchain, which helps with inner motivation. These advantages can then be used to determine the willingness to ascend a grade, and perhaps to measure a student’s ability to learn and the quality of his or her education.

Once a student’s grade certificate is issued, the entry is checked against the blockchain for accuracy. Just like grades, student certificates and references could be issued and stored on the blockchain and issued via the blockchain. When a student requests a record, each page should be signed and stamped to ensure accuracy. No person can retrieve information stored in a blockchain without the user’s permission.

Finding Employment

When students enter the labor market, blockchain can be used to help employers ensure that prospective candidates fresh from school have access to the most up-to-date information storing that information in a secure distributed ledger.

Employers can connect to digital diplomas via the blockchain, just as they can with physical certificates. If an institution issues a diploma, by recording it on a transparent blockchain they allow the student to validate his qualifications and achievements and share it with potential employers.

This is something that  MIT actually began doing in 2017 already: issuing its graduates digital, blockchain-stored diplomas and a digital diploma for its students.

This also prevents students  from fooling potential employers with fake qualifications, a situation that is unfortunately very common at the moment.

By schools issuing these merit “badges” and storing them on the blockchain, it proves that the person in question actually has the relevant skills. The person can issue a certificate or badge or have these skills confirmed by an expert.

Curriculum enhancement

Students, teachers, professors and researchers are constantly producing high-quality material, but are also constantly under pressure from the demands of their jobs.

For example, a teacher could create a task for a student, and a smart blockchain contract could automatically verify that the task is being performed. After the task was completed, the teachers could be paid with a crypto stamp and the student could receive a loan. Entire courses can also be created for teachers and students.

Blockchain publications can also help new authors, researchers, and many others break into the industry, aiding the creation of new jobs and the development of a new generation of professional workers.

Reduced costs, cheaper tuition

Many of the above applications mean that many time and labor-intensive processes would be automated. Schools and universities could also reduce the cost of storing files and eliminate middlemen in many activities. This could reduce the cost to institutions as students pay off loans over the years, and reduce the cost to students.

There is no doubt that open source universities are emerging, bringing the many benefits of blockchain education into a single form. They provide a means of storing one’s educational credentials and of giving a touch of legitimacy to a more affordable alternative form of education that still carries weight with employers. They can also offer their own courses, making them more accessible to students and more attractive to employers, and making the learning process easier and cheaper for owners.

Paying for school

Several universities around the world have already adopted blockchain technology and are benefiting from it. Blockchain would allow students to pay for their education with cryptocurrencies, eliminating limited access to credit cards and other forms of payment.

Conclusion

It’s clear that blockchain technology could have a significant impact on education and the economy. Join this journey with FiO and Learning Curve and take a free trial here!