Blockchain and It’s Role in Upgrading the Education Industry

Blockchain’s most aggressive uses in higher education could disrupt the sector.

In 2017 the University of Melbourne started using blockchain to issue digital certificates, enabling students to exchange checked copies of their qualifications in a tamperproof network with employers and other third parties.
New ways of implementing blockchain technology are developing all the time in the higher education market. Many high-profile ventures have gained considerable media coverage in the last few years, fueling further interest in the technology.

Let’s look at a number of reasons why blockchain technology has become one of today’s most impactful innovations.

Complete Transparency

Blockchain technology makes records of transactions open. Being a type of distributed ledger, the nature of the blockchain technology allows changes to be made only by the consensus of all participants in the network who share the same documents. Just a single change in the transaction record will entail modification of all subsequent documents. This helps to ensure the properties are legitimate and to prevent fraud.

Unparallel Security

One of the main aspects of blockchain technology is transaction authentication. In a blockchain network, a transaction must be demanded through a wallet and forwarded to all computers. Each of these nodes or computers in that network must verify the transaction against a set of predetermined rules. The information will then be stored in a cube, and hash encrypted. When the nodes validate this hash, the information stored in that block is permanent, irreversible, and safe. This guarantees that all transactions are safe and sensitive information is secured by financial institutions, governments, and other organizations.

Increased Cost and Time Efficiencies

Instead of relying for verification and movement of information on third-party intermediaries, blockchain uses cryptology to allow direct transactions between two parties. Instead of the time-consuming process of knocking on the doors of central authorities or other intermediaries, proving the authenticity of ownership of an asset is done through the blockchain and network nodes. Recording in a single ledger often takes out the complexity of manual processes that are prone to mistakes and thereby saves time and money.
Now let’s see how that works in the education sector.

Economic Option

Another area where blockchain can be useful in education is the accessibility and affordability of the courseware. One way is to cut the intermediate fees in software transactions. For instance, eBooks can be fitted with blockchain code and exchanged over the network. This will eliminate the charges on portals such as Amazon and credit card fees. The writers themselves will read the books right away. This would mean substantial savings for students and writers alike. This way you can access video tutorials, and much more.

Blockchain in Education Industry 

By looking at other industries currently using blockchain technologies, we may start making assumptions on how to use these networks in an educational environment. While there is a very large number of potential uses in education, there are a few which are the most exciting.

Information and Library 

Since keeping track of and storing information is simpler, the blockchain may be used to improve library and information services in schools. While few libraries have begun experimenting with blockchain technology, at least one school has been granted a significant grant to begin the process of discovery.

Easy Transportation

Getting students to school is an important part of their education. Ridesharing applications based on blockchain technology may be used in the future to coordinate carpools for special needs students. It will be particularly important as highways become more overcrowded and carpooling becomes a necessity. Using the blockchain in this way would also take the parents’ burden off and make sure all children get the safe transportation they need.

Since blockchain usage is still very new and unexplored in the educational space, there are lots of unanswered questions. What is obvious though, is that there are infinite possibilities. When school officials look to the future, they will do well to understand how this strong technology can be harnessed.