How Can Blockchain Be Used in Universities and Colleges?
From certifications to student associations, how can blockchain technology be used to better the education sector for institutions and students alike?
Vish BR, strategy and operations lead
The advent of blockchain technology has led to significant disruptions across multiple industries, including higher education. As digital transformation continues to take hold in the education sector, educational institutions and students alike are seeking out innovative solutions to improve organizational structures, operations, and the overall student experience.
By leveraging blockchain technology, the education sector can create a secure, decentralized, and transparent platform that has the potential to revolutionize how the industry operates. Universities, colleges, and student bodies are at the forefront of shaping the future of society, and the use of blockchain technology can help address many of the challenges they face, such as managing records, tracking student progress, alumni interactions, and the distribution of funds. This not only increases transparency, efficiency, and security but also streamlines the process, creating a positive feedback loop for all stakeholders.
Student certifications
At the college and university level, blockchain can be used to store student records and academic transcripts in a secure and tamper-proof manner. This eliminates the need for manual record keeping and reduces the risk of lost or fraudulent records. Putting student credentials such as certificates, internships, skill courses completed, extracurricular activities and others can help make it easier for students to showcase their achievements to employers and higher educational institutions. It can also be used to verify the authenticity of academic credentials and reduce the occurrence of degree fraud.
This can be accomplished by having academic institutions store degree certificates and transcripts on the blockchain, providing a secure and decentralized repository of academic records.
For example, MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence Pune India, signed an MOU with TruScholar to facilitate digital certificates, credentials and digital badges powered by blockchain technology compliant with India’s ministry of electronics and IT’s DigiLocker. It issued 2,212 blockchain-powered degree certificates to its students which are globally verifiable and cannot be forged.
Another important benefit of blockchain technology is that it can increase efficiency in managing student progress. With traditional methods, it can be time-consuming and inefficient to track student progress and provide grades and other important updates. However, with blockchain technology, this information can be recorded in real-time, making it easier for students, faculty, and administrators to stay up-to-date on the latest developments.
By leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts, student financial transactions such as tuition fee payment and scholarship disbursement can be streamlined, leading to secure and automated completion of transactions. This eliminates the need for intermediaries, resulting in a reduction of operational costs.
Blockchain can be used by university/college e-learning platforms, and massive online open courses (MOOC) to secure and provide tamper-proof storage of courses, materials, assessments, and academic records. This can enhance the quality of online learning and provide students with greater flexibility and convenience while providing control over the distribution of content and accurate data for the universities with regards to access and usage.
Storage of academic research and scholarly works on a blockchain in a decentralized and secure manner provides increased access to research and scholarships and also promotes collaboration and knowledge-sharing across institutions and disciplines.
Decentralized science
Decentralized science is a concept that refers to the idea of distributing scientific research and decision-making power across multiple individuals, organizations, and locations, rather than having a centralized authority controlling the entire scientific process.
This can involve collaborations between independent researchers, citizen scientists, and academic institutions, among others. Universities can also play a key role in decentralized science (DeSci) by providing access to resources such as lab equipment, funding, and expertise that can support scientific research. Additionally, universities can foster collaboration and communication between researchers from different backgrounds and institutions, which can lead to the development of new ideas and research projects.
One example of decentralized science in universities is the Open Science movement, which promotes the sharing of research data and methods to improve scientific collaboration and transparency. Open Science aims to make scientific research more accessible to a wider audience and encourage the sharing of data and methods across different scientific fields and disciplines. It can help students earn research credits as well as help professors and teachers refresh their skills and gain research experience.
When put on the blockchain, the above-mentioned academic credentials can help underwrite student loans as it enables one to assess students' future earning potential by creating a secure and verifiable record of their academic performance and work history. This can provide lenders with a more accurate and comprehensive view of the student's ability to repay the loan. This can help increase access to higher education.
Student clubs
Student organizations play a crucial role in shaping the future leaders of our world. These clubs provide students with valuable opportunities to develop leadership skills and gain hands-on experience. However, the traditional methods of governance in student associations often fall short when it comes to transparency and accountability.
By using a decentralized and transparent platform, on-chain governance can increase the organization's transparency and accountability and reduce the potential for fraud or manipulation. This is particularly relevant for student clubs because they often face challenges including the mismanagement of funds, lack of transparency in voting processes, and difficulties in holding leaders accountable.
One of the key benefits of on-chain governance is its ability to increase transparency in decision-making processes. With on-chain governance, all members of the organization have equal access to information about proposals, voting results, and other important decisions. This makes it easier for members to hold their leaders accountable and ensure that their voices are heard. Additionally, on-chain governance allows for real-time decision tracking, making it easier to keep up with the latest developments in the organization.
Another advantage of on-chain governance is that it reduces the potential for fraud or manipulation. With traditional methods of management, it can be challenging to verify the authenticity of voting results or track the movement of funds. However, with on-chain governance, all transactions are recorded on a decentralized ledger that is transparent and secure.
It is important to note that on-chain governance is not a silver bullet solution to all of the challenges faced by student organizations. While it can increase transparency and accountability, it also requires a certain level of technical knowledge and understanding of blockchain technology.
This may not be present among all members of the student body, and there may be concerns about the security of the technology and the potential for hacking or other security breaches. They provide an opportunity and a test bed for students and academic researchers to be able to experiment with models of governance and technology and publish the results so they can learn from them and collaborate more effectively. The best way forward would be to educate the stakeholders involved and overcome onboarding friction points.
Conclusion
Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize the way universities, colleges, and student bodies operate. By increasing transparency and efficiency in record-keeping and decision-making processes, this technology has the potential to provide many benefits for students, faculty, and administrators. However, it is important to carefully consider the potential challenges and limitations of this technology and to ensure that it is used in a responsible and secure manner.
The main challenge would be in determining whether students’ information is classified as personal data or not, particularly if it is stored on a distributed ledger. With the introduction of cryptocurrencies, blockchains have already begun to change how the financial sector operates. It's time for the education sector to catch up.