I have read many articles and blog posts on various platforms in the last few weeks. Today I want to focus on how the blockchain technology can assist in the education environment, but also how can the blockchain technology disrupt this existing education systems. As usual this post is written for the non-technical readers :)

At this point I am sure that we all know what a Blockchain is. If not, please read my post about the Blockchain and the Internet of Things , as I have written a brief explanation in non-technical terms.

Blockchain and education

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The most important aspect where I personally see the benefit for global education, is that the blockchain is nothing else than a decentralized, distributed ledger which record transactions when consensus is reached within the nodes in the network. This creates a trust less model, where we do not need to trust anyone that the transaction is valid, as this trust comes by default in the way that the network has been designed. We have trust by default.

So if you have a network of trust distributed across the globe, and you have a public and private key, we can now really start using these to everybody's advantage within the education environments.

Lets start with writing tests and exams

When the student need to write a test or exam, they log in with their Private key for authentication purposes, finish the test or exam electronically in a very secure environment. The answers to the questions in the paper, is recorded in an full audit trail and verified by the blockchain. The teacher now will do the same as they usually do, by marking the paper and giving the final mark. The results is then recorded in the full audit trail of the students record, for future. Your final marks can then be recorded in your representation of you report card. The key thing here is that it will be available anywhere in the world. You will obviously control who can and cannot see your final report card by way of only allowing specific authorities to view this "private" information on their request.

You can for example use this full digital record, when applying at universities anywhere in the world, as the university can trust these results as true, as they can even drill down into all your tests/exams which you have ever written, see all the homework which you have done through your years. We will have a full audit trail of your educational history captured on the blockchain.

Certification of the educators

I am sure that most countries have a problem with verifying competent teachers certifications . This can not only be a problem in Africa. If we use a blockchain for record keeping purposes, no only can these records be shared across various provinces or states, it can also be used internationally and cross borders. Good teachers from across the world can now start to add real value, by providing electronic courses internationally.

Don't you think the best teacher to provide a lesson about the great migration of wildebeest in the Masai Mara, Kenya, will be a teacher who grew up in the Masai Mara Kenya. Now we have Teachers across borders :)

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Awarding grants to schools and universities

Again, the blockchain is a distributed ledger, which can easily distributes funds through to educational institutions, in a controlled fashion using the blockchains full audit trail as record. The managing entity which distributes the grants, can now see how every single dollar is spent and applied throughout the school or university. What if grants are issued based on reputation ?

Using reputation as a measurement

Any hierarchical structure can easily adopt a reputation system, which can be used as a measurement for many aspects, like distribution of funds etc. If we are able to track a students "commitment" to learning, it can influence his reputation and also directly influence his access to funds. Not only can we give the students a reputation system, but what if we give educational institutions reputation systems as well. The better the reputation, the better their chances of receiving grants etc.

An extract from a very interesting approach to education called "Learning is earning" . View the full article here

Learning is earning

Imagine a world, ten years in the future, where learning has become a kind of currency that ties together every aspect of our lives.
In this future, the currency of learning is tracked and traded on a digital platform called the Ledger. It’s a complete record of everything you’ve ever learned, everyone you’ve learned from, and everyone who’s learned from you. The Ledger not only tracks what you know - it also tracks all of the projects, jobs, gigs, and challenges you’ve used that knowledge to complete.
Welcome to the year 2026, where strange and surprising things are happening...
• Anyone can use the Ledger to teach or mentor anyone else. (And get paid for it.) In fact, you can pay down your student loans by teaching forward what you learned in school.
• You can get credit for learning that happens anywhere, not just in schools or formal classes. The Ledger will also track skills you build just doing what you love, or spending time with friends and family.
• Employers can match you with projects and gigs that perfectly fit the level of learning you have right now. There’s no need to finish school to have a thriving career.
• When you master a new skill at work, that goes on your learning record, too.
• You have a complete record of how much income each skill or lesson you’ve learned has helped you generate—so you know the exact value of every part of your education.
• Investors can help pay for your education. In return, they get a percentage of your future earnings tied to the skills they paid you to learn. This fuels a new speculative economy as people invest in building a workforce for what they hope will be the most lucrative skills.

My article above has only taken education as we know it today and applied the same things on a blockchain. Everything in live evolves, so will education.

As Albert Einstein once said, Imagination is more important than knowledge but I do not believe that we can imagine what our children's children will imagine as they will have different knowledge than what we have.

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