How blockchain could impact the education sector in the next five years
Author: Gurudutt Nayak
Blockchain, a term that was not commonly used a few years ago. Today, we hear a lot of it and its application in the financial sector. There have been instances where blockchain and cryptocurrency have been interchangeably used. Eg: Blockchain and Bitcoin.
Does blockchain have applications in other fields like education sector? The answer is Yes.
By their nature of being decentralized ledgers as well as being secure, Blockchain can find application in the healthcare, land documentation etc., including education.
The advantage of using blockchain in education, would be the security it provides to the data and can protect the data even if any specific node is compromised. Some of the areas in the education sector where Blockchain may impact the way of functioning could be:
1. Student records
One of the most labor-intensive activity of any institute or university, the student records, though digitized, could be benefitted by use of blockchain to update grades and issue transcripts and allow students to access their records securely.
2. Issue of degrees, diplomas
Moving from a paper degree or diploma document, the institute or university can store the student information on a blockchain.
This can be beneficial to recruiting organization wherein they need not undertake the document verification process as well as employers for documentation.
In 2017, MIT has commenced issuing digital diplomas, based on blockchain, to its graduates.
3. Information storage
Institutes and universities can use blockchain based cloud services to store necessary information like curricula, records, necessary regulatory documents and other information.
4. Evaluation of courses
Blockchains can also be used for smart contracts. This can aid a course instructor to create smart contract, outlining a list of tasks required for the completion of the course.
Every time a student completes a task, the same is verified by the smart contract. Once all the tasks are completed, the students can be awarded credits for the course.
5. Digital examination
With the Covid-19 pandemic causing lockdowns, one of the hardest hit sectors was the education sector.
Institutes and universities had to look beyond classrooms and explore digital platforms for delivery of the courses as well as evaluating the students for learning objectives.
Using the smart contract concept on the blockchain, instructors can create examination papers along with the answer key and scoring pattern.
Students can take the examination digitally and the blockchain can be used to grade the responses.
6. Transfer of records
On moving from one institute to another, the student records can be easily made accessible to the new institute by providing access to the blockchain.
This can also be extended to cases wherein grades of students, who go to other institutes as part of exchange programmes, can be easily shared across institutes by providing necessary access.
While the above list out potential areas of application of blockchain in the education sector, there could be challenges faced by the institutes and universities related to data ownership.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), implemented in Europe and similar guidelines adopted by other countries including India (The Personal Data Protection Bill, introduced in parliament of India in 2019, presently pending) could raise concerns to such implementation of blockchain for student information.
The major obstacle would be whether the student information is categorized as personal data or not especially when it is being stored on a distributed ledger.
Blockchains have already started changing the way the financial sector has been operating with the introduction of cryptocurrencies.
In the education sector, the above listed possibilities could just be the tip of the iceberg in terms of how blockchain can impact the education system in the times to come. The application of blockchain in the education sector definitely seems promising.