In 2019, Gartner conducted a CIO survey where they asked higher education respondents their opinion about deploying blockchain technology in an educational framework. Only 2% of all the respondents responded that they had already deployed blockchain while an additional 18% said that they were going to do so within the next 18 to 24 months. However, an overwhelming 47% said that they were “not interested” – and they wanted to wait.
If you are someone who is part of the “not interested” group, then you should read on to know about the amazing ways in which blockchain technology can revolutionize the education sector. By remaining curious about the potential of blockchain, you can apply and use it to better many lives.
Application 1 – Better Maintenance of Records: Blockchain technology can be used by educational institutions to maintain their records in the most secure way possible. In fact, blockchain applications will make sure that all of the degrees and credentials stay preserved in the cloud and are safely under the students’ control. Some of the best universities in the world have already started to do this. For example, the University of Melbourne started to use blockchain technology to grant digital credentials to its students from 2017. Blockchain is a wonderful way to protect intellectual property from being accessed illegally and tampered with.
Application 2 – Accept Payments Seamlessly: The blockchain will allow students to store their very own stash of cryptocurrency – which they can also use to pay their higher education fees. The present system is very cluttered since there are loads of people involved – such as students, parents, bank officials, college reps, etc. This is not a new idea, but a lot of educational institutions are reticent about accepting crypto as payment. However, King’s College in New York City was one of the first universities in the world to start accepting cryptocurrency fees. This step also eliminated all of the hidden fees.
Application 3 – Use It For Teaching: Blockchain technology is extremely versatile and can be programmed to take care of a lot of interesting tasks. For example, lessons, courses, tests, quizzes, etc. can be coded into the tech and executed on its own when all of the qualifying conditions are verified. The smart contract feature of a blockchain can easily verify when the task has been completed, making it an ideal tool for evaluating students. A prize system can also be set up – with students who do well-receiving crypto tokens as an incentive. The same can be done for instructors.
Application 4 – Storage Space: Last but not the least, blockchain technology can also be used by universities and students to get access to more storage space. Not all institutions can afford to purchase terabytes of cloud storage for all of their files. This is where blockchain technology like Filecoin can help. They provide an affordable and seamless file storage solution.
These were all of the ways in which blockchain technology can improve higher education. If you would like to know more about this emerging new technology, then click here. With this info, you can effect change at a higher level.
