Decentralized Autonomous Education

Abstract

We propose a novel model for teaching and learning called Decentralized Autonomous Education (DAE for short). DAE exploits the dual principles of freedom and responsibility, meritocracy and inclusivity, privacy and transparency in the educational process. It also fits well the philosophy of blockchain technology, and more generally of Web3 – the third iteration of the World Wide Web – specifically the tenets of decentralization, disintermediation, incentive and sovereignty of the individual. In this paper, we fully illustrate the DAE model, highlighting the theoretical and practical links between DAE and Web3, dissecting the pros and cons of the proposed learning method and reviewing related pedagogical approaches. Finally, we describe the front-end and back-end design of the DAE app, a decentralized application that implements the DAE learning model.