Alexander Mikroyannidis, Allan Third, John Domingue
Blockchain technology provides a decentralised peer-to-peer infrastructure, supporting openness, transparency, accountability, identity management and trust. As such, the Blockchain has the potential to revolutionise education in a number of ways. Blockchain technology offers opportunities to thoroughly rethink how we find educational content and training services online, how we register and pay for them, as well as how we get accredited for what we have learned and how this accreditation affects our career trajectory. This paper explores a case study on the decentralisation of lifelong learning using Blockchain technology. In particular, we investigate the different scenarios and requirements for making online education and lifelong learning more open and decentralised, while placing lifelong learners in control of their learning process and its associated data. Additionally, we discuss various approaches to the Semantic Blockchain and the applications of these approaches on education.
While previous work has recognized the potential for open badges and blockchain to play a role in online courses, this potential has yet to be realized in a fully decentralized cMOOC. This paper describes the design objectives of an application that integrates open badges and blockchain with a cMOOC. The work described was undertaken during the offering on an online course, and thus development took place in an actual course context with interaction with course participants. The full workflow from course content to storage on the blockchain is described, and some concluding comments are offered on the results of this course, and the potential for future applications.
The main goals of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are to develop the intellectual abilities of students as well asprepare them for entering the labor market. The connection between HEIs and the labor market is why the effectivenessand quality
Open access
Online Learning and Analytics
Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning
Blockchain technology offers advantages such as integrity, anonymity, credibility and independence of the institution and time because of its decentralized nature. One of the current areas for tackling challenges and potential application of blockchain technology is education. Higher education is a complex system with various challenges that could be potentially improved by introducing this technology. This paper shows a brief overview of current systems, their current state and a direction of their development, but also proposes specific guidelines and upgrades for current systems, that would enhance them and, consequently, the area of education. It also proposes blockchain integration levels in higher education that, combined with data extraction, can expand and deepen the area of education for the benefit of institutions, employers and students.
Learning analytics and data mining require gathering and exchanging learner data for further processing and designing of activities tailored to learner’s characteristics, context, and needs. Currently, systems that store learners’ attributes should, ideally, be operated and controlled by responsible and trustworthy authorities that guarantee the protection and sovereignty of data and use objective criteria to protect and represent all parties’ interests. This chapter introduces a peer-to-peer method for storing and exchanging learner data with minimal trust. The proposed approach, underpinned by the Experience API standard, eliminates the need of a mediator authority by using distributed ledger technology.
Alexander Mikroyannidis, John Domingue, Michelle Bachler, Kevin Quick
Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionise education in a number of ways. In this paper, we explore the applications of Smart Blockchain Badges on data science education. In particular, we investigate how Smart Blockchain Badges can support learners that want to advance their careers in data science, by offering them personalised recommendations based on their learning achievements. This work aims at enhancing data science accreditation by introducing a robust system based on the Blockchain technology. Learners will benefit from a sophisticated, open and transparent accreditation system, as well as from receiving job recommendations that match their skills and can potentially progress their careers. As a result, this work contributes towards closing the data science skills gap by linking data science education to the industry.
New technologies and the knowledge economy are destabilising graduate professions, with artificial intelligence and the analysis of ‘big data’ making significant impacts on formerly secure jobs. Blockchain technology, offering automated secure credentialling of undergraduate students’ activities and achievements, may significantly erode existing systems of assessment. The challenge for universities will be not only to maintain the relevance of their curricula but also to manage erosion of their current near-monopoly in awarding degrees. This paper envisions a landscape in which universities must outsource parts of their course delivery and assessment in order to remain competitive. It examines a potentially sustainable mission strategy: to move away from narrow academic disciplines towards an authentic learning curriculum focusing on the development of students as whole persons with rounded educations. This paper examines implications for the academy of the convergence of artificial intelligence, data analytics and blockchain technology.
Open access
Online Learning and Analytics
Higher Education Learning Practices
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
The main objective of this paper is to provide a Blockchain based framework for conducting and evaluating academic tests in a peer-to-peer manner with auto-generation of certificates upon successful completion of the examination. We illustrate how a self-sustained education ecosystem can be developed on top of a blockchain for a fair evaluation without the need of a central trusted entity for obtaining certificates or degrees that prove one's dexterity over a subject. In order to make the test as transparent as possible, we store the hash-digest of every question asked and every question answered, directly on the blockchain. This facilitates the tracing of how exactly a candidate received the score that he/she received, adding more credibility to the obtained certificate.
Secure, verifiable, learner‐owned credentials: Many registrars envision a future where those are the norm. The Registrar's Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has become the first to issue digital diplomas through the blockchain, the technology that enables bitcoin. The goal was to provide a secure service to students who become stewards of their own record, said Mary Callahan, registrar and senior associate dean for undergraduate education.