Why blockchain development companies are in huge demand? Simple, because it is expanding its footprints in all industries, be it banking and finance, real estate, insurance, mortgage, education, healthcare or even government.  There is a hype and hope that blockchain technology in education sector will make it easier for EdTech companies to scale up.

If we look at the education industry, over the past hundred years there have been only some minor changes in the system such as replacing of the blackboards with the dry erase boards. And,  there has been the addition of the computers and the projectors in the education system. But the approaching blockchain technology in education sector is tend to change the entire landscape. Be it the way teacher teaches in the classroom, or the way student consumes the information, the experience of the classroom it’s all going to transform. 

Footprints of Blockchain Technology In Education Sector

Blockchain technology has already knocked the doors of IT sector and along with this Bitcoin has made quite a headline for itself. The blockchain technology is building up a framework for cryptocurrency which is soon expected to be in the mainstream.

So, what exactly this blockchain technology in education sector do? How can it help EdTech companies to scale up? Well, this technology helps the user to maintain a record of the digital currency transactions without any central recordkeeping need .

Blockchain Technology in Education Sector to Help EdTech Companies to Scale-up, how?

When it comes to education we can observe that there has been no change in the basic structure and activities, the system is as such as it was way back. The student has to attend school at certain age and same curriculum is delivered all around them. There is no change observed even in the college and universities too. The same method of professor giving notes, students cramming them and scoring and then grades being rewarded.

A very little change has been observed in the field despite of various attempts that have been made to reform the field.

Enter MOOCs

It is quite a common name for online coursework. It is offered by quite big universities where students can enroll themselves. Often, these courses are free of charge.

In this, instead of the actual credits. there is the procedure of providing the student the certificate which they can add up to their resumes. Hence, these certificates can be looked over or act as proof for the knowledge and skills of the student.

So, what blockchain technology in education sector has to do with all this?

Blockchain is mostly used for the trading of cryptocurrency. And now, its branches have reached to several new fields. Blockchain keeps a permanent record of the activities. The activity that is performed is firstly entered in box of activity. And then, it is linked to the block before it and the block following. Verification of these blocks is then performed by several people.  These verified blocks can also be made public. Blocks are permanent so no alteration can be made in the data once entered.

Basically, blockchain is a permanent ledger. Hence, the entire the educational data along with various training activities and experiences can be made a part of this permanent ledger.

With the help of this blockchain technology in education sector, a ledger that will be a verifiable proof of a person’s education history. It can be trustable as it is incorruptible ledger and would follow individuals throughout their lives.

The power of the traditional brokers will be dissolved with the introduction of blockchain technology in the sector.

But, the largest disruption blockchain technology will bring up is that people can pursue learning of whatever they want to regardless of their respective ages. Hence, it will bypass the traditional method of education. And with this, it will help in bringing up the reform in the educational field.  Undoubtedly, its high time to take step forward in the direction of blockchain technology.

There are places which have accepted these reforms.

For example MIT, The university of Nicosia in Cyprus and the Holberton School for Software Engineering they have accepted the blockchain technology as they are awarding the students the course completion certificate with the help of blockchain technology. 

ODEM and Sony Global Education has already embraced blockchain technology to transform education sector.

(Image Source: Sony Global Education)

BitDegree

A company named BitDegree.org has launched a program called BitDegree by observing this potential of the blockchain technology.

The basic idea behind launching of this program is to provide  various incentives and skills that are in demand to the individuals. With the completion of the course, BitDegree tokens are provided to the individuals. These tokens can be used as scholarship money for some additional coursework.

With the help of BitDegree, one can also find potential employees.

When it comes to India, Unacademy has established itself as a medium for building up a collaborative e-learning environment for students and teachers.

Effect on traditional institutions

The world of internet is dominating the education sector today. A vast amount of knowledge and skills can be acquired through Internet  rather than the traditional institutions. It is almost obvious that in the nick of time the blockchain technology in education sector will take over the entire sector. And, the role of the traditional institutions will be reduced to none.

Read More: The future of education is smart and built on blockchain: Hope or Hype?

With the help of the enterprise blockchain development, educators all around the world can come together and collaborate with each other. Collaboration with employers can provide the students the learning with which they can improve their knowledge and skills. Also, it will help them to attain new career heights. The traditional institutions have to either adopt the new technology or it will vanish away in no time.