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Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Nelson Mandela
A recent study suggests the size of the global eLearning market is predicted to reach approximate USD31 billion, and emerging mLearning market USD37.60 billion by 2020. The global Blockchain market (hardware, software and services) spending to be somewhere between $10 billion and up to $60.7 billion by 2024.
Implemented well, emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and process automation can help reduce the levels of university administration, cut costs and improve security and resilience. KPMG
Who is already involved?
In November'18 the Ministry of Education (MoE) of Malaysia announced the plan to use Blockchain technology to combat degree fraud.
The University of Nicosia, Cyprus is the first school which uses Blockchain technology to manage students’ certificates received from MOOC platforms.
Sony Global Education also used the blockchain technology to create a global assessment platform to provide services for storing and managing degree information.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Learning Machine company cooperated to design a digital badge for online learning based on blockchain technology.
The European Union has also expressed interest in using blockchain for educational purposes. The Special Commission studied the prospects and believes that the technology is promising, and blockchain will be able to solve many problems.
King’s College in New York already allow students to use bitcoin to fund their education.
Education for Everyone (EFE) a leading on-demand live-streaming service provider for knowledge transfer and education, addressing United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 4, for quality education by providing affordable and accessible software to ensure equitable and inclusive quality education for lifelong learning.
Why Blockchain technology?
Blockchain technology will accelerate the end of a paper-based system for certificates. Any kind of certificate issued by educational organizations, in particular qualifications and records of achievement, can be permanently and reliably secured using Blockchain technology.
Furthermore, a possible automation issuance and storage of the awards, recognition and transfer of credits, or even to store and verify a complete record of formal achievements throughout lifelong learning are possible. Institutions can utilize Blockchain to store and share certifications they issue to or on behalf of students.
With blockchain tech, learners could store their own evidence of formal or informal learning, share it with a desired audience, and ensure instant verification “Lifelong Learning Passport”. Institutions can also begin using Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies to facilitate payments involving grants and other types of funding as well as students paying their tuition, eLearning and mLearning. Blockchain’s distributed, peer-to-peer model is a perfect complement to pool their digital resources, enabling scenarios like digital “smart contracts” that could be used to securely expedite transactions between parties.
Blockchain can also be used to manage, share and protect digital intellectual property (IP). This makes it ideal for researchers looking to create systems for schools, government organizations and companies to expose important information in a controlled manner, while Blockchain could allow educators to publish content openly, while keeping track of re-use, without putting limitations on the source material.
With Blockchain, the agreements of automatic transfer of credits could be written as smart-contracts whereby upon fulfilment of the conditions of the contract, the credits would automatically be transferred. Learning activities could be registered on the Blockchain, including informal learning, can could become that much more interactive – and reputations built on more tangible matrices.
The Opportunity!
According to Ambient Insight’s Analyst, spending on mobile learning (mLearning) in China will start to outpace US by 2019. According to CNNIC, 195 million people in China use their phones to access mobile learning content on a monthly basis. With Education for Everyone (EFE) schools, teachers and students can make the most of mobile internet accessibility and connect seamlessly over dispersed locations to achieve both income and learning outcomes. EFE thereby addresses the constraints of eLearning, capitalizes on the rapidly growing demand of mLearning and enhances learning outcomes by providing a platform where learners can connect with educators in a seamless and intuitive ecosystem, enhanced by Blockchain technology.
Sources: Cointelegraph, Technavio, KPMG, IWS FinTech, EFE