“Software? Really? Do you think software can replace teachers?”
“Education on mobile will never work out, there are too many distractions!”
It’s difficult to believe this was the mindset of the crowd when the Edtech concept first emerged. Not that it has been eradicated completely, but mostly in the urban areas, people have embraced this idea.
Now, for an EdTech startup to survive in the existing cut-throat competition, it has to offer something unique, it has to create a “brand differentiation”.
Almost all the EdTech startups are offering more or less the same thing, video lectures. But why stop there? An EdTech startup can be much more than just a YouTube for educational lectures.
Fortunately, many EdTech startups have started incorporating Artificial Intelligence + Machine Learning, Augmented/Virtual Reality, Gamification, Cloud Tech and Mobile Learning.
But what none of them has tried to incorporate is Blockchain.
Blockchain is a public ledger where transactions are recorded and confirmed anonymously. It’s a record of events that is shared between many parties. More importantly, once information is entered, it cannot be altered.
Blockchain is re-defining many spaces, so why should the education field be left behind? Using blockchain, we can penetrate into the entire education ecosystem, that includes schools, colleges, online courses and even placement opportunities!
First, let’s talk about security.
Blockchain’s core strength lies in its immutability. It’s not easy to change the information in a distributed ledger because as the name implies, the data is distributed among thousands of servers and altering the data in one will alert the other nodes in the blockchain which will then ignore the new change.
Also, since we don’t want everyone’s info to be available publicly, we will be using a permissioned blockchain system. This ensures that information is shared only when the user allows it.
Moreover, this new and ingenious technology allows for blocks of data to be distributed across ledgers, without any central administering authority, but with the essential requirement that the data be validated by participants. This makes the data open and secure.
One unique identity for all educational purposes
Blockchain can help create an identity within the EdTech ecosystem. This identity reinforced through the distributed ledger will have many irrefutable benefits. Since the user’s identity is a matter of privacy, the control of information sharing will be in the hands of the user.
This totally changes the game! All your past grades, projects, contributions, and personal details available to the prospective employer at a click.
The permission to view and/or edit user’s information will be done by the act of ‘signing’. Blockchain allows signing documents and permissions to the employer directly at a single click which will then be stored on the ledger, a permanent record.
Certificates and Badges
The EdTech company can provide certification courses and exams with “Proof-of-Knowledge” badges available on the blockchain, available with your profile, clearly showing your skills, provable on the ledger.
A single ecosystem for all purposes
The biggest advantage of this technology is the fact that all of this is on a single ecosystem. All the data, benefits and interface at one place, interconnected for the future.
Programmable functions on the ledger, also known as Smart Contracts allow for the institutions to manage attendance and assignment completion all at one place, in one ecosystem.
Schools and colleges can upload their data into the blockchain at lesser costs than traditional cloud storage solutions, and also add ease of sharing and fetching information at a click and interlinking of data between institutions and students.
Adding prospective value to your blockchain — Learner’s Coin
Building an EdTech company over a blockchain system also enables the company to make a coin for the system. We can call it Learner’s Coin.
This coin will facilitate the entire network. Learner’s coin can be earned by students on the basis of “Proof- of -Test”, ie the better a student performs and excels, the more coins he earns.
This coin feature is what really breaks the norm and takes us on a unique path of differentiation, because this coin has so many use cases:
- Coins can be used to fund startups especially ones emerging from colleges. It can also be used to sponsor competitions and hackathons.
- Freelancers and students can get paid in this coin from doing jobs and internships.
- Marketplaces can be set up accepting this coin; for things like online courses, garments, textbooks, etc.
- Institutions and Boards can stake Learner’s coin for shareholder voting by proxy and collaborative proposal management with the provision of maintaining anonymity.
- Learner’s Coin can be used as fees and such, acting as passive scholarships, incentivising studying and acquiring skills.
Learner’s coin is a feature that can be implemented later on the roadmap of development. The startup first and foremost needs to lay its foundation and build a network of trustworthy and reliable members.
However, even without the Learner’s coin, the list of benefits of incorporating blockchain in an EdTech startup is endless:
- The tech can also help libraries expand their services by building an enhanced metadata archive, developing a protocol for supporting community-based collections.
- It can ensure security in the archives: In virtual education, theft/plagiarism is all too prevalent.
- With the current boom of tuitions, coaching centres and online courses in India, students and parents alike find it difficult to choose the best institution. The enforced Blockchain system can allow a user to transparently see the entire history of an institution — the results it has produced, anonymous feedback, and ultimately the opportunities it can provide the enrolled students.
- With the blockchain it is very practical to manage economic transactions with online institutions or study centres. Also verify the credibility of online institutions, avoiding “falling into the trap” of these fraudulent networks.
- Last but not the least, this idea will help eradicate the ‘rote- learning’ principle. Since your entire educational portfolio will be available to the companies, they will start hiring not just on grades but on skills, certifications, contributions all stored safely on the immutable ledger. It will also help students land internships at reputed companies.
Education has gone through numerous phases of development and the incorporation of Blockchain could possibly mark a new era of one of the world’s oldest tradition of systematic sharing of knowledge. In essence, this tech is not just profitable to the EdTech startup expanding in its highly outdated system but also to the companies and ultimately students, facilitating them in their educational journey.
