Blockchain and AI in Education

Yes, Blockchain is Powering AI. In a world where data is becoming increasingly important, blockchain is providing a new way to power AI. By securely storing data and making it available to AI applications, blockchain is helping to make AI more effective.

Blockchain is a distributed database that allows for secure, tamper-proof storage of data. This makes it ideal for storing data that needs to be shared with multiple parties, such as the data used by AI applications.Since blockchain is immutable, meaning that once data is stored on the blockchain it cannot be changed or deleted, it provides a high level of security. This is important for ensuring that the data used by AI applications is accurate and reliable.

Blockchain is most commonly associated with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Data entered on a blockchain is stored in blocks that are linked together in chronological order, making tracing the data’s origins and verifying its authenticity relatively easy.

These features, in addition to its decentralized nature, have led to the technology being embraced across several industries, most notably the financial sector. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on blockchain technology across all industries is projected to grow from more than $4 billion in 2020 to more than $14 billion in 2023.

One industry where blockchain is just beginning to make a mark is education. The use of blockchain in education is still in its infancy, with only a handful of institutions adopting the technology. A 2019 survey by the research firm Gartner revealed that only 2% of higher education institutions were using blockchain, while another 18% planned to do so over the next two years.

Blockchain in Student Recordkeeping

One widespread use of blockchain is record keeping. The number of student records is virtually endless, and verifying academic credentials can be time-consuming, with lots of paper documentation and case-by-case checking. According to a 2019 analysis conducted by Credential Engine, more than 738,000 unique credentials documenting learning can be counted, including degrees, certificates, digital badges, and apprenticeships.

Blockchain can eliminate much of the overhead associated with this process and streamline verification procedures, saving educators and administrators time when it comes to things like transfers between schools or states. Using blockchain, an institution accepting a transfer student could verify their record and the courses they took with a few simple clicks. The same concept applies to record sharing with an employer.

A digital transcript can be highly detailed, containing information about attendance, courses taken, and even the results of specific exams or papers. Those with access to the student’s transcript — other schools or potential employers, for example — can see how they performed on certain assessments. This technology holds value not only for higher education; it could also be useful in primary and secondary education.

Using blockchain for university curricula

The impact of blockchain in education goes beyond record keeping. The technology also has the potential to transform the management of university curricula. For one thing, blockchain offers secure storage capabilities for digital syllabi and coursework. Institutions do rely on hard drives for this, but the risk of the drives being damaged or compromised is a concern.

Blockchain in university research

The twin goals of higher education are to pass on knowledge to the next generation of students and to increase current knowledge with new research. Professors spend much of their time conducting original research and publishing their findings, pushing the boundaries of their fields and illuminating areas of research that will lead us into the future. Crucially, the spread and influence of those publications can affect professors’ ability to secure important grants to fund future work.

Authors have a vested interest in monitoring how their research is used and protecting it against outright piracy. Blockchain would enable researchers to publish without restrictions, but in a way that would allow them to monitor their research’s reuse, including how often a work is cited and used as teaching materials, thereby tracking its influence in the field — important since that can translate into accolades and future funding.