
Blockchain. What is it? Can it be used in education? I gave a detailed account of this at OEB in Berlin and even got
married on Blockchain last year, but here's some background to that talk.
Early progenitor
In 2001
I designed and implemented a Napster-like system in education, the first P2P file sharing system across a network.
Remember that tools you use today benefitted from this movement. Skype, the first P2P VOIP software caused massive disruption in the
Massive Disruption of telecommunication Industry. We then used the Gnutella, the first ever, open-source, decentralised file sharing software. We distributed created learning content across
a network of Local Governments in England, for non-competing public sector bodies, with no central storage or control.
Everyone who created content could share it. This one piece of technology had the potential to save literally hundreds of millions, spent on duplicated training creation and delivery of courses. It didn’t work because, despite
being non-competitors, the public sector organisations just didn’t like
innovation and stuck to their institutional silos. They stuck to their old ways – NIH (Not Invented Here) with massive duplication of content and
no sharing, which is as true today as it was then. In fact, that company went on to become a major commercial player in the content market, Learning Pool, and I'm still involved as an investor and board member.
Blockchain has that same feel, that Napster moment, when a revolutionary piece of technolohy appears, confuses the market, then starts to make steady inroads. In finance MasterCard,
BNP Paribas, Visa and J.P. Morgan, invested in blockchain startups and every
major finance organization in the world is looking at the technology, with a
fearful eye. That’s because it’s a threat to the way they do business and make
money. Direct access to cash transactions without government, with fewer
institutions and at almost no cost, is quite a threat, Some put the cost savings
at as much as $20 billion. It also gives access to the hundreds of millions who
do not, at present, have access to banking – the poor, via mobiles. There’s
another sector, where it is already having an effect – charities. The Human
Rights Foundation, the American Red Cross, Electronic Frontier Foundation and
the United Way all accept Bitcoin. Why? It lies outside of the often corrupt
government system. It also appeals to their most important donor base – the enlightened,
tech-savvy young. The Water Promise received $23,000 in Bitcoin, via Reddit.
This could be the new global currency for philanthropy. The music
industry has also seen Bitcoin and blockchain enable artists to be paid
directly from their fan base.
What is it?
Blockchain could transform governance, the economy, businesses and organisations function.
First, it's already here, not only in Bitcoin but in many other services and commodities - badges, credits or qualifications (Doug Belshaw has looked at this and there's an interesting site badgechain here) as has Serge Ravet of ePIC.
Technically, blockchain is a distributed database, spread across many computers with no central control. Each ‘block’ is transparent but tamper-proof. Every ‘block' has a timestamp for recording transactions and offers indelible proof of all transactions. Rather than relying on third parties, it's a frictionless method for transacting with others.
In normal speak, the basic idea is that you cut out the middleman. There is no central database as everything is distributed, public, synchronised and encrypted. All transations are logged with a time, date and details of transaction - then verified by some very smart maths. Concensus decides and every transaction is public. What it promises is a more efficient, secure and transparent was of handling transactions. This could saves a huge amount of administration, beaurocracy, effort and time. The Internet of things may release its potential.
Who can use it?
Single educational institutions, groups of educational institutions, national educational bodies, international educational bodies… anyone who wants to securely store badges, credits, qualifications and make
available to others, educational data that matters, could consider using
blockchain technology.
Why does it matter?
As education becomes more diversified, democratised,
decentralised and disintermediated, we still need to maintain reputation, trust
in certification and proof of learning. The increased focus on relevance and
employability may also push us in this direction, as we also need more transparency. Blockchain could provide just
such a system. A massive open, online, secure database.
How can it be used?
1. Single institution
One school,
Holburton School, in San Fransisco, a software school that offers project based
education as an alternative to college courses, has already used blockchain to
store and deliver issued certificates. It’s seen as a measure to stop fake
certification. The encryption and 2 factor authentification, is used to create,
sign-off and place the certificate into the blockchain database. They still
give students paper copies but the DCN is a number that allows authentification
by employers. I can see their point as it gives employers the idea that this school certainly knows its stuff on IT. MIT are doing similar things, as are the University of Nocosia.
2. Groups of
institutions
As educational institutions cluster and co-operate, the need
for shared repositories of certification and achievement become real. It may be
a group of universities, such a Delft, EPFL, Boston, ANU and UBC, who recently formed a codeshare-like agreement on certification. It may be affiliated organisations that form a
global alliance. It may be a global group of schools. Whatever the constellation of institutions or bodies, blockchain gives them a cheap, shared, secure resource.
3. National
blockchain database
Education is curiously nationalistic. Even in the EU it is a
devolved issue. But within a nation, there is a great need for a shared
approach to the range of credentials that are being produced at all levels in
the system; schools, colleges, universities, institutes, examination
boards, trade associations, employers and so on. There is a real need for something that sits above
them all. That solution could be blockchain technology.
4. Global assessment
The current system of certification is not really fit for purpose.
A paper system is subject to loss, even fraud. With an increasingly mobile
population of students and workers, a centralised database of credentials and
achievements makes sense, whether you’re moving to another educational
institution, new job, new country, even a refugee who has no copy of their
degree. Some sort of secure, online repository would be helpful. You can see, through this need, why assessment is the first thing that comes to mind for blockchain. At
present, it’s a mess, waiting to be cleared up by a smart operator. One player is
Sony Global Education, who have a platform, using blockchain,
to house assessment scores. They want schools and universities to use the
service, so that individuals can share such data with third parties, such as employers, LinkedIn etc. Their aim is to offer a global service.
5. Blockchain and
badges
So let’s up the stakes, with a wider initiative
around Open badges. Open Badges gather evidence for credentials. What better than
a tamper-proof system for the storage of such credentials? If a blockchain
system can offer a massive way to deal with authentic accreditation, then the
problems of openness, scale and cost for badges disappears. See
Doug Belshaw’s blog.
To see how open badge chains can be converted to blockchain, see
Serge Ravet’s blog. MIT have been using Bitcoin blockchain for certification and have open
sourced their code.
6. Blockchain and
MOOCs
Interestingly, there’s a number of MOOCs on Blockchain, including htis MOOC on
Bitcoin and blockchain, by
Princeton University, on Coursera. Despite the carping, people keep on making
and taking MOOCs. They are genuinely changing the way education is delivered and
acting as a real catalyst for change, forcing
Universities into a rethink. Yet the certification issue remains a
little vague. Each separate MOOC provider issues certificates. With some
imagination the real demand for MOOCs could be boosted by secure certification.
This could be agreement among the major MOOC providers. It could even open up
MOOC certification for actual degrees. MOOCs are about decentralisation and
widening access, so there’s every reason to suppose that they will want to
decentralise and increase access to their certification.
7. CPD
Always a problem, CPD is difficult to deliver, often
fragmented and poorly tracked. Imagine a blockchain system that really does do
this within a profession, taking issued CPD data from conference attendance,
courses and other forms of learning. Teachers and other professionals could have inputs from trusted
providers and be incentivised to do more CPD, if those experiences and learning
opportunities were securely stored in a reputable system.
8. Corporate learning
Companies deliver huge amounts of training to their
employees but storing achievement is not easy. Current Learning Management
System and Talent management System technology, SCORM et al, is a bit old and tired.
What is needed is a more open but secure system, for use not only internally
but by the employee if they leave.
9. Apprenticeships
Vocational education is now big business as governments
around the world recognise the folly of relying too heavily on purely academic
institutions to deliver post-school education. In the UK, there will be 3
million apprenticeships, funded through a levy on payroll. It’s a complex
business as employers will play a stronger role in their management and delivery. But how do we manage the process and certification? Blockchain is a
real possibility, a centralised but neatly distributed national database for
the authentification of process and certification.
10. Bodies of
knowledge
This one’s more obscure, but imagine something like
Wikipedia or Khan Academy, academic journals, OER, even research bodies, issuing
proof of learning from their systems. Thanks to
John Helmer for the idea of authenticating identity for access to
subscription-controlled, academic content from libraries. Current systems (Open
Athens, Shibboleth) use centralised ledgers and are seriously dysfunctional.
Blockchain could be used here to provide a more robust authentication
infrastructure.
Blockchain could be used for a myriad of learning experiences from different
sources. This requires a small transaction model and could be where xAPI comes in handy. It stands for ‘eXperience API' and can
be used to gather evidence from micro-learning experiences. It is open source, the
natural successor to SCORM and stores data in Learning Record Stores. This
seems like a natural route to the use of blockchain. There is also the easy use of micropayments in learning. Traditional financial
transactions use expensive third parties, who charge fees. Blockchain allows
free transactions between parties. This could open up micropayments for the use of
educational resources, courses etc. All in all, it frees up the system, makes
it more open and flexible. And who would argue that this is not a good thing?
Illich was prescient
Ivan Illich
was the educationalist who really did foresee this conceptually, if not
technically. By deinstitutionalising education, making it non-compulsory, we
can return to its true, authentic value and improve quality. We need to break
our addiction to traditional schooling and break its almost religious hold on
our consciousness. Fascinatingly, he related this obsession with compulsory
schooling to the religious idea of original sin, that we are born imperfect and
have to atone. It was not the abolition of schools that concerned him but the
recognition that a wider and more diverse landscape was needed. Illich sees
alternatives in skills-centres, educational credits and
the ‘possible
use of technology to create institutions which serve personal, creative and
autonomous interaction’. Well before the age of the internet he foresaw its
power in education and knowledge he saw an alternative to schooling through a
network or service which gave each person the same opportunity to share his/her
concern with others motivated by the same concern. His core idea was that
education for all means education by all. He sees us providing the learner with
new links to the world instead of continuing to funnel all education through
the teacher. In this sense, the inverse of school is possible, recommending
four types of educational resource:
1.
Reference services to Educational Objects
2. Skill
exchanges
3.
Peer-matching
4.
Reference services to Educators-at-large
One could
argue that this is starting to happen with the advent of technology in
learning, through search, Wikipedia, OER. MOOCs, social media. So I’m sure he
would have welcomed Blockchain.
In general,
Blockchain is a technology that does promise to disintermediate
Decentralize and democratize, finance and, possibly education.
Conclusion
Blockchain is a piece of technology. It clearly has
applications in the world of learning, at the individual, institutional,
group, national and international levels; in all sorts of contexts – schools,
colleges, Universities, MOOCs, CPD, corporates, apprenticeships and knowledge
bases.
Rather than the old hierarchical structures, the technlogy becomes the focus, with trust migrating towards the technology, not the institutions. This really is a disintermediation technology. Traditionally institutions have been the source of trust, Universities, for example, are trusted brands. In finance, banks exist to enact the transaction, so blockchain really can disnitermediate. But in education there needs to be trust beyond the technology. We are looking, I think, at a hybrid model, not a wholescale takeover by blockchain. Reputation will still matter and that comes through professional teachers, research reputation and so on. This is not to say that this cannot be done with blockchain, as one could imagine a sort of web of teachers and learners that simply use blockchain to cut out institutions. This, in my view, is not impossible, but it is unlikely.
And blockchain is not without its problems. There’s data regulation
issues and the fact that $500 million disappeared from one of Bitcoin’s
exchanges. The US authorities also had to close down a drug dealing exchange,
the Silk Road. But is does merit some serious consideration.
Yet the biggest obstacle to its use is cultural. Education
is a slow learner and very slow adopter. Despite the obvious advantages, it
will be slow to adapt this technology, as most of the funding and culture is centred
around the individual institution. Bologna was dead on the day it was signed,
as nobody wanted to lose their students and suffer financially. So the source for change will have to come from elsewhere. Then one thing I do know, is that students are doing it for
themselves. Check out BEN, the
Blockchain Educational Network, a grassroots
student-organised movement. This will come from left of field, like Bitcoin.