How Has Blockchain Technology Impacted The eLearning Industry?

Even though Blockchain in eLearning is still in its infancy, the industry believes the technology has the potential to disrupt eLearning. As a result, forward-thinking leaders have begun to incorporate this cutting-edge technology into their eLearning systems.

What Exactly is a Blockchain?

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are two terms that have been increasingly popular in the IT business industry in recent years. Satoshi Nakamoto, a person, known as with a false name (to cover his true identity) Satoshi, designed and published the concept of Blockchain in 2008 to act as a public transaction log for Bitcoin, one of the first cryptocurrencies. Blockchain technology is currently growing at a breakneck speed, gaining a lot of adoption in various industries. Banking, hospitality, healthcare, and government projects are just a few industries that use Blockchain.

At its most basic level, Blockchain is a digital ledger that stores and secures all data connected to transactions that occur within its scope, thereby providing a transparent yet secure historical record of the transaction. The technology was created to support cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin. It may, however, be used to store and convey numerous types of data because of its nature.

The condition of employee training and education will be transformed by blockchain technology.

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The mix of transparency and security that the technology provides makes it so enticing. Transparency is frequently considered the polar opposite of privacy and security, and the two features don’t usually mix well. On the other hand, transactions on the Blockchain are stored in a highly safe and secure manner.

Every piece of information in the Blockchain is saved in a block. Each block is linked to the transactions or data entries that came before it and those after it. This forms a chain of secure records for each stage of the transaction itself— hence the name blockchain.

You can’t change one block in the chain without changing every other entry distributed across multiple sites like a peer-to-peer network. During a transaction, only authorized parties can update information, and only certain information is displayed, which is where transparency comes into play.

Naturally, the following issue is what this has to do with staff training and education.

Blockchain in eLearning

The most recent buzzword in digital transformation technology is Blockchain. Because this cutting-edge technology is so versatile, it has the potential to upend the corporate training industry. As a result, forward-thinking leaders are already putting this revolutionary technology to work in their businesses.

Initial staff training and education are frequently required and occur during the course of a career. Almost every profession has an onboarding procedure because everyone understands the importance of learning about and preparing for a new job or opportunity.

How this process is carried out varies from one organization to the next. Worse yet, the usefulness and quality of those training programs vary. How do you ensure that personnel is taught adequately with such a structure? What’s more, how can you persuade them to continue their education beyond what was provided initially?

One solution is to encourage employees to continue their education and training outside of the company’s original programs. This also assures that employees receive high-quality training rather than a half-baked, inefficient company program offered via video presentations and interactive computer learning solutions.

However, doing so results in the creation of a new problem. Unfortunately, there is essentially a little incentive for employees to continue their training on their own, and employers have no way of knowing when their employees have completed additional training.

With the help of Blockchain, this can and will change. Some companies plan to use blockchain technology to assist reward employees in acquiring new skills. When an employee learns a new subject, performs a new task, or completes a curriculum, that information can be recorded in the Blockchain as a transaction.

Another application of the technology is to pay for the training in full with crypto tokens or coins. You may have to pay for the courses out of pocket at first, but acquiring a new skill or taking on a new responsibility could earn you valuable tokens that you can spend in future transactions. Employees are also motivated to develop their skills and expertise due to this.

It isn’t easy to picture such platforms having a direct impact on corporate success, at least until you consider the value of training and education.

Again, mobile learning is the fastest-growing market in the business, according to Global News Wire, with an average annual growth rate of 20%. By 2020, the demand for mobile learning is anticipated to be worth $22.4 billion. By 2027, the global mobile learning industry is expected to reach $80.1 billion. So, given the growth numbers, why wouldn’t one consider switching from old systems to online learning? Let us provide you with a few more compelling arguments.

Benefits of Using Blockchain in eLearning

The quick change to online learning and corporate training in 2020 has gotten a lot of press. The transition from physical education and learning to online formats may have been accelerated through COVID-19. It has simply expedited what was already happening rather than establishing a new trend.

As part of the training method, a significant amount of personally identifiable information is transmitted between the individual, the institution, and a range of third-party vendors. Blockchain appears to be practically tailor-made to assist in securing and protecting this new education model, with a combination of information security and the ability to transport data across a vast network in a purely virtual manner. 

There are a few elements and opportunities for online instructors, firms delivering online training, and private sector blockchain development services organizations to improve educational processes and products.

Increased Retention Rate

The online education business has several issues, one of which is a low retention rate. Only 5.5 percent of candidates who enroll in online courses complete them and receive a certificate, according to Amy Ahearn’s essay headed “The Flip Side of Abysmal MOOC Completion Rates? Discovering the Most Tenacious Learners.”

The online education business will not accomplish its objectives with this retention rate. The fundamental cause of such a deficit could be waning interest in the course. By offering specific tokens or benefits that applicants can utilize afterward, Blockchain can play a critical role in renewing the initiatives. The urge to obtain tokens can keep employees’ attention alive, resulting in a progressive increase in retention rates.

Peer-to-peer Networking

The corporate sector currently lacks a well-organized tutor-student networking platform. Though many trainers use channels such as YouTube to reach out to their audience, transparency remains a concern. By developing a robust peer-to-peer network, Blockchain may close the gap.

Blockchain will create a direct link between instructor and student in terms of contact and payment. Employees will score trainers depending on the quality of the resources they deliver.

While it will assist learners in choosing the best instructor from the available pool, it will also encourage tutors to improve their quality to attract students’ attention. It would work the same way that YouTube does: good video, lots of views, lots of subscribers. More eLearning platforms are likely to develop in the future.

Digital Badges Andand Credentials

The development of secure digital badges and certifications that can be easily validated and displayed on digital portfolios is one of the essential applications of Blockchain in eLearning. Consider the following scenario:

• Accredible was created in 2013 and is the official certification partner for top companies like Rosetta Stone, Google, Udacity, Kaplan University, and Hootsuite. Accredible provides paperless, one-click digital credential verification and connects with several common digital tools and systems.
• Edgecoin, a blockchain-based smart certificate, and the digital credential provider are companies in the same industry. Edgecoin provides educational institutions with a secure web-based dashboard for developing, maintaining, and issuing blockchain-based credentials such as transcripts, certificates, mark sheets, and diplomas.

With the growing popularity of online education, the market for fraudulent degrees is also growing. This is slowly becoming a big worry for many educational institutions and enterprises worldwide.

To address this, Blockchain could be the ideal solution. Educational institutions and firms can use blockchain technology to support a physical copy of a degree alongside a virtual counterpart. Instead of a centralized operation, blockchain technology relies on a decentralized system. This will eventually reduce the likelihood of any change or falsification of the institutes’ degrees.

For Rewards: Cryptocurrency

What kind of reward could be given to the learner? With the advancement of technology, using bitcoin to reward employees for completing programs is an intriguing new option for motivating students to complete programs more rapidly. This method is made more accessible and more efficient by services like BitRewards.

Data And Records From Employees

As more educational institutions and organizations rely on internet-based systems, the potential of hackers tampering with grades and adding unearned credentials, and stealing all data has increased. Thanks to Blockchain, they can better identify their learners while also protecting their privacy and records. It also aids in funding training and the recognition of high-quality work by employees.

Intellectual Property Protection

Educational institutions’ research and efforts have generated or impacted many breakthroughs and innovations. Educators usually dedicate a significant amount of time and effort to developing intellectual property in the form of research. In an increasingly digital-first market and evolving toward a digital-everything model, the necessity to secure and potentially monetize the results of these educational endeavors is critical.

Higher Education Reimagined

One of the most well-known use cases and philosophies that drives the blockchain ecosystem is the concept of a borderless and completely open system. Blockchain is built on the open flow of information and guarantees that this information is available. Integrating these essential functional components of Blockchain into higher education plus corporate training can result in a whole new eLearning model. Given how interconnected the world is daily, it’s only natural that corporate training should keep up.

Blockchain development services are increasingly being used by businesses to create and manage easily verifiable credentials and certificates. Other scenarios where Blockchain could be beneficial include:

Transfer of Credits Between Educational Institutions

• Using these credits to assess the competencies of future employees
• Verifying the integrity and authenticity of accreditations using Blockchain
• On a blockchain-based network, sharing and updating learning information is possible.
• Validating individual and organizational transactions and payments for content services

Blockchain’s Future in Corporate Training

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) report by the European Commission concludes with a critical finding: Blockchain’s future hinges on transparency. Only “fully open” blockchain systems can achieve their true goals and capabilities in education. Three open implementation criteria are outlined in the study.

• Ownership of the recipient: By maintaining the private keys, the employee, not the firm, retains possession of their credentials and can manage and share them without contacting the educational institution.
• Vendor independence: A record owner can share, relocate, or validate a record without contacting a vendor. Blockcerts, an open standard for delivering and verifying credentials, was invented by the MIT Media Lab and Learning Machine. The goal of Blockcerts is to avoid a standards conflict that would force educational institutions and other organizations to employ proprietary standards and digital credential suppliers.
• Because cryptographic algorithms, rather than individuals, ensure that approved transactions or ledger entries cannot be modified once they have been validated, decentralized verification is possible. As a result, shifting ownership, management, and security from a single individual or a larger business entity to a decentralized ledger eliminates the possibility of forging credentials.

Naturally, certain organizations and corporations may oppose these goals, such as those with proprietary certification systems. According to the report, “blockchain-based ledgers have the ability to disrupt the crucial technology that underpins an industry worth $2.7 billion.” As a result, the future of Blockchain for business in education is still unknown, and fresh ideas are welcome.

Conclusion

Human inventiveness and survival rely heavily on blockchain technology. We’ve only scratched the surface of what technology can do for the advancement of society. Thanks to Blockchain’s greater security and incentives, entire industries will be transformed, including online education. Trends in educational technology will continue to change and grow.

Blockchain’s value for a business is still in its early stages, and its applications and use outside of finance, logistics, and manufacturing are limited. More than only digital certificates and cryptocurrency for rewards are available through blockchain development services for the eLearning industry.

If you’d like to know more about blockchain technology, get in touch with us to see if this game-changing technology is perfect for your business. Are you ready to get started?

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