In a recent Forbes article, Kevin Roebuck, Director of Digital Experience for Education and Research within Oracle’s Industry Solutions Group, explored five ways that higher education will change as a result of Blockchain and other technologies. Kevin explained that “Blockchain is the next technological chapter in a long tend of decentralization in the higher education sector.” Check out the list below of the five ways higher education will be revolutionized by Blockchain.

1. Student records and credentialing. Education is changing to a personalized model. People learn from sources both inside and outside of the classroom throughout their lives. Kevin explains that “Blockchain offers a model for the secure collection and sharing of all of your competency indicators, including academic records but also badges, certificates, citations, letters of recommendation, and the like.” It can serve as a portfolio for all of your learning-oriented life experiences.
2. Partnership platform. Blockchain’s potential impact on higher education’s financial side goes far beyond cryptocurrency. Its peer-to-peer transaction-based model fits perfectly into consortium efforts that colleges and universities are going through to collectively aggregate their resources. Kevin explained that, in addition, Blockchain-based “smart contracts”—distributed, encrypted digital transactions among more than two parties—might be employed to ensure speed and transparency.
3. Copyright and digital rights protection. According to the article, “Blockchain’s ability to manage, share, and protect digital content makes it ideal for helping researchers, faculty members, and other higher-ed principals create intellectual property, share it, and still control the way it’s used.” It will be critical in the evolution of content libraries, curating digital content and protecting digital rights.
4. Course curricula. Becoming educated in Blockchain will become increasingly important over the coming years. Employers will look for candidates with knowledge of the emerging technology. Classes that teach Blockchain skills will be important but may be difficult because it interests so many areas of business and technology. It can affect policy, law, commerce, transactions, intellectual property rights, cryptography and artificial intelligence.
5. Innovation learning platform. Kevin explained that entrepreneurship is the lens through which many students view their educational opportunities, and many students see blockchain learning as preparation for the next generation of startups. While companies are creating opportunities for Blockchain-based education, students are also taking education opportunities into their own hands. As Blockchain becomes a Cloud service that is made easily accessible to more educational institutions, it will demonstrate results at a scale that will drive revolutionary change.

Not sure if your organization needs blockchain? Our article, “Do You Need Blockchain? How to Decide” may help.

To learn more about how Blockchain will affect the future of higher education, check out Kevin’s full article in Forbes, which is attached below.