Blockchain technology, developed as a digital ledger to
record transactions using the digital currency bitcoin, is finding its way onto
campus. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab and educational
software provider Learning Machine recently launched an open-source initiative that
allows institutions to create, share, and verify blockchain-based educational
credentials.
The potential uses of blockchain technology on campus include providing credential verification and tracking students’ progress
through their coursework. Through the platform, credentials collected by
students can be securely shared with anyone, such as an employer, who requires
official documents.
The platform ensures the documentation sent is
authentic and valid, according to a release on Blockchain News.
“The
goal of our collaboration with the MIT Media Lab is to empower individuals with
shareable credentials that can be used peer-to-peer and verified as authentic,”
said Chris Jagers, co-founder and CEO of Learning Machine. “The current system
for sharing official records is slow, complicated, expensive, and broken for
everyone in a myriad of ways. The first generation of students to grow up
entirely during the Internet age have started applying for college, and many
admissions officers can share stories about applicants trying to text photos of
their academic records. The expectations, while seemingly humorous, convey an
honest impression about the way things should work. It should be that easy for
people to share certified records directly with others and have them trusted as
authentic.”
