Smart classrooms aren’t too far off, and blockchain technology may become an integral part of schools all over the globe in a few years. But how will this system help administrators and students?

Bitcoin is the most well-known virtual currency in the world, at one time reaching a value of over $19,000 per coin. Its biggest legacy, however, has nothing to do with its value, but with the type of network it uses.

The blockchain, which has gained fame over the last few years for its superior cybersecurity capabilities, has begun to see use in a number of industries that take security seriously, including finance and healthcare. The potential uses for the blockchain, however, extend far beyond its current applications and could make a big difference in classrooms one day.

Education is a sector that is just as important as healthcare and finance, and there are lots of areas within this sector that could be improved using technology. The market for edtech is growing quickly, and is estimated to reach $93.76 billion globally by 2020. Already, tools like virtual reality and personalized learning with artificial intelligence are helping to improve learning outcomes for students at all levels.

Smart classrooms aren’t too far off, and blockchain technology may become an integral part of schools all over the globe in a few years. But how will this system help administrators and students? To understand the potential impact of blockchain in the education system and predict how this technology will impact teachers and students, it’s helpful to know how other sectors have used it to improve their processes—and how schools might one day follow in their footsteps.

Banks and Hospitals Paving the Way for Better School Security

Globally, people are understandably worried about their privacy and the security of their data. Parents are especially protective of their children’s data, and schools have to take the threat of data breaches seriously as online records become more common every year.

Schools can follow the lead of industries like finance and healthcare and use the blockchain to help keep student data safe in the coming years. These industries have been paving the way for years and the infrastructure that will allow schools to secure their data with blockchain technology is finally being built, thanks to the successful tests and experiments conducted by healthcare and financial organizations.  

Banks and financial institutions are understandably security-focused, and have been pioneers in using blockchain technology. Although the process of updating the blockchain’s distributed ledger can be slow, it is much faster than many other digital means of transferring value.

In healthcare, blockchains are being used to help reduce the impact of cybercrime and data theft in the industry. An astounding 1 out of every 4 breaches targets the healthcare sector, affecting 1 in 13 patients in the United States. Healthcare data is extremely valuable to hackers because it is so personal, permanent, and detailed. To help fight off cybercriminals, many healthcare organizations and insurers are either using or considering using blockchain technology. The transparency of the system, combined with the fact that nothing is truly deleted, makes it much more difficult to steal patient data undetected.

Security Concerns and Degree Verification on College Campuses

Unfortunately, education isn’t far behind finance and healthcare when it comes to data breaches. After these two industries, education experienced the most data breaches of any sector in 2017, making up 13% of all breaches. Student data, although it might seem worthless since most young children and teens have limited financial information, is actually becoming a hot commodity among cybercriminals.

Security and verification are becoming a major concern both on college campuses and after students leave to enter the workforce. Data breaches target student records and steal information that can be used to create fake identities or be sold by hackers. Protecting records with the blockchain could make these attacks ineffective, protecting students’ identities and school records. As more schools from kindergarten to university go digital, this could be key in ensuring student privacy.

Employing blockchain security protocols in higher education has its other uses as well—namely defending employers against people who claim to have a degree, but really don’t. Unfortunately, people have been known to lie about their degrees and qualifications to employers, claims that are difficult (if not impossible) to verify under current systems. When students enter the workforce, blockchain could also be used to help assure employers that potential candidates fresh out of school have the qualifications that they claim on their resume, by storing that information in a secure ledger.

Potential Uses for Blockchain Technology in the Education Sector

By looking to other industries that currently use blockchain technology, we can start to make predictions about how these networks could be used in an educational setting. While the number of potential uses in education is very large, there are a few that are the most exciting.

Test Prep and Learning

Russian platform Disciplina is the first platform to harness the power of blockchain technology solely for education and recruiting. TeachMePlease, one of the Disciplina applications, is a higher education marketplace, bringing teachers and students together.

Another blockchain platform that’s emerging in this space is Opet Foundation’s chatbot app to help students with test prep. It answers questions and recommends resources while keeping track of student progress in the blockchain.

Library and Information Services

Because it is easier to keep track of and store information, the blockchain could be used to enhance library and information services in schools. Though few libraries have started experimenting with blockchain technology, at least one school has received a substantial grant to begin the discovery process.

Transportation

Getting students to school is an important part of educating them. In the future, ridesharing apps resting on blockchain technology could be used to organize carpools for students with special needs. This will be particularly important as roadways become more congested and carpooling becomes a necessity. Using the blockchain in this way would also take the burden off of parents and ensure that all children get the safe transportation they need.

Looking Toward the Future

Because blockchain use in the education space is still very new and unexplored, there are a lot of unanswered questions. What is clear, however, that the possibilities are endless. As school administrators look to the future, they would do well to think about how to harness this powerful technology.

Uwe Weiss is CEO of Blue Yonder, a leading provider of predictive analytics. He has more than 20 years of experience in the enterprise software sector and he is an expert in cloud computing and SaaS. Mr. Weiss was the co-founder and CEO of various successful start-ups and growth companies, most recently of Crossgate AG. In this guest post, Weiss discusses how smart services and automated decisions hold considerable potential for enterprises.

The digital economy increasingly is penetrating the “classic” industry sectors such as production, machine and equipment manufacturing. A prerequisite for this penetration is that production environments and objects be Internet-enabled, equipped with sensors and connected with one another in a network. In this way, machines and facilities provide information about their own condition and any work steps that are needed. Objects such as bottles in a bottling plant can also provide this information. According to Henning Kagermann, President of ACATECH (National Academy of Science and Engineering) and former CEO of SAP, this information represents “digital service building-blocks.”

Smart services increase margins in after-sales
What do these services look like and how enterprises benefit from them? Manufacturers of capital goods are increasingly discovering after-sales as an attractive and margin-rich business space. What was earlier a necessary part of common sales practice is today often its own profitable organizational unit — and the smarter it is, the more profitable. If machines, facilities, vehicles and other high-value consumption goods report their condition using sensors, then replacement part demand can be accurately and automatically forecast using predictive analytics. Enterprises avoid delivery bottlenecks in after-sales by means of accurate sales and demand planning, and at the same time reduce the storage capacities that have to be used. Predictive Analytics can automate mass decision-making. In materials planning, that has a big impact on revenue.

Additional smart services are used for machine control and machine monitoring. By continually analyzing machine data and facility data, performance problems and defective parts can be recognized early. Short-term and expensive use of service personnel and machine downtimes are avoided. Resource use can be anticipated and planned, with the right replacement parts being made available. That increases productivity and efficiency in enterprises.

Smart services: for industrial enterprises, there is no alternative
German industry, which leads the world, should know by now that there is a danger connected with this great possibility: the risk of missing the right moment to do something or the best opportunity. This is particularly true in competition with American companies and aggressive startups. “The relationship among original manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers will be redefined in the coming years,” says Henning Kagermann. Industrial enterprises that operate on the “business as usual” model could quickly become dependent on a new generation of digital service providers.

We are here to provide enterprises with innovative business models so that they can secure and expand their market share. But as software providers, we know that Predictive Analytics applications that can be implemented easily are only one side of the equation. The transition to a smart service world can only be successful if each individual enterprise and each individual employee buys into it. In the “Smart Service World” operating manual, it states: “Enterprises in future need to be ready to cooperate increasingly across industries and sectors and to decisively and intentionally expand and adapt their product- and services portfolio.” Experience from many projects in various industry sectors has taught us this: A change in consciousness, to thinking in terms of digital value-added interconnections pays off. Costs sink, sales increase, and business models fit for the future are created.

Blue Yonder, as a provider of forecast solutions, is showing how data science can be profitably used, every day. Blue Yonder, based in Karlsruhe, Germany, has a goal of democratizing big data. This means that business users at companies should be able to work with predictive analytics solutions using simple user interfaces.