I decided to tackle BlockChain Technology (BCT) for my Assignment 3: Forecasting Project.
The aim of my website is to deconstruct BCT then discuss the horizontal disruption it could make in the future of education, with particular focus on open and mobile learning. I have laced several reflection questions throughout the website that I hope you return to this forum to discuss.
Happy BlockChaining!
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Hello Kristen,
That was an insightful aggregation of thoughts and central ideas revolving around Blockchain Technology. I do find myself questioning when our current economic systems will shift towards something more decentralized, as globalization continues to fuel international relationships, trade between large global bodies, and create a more interconnected world. I find Blockchain Technology simply accelerating that process. In a similar aspect, it is the idea of us being humans as catalysts for creating high entropy, as summarized in Vertasium’s video, “The Most Misunderstood Concept in Physics” at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxL2HoqLbyA.
I do wish there was a more practical implication and direction in this project to show how there may be real quantifiable consequences in Education if (or when) we adopt more usage of Blockchain Technology into our systems. What do you think are some of the direct outcomes if we utilized this technology, and where are they most readily applicable in the near future to make a difference in Education?
For example, I would gamble a guess about how simply the knolwedge of how Blockchain Technology works is so readily connected to Financial LIteracy, yet this topic is taught so loosely in school, if not at all until high school (and even then, it was just an optional course for Alberta Curriculum). If anythign, we only teach it abstractly and loosely in Math class, but very little connections are made to economics that could enhance a Social Studies lesson. This critique does not even consider what the use of the technology itself in the educational field could do to change the system as a whole.
Thank you for your forecasting though, I learned a lot!
If you look on the education page, I have elaborated on how content tokenization is the area that blockchain technology will have the greatest impact on educators as content as creators. This has implications for intellectual property, copyright and ethical use of material.
Hello Kirsten,
I thoroughly enjoyed your A3 topic on Blockchain Technology (BCT). Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are topics that frequently come up in my cybersecurity classes, so it was fascinating to see the overlap with the A3 project you presented.
Your presentation effectively highlighted the advantages of information verification through blockchain hashing. This is a concept I’ve considered, but I’ve often struggled with how it could be implemented within our education system, particularly given the challenges surrounding security, school and student records, and public access to information despite encryption protections. I am also a bit concerned with the computational and environmental requirements to encrypt and secure information.
Thank you for sharing your insights on this topic.
Hi Joel,
Being an expert in cyber security, your positive feedback on my BCT website is much appreciated! Thanks for stopping by ????
While you are here, may I take advantage of your background knowledge? Being a complete novice myself, may I ask what you think the feasibility of content tokenization for educators would be? The intended aim would be for educators to be recognized and rewarded for their creative efforts. As we know, educators create content all the time, but teachers are constantly plagiarising each other’s efforts (nice modelling! Lol) If educators uploaded digital resources and OERs online using BCT rather than any contemporary encrypted agreement, the hash and private key would act as the intellectual property stamp of ownership on that digital asset. Does that seem like something that would work?
Prior to the undertaking of this project, I would have synonymized blockchain technology with cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin. Now that I have educated myself a teeny, tiny bit more, I understand the power that it presents to safeguard all types of confidential information, hence, the hashing you cited.
Kirsten you’ve tackled an immense topic and provided a fantastic amount of valuable information on blockchain.
Based on all of this fantastic knowledge you’ve collected, I’m left wondering what you believe would the most compelling use of blockchain in the near future? I wanted to take a closer look at the graphic for “Future Niche Potential”, but it’s a bit low res. Was there a particular niche use case that is worth noting? Thank you for assembling all of this information for us!
Thanks so much for your comments, Nicole.
In the field of education, specifically, I believe the most compelling future use of BCT is for educators-cum-content creators to begin to be recognized for their efforts by adding copyrighted teaching material to the blockchain through content tokenization. Intellectual property issues would be solved and ethical fair use of materials would be ensured.
And yes, I know the clarity on some of my visuals failed – oopsadaisey!
Here are two direct links to the entire pamphlet from Institute for the Future:
https://legacy.iftf.org/learningisearning/
https://legacy.iftf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/downloads/learning/IFTF_ACT_LearningIsEarning_ResearchMap.pdf
The entire pamphlet is an informative, quick read about how learning can lead to more earning using BCT. But the image you are referring to specifically is a list of different online tools that are being used as for national learning economy potential by endorsing the maker mentality for both educators and learners. So, while I wanted to focus on content tokenization for educators, there is no reason why this could not also be extended to students (some of whom will increasingly and inevitably be creating much more savvy digital content than their teachers!)
What a cool topic, BlockChaining!
Blockchaining is a very difficult concept to explain but you did that clearly. How I understand blockchaining is a distributed ledger and secure of recording all transactions. What I enjoyed the most was your current examples of mobile education, DAOs, educational administration, digital innovation, governance, conservation, supply chain, and social media.
Thank you for such a unique and well-informed A3!
Hi Clare,
Thanks so much for commenting on my BCT website! It was a HUGE topic that I took as big of a bite out of as possible to gather the best understanding of the potential of block chain technology in the educational realm.
What I really hoped to showcase with this website was the potential of BCT to safeguard teaching and learning activities on the blockchain, in addition to the existing administrative activities that are already commonly performed through BCT, such as credentialization. If teaching activities were locked into the chain, it would ensure both standardization, as well as promote fair, ethical usage of materials while correctly attributing copyright, licensing and intellectual property to their rightful owner. Those owners are teachers who double as content creators and compensation is due through content tokenization.
It is going to be an upward battle but one very much worth fighting for an equitable future knowledge society.