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The emergence of Blockchain technology promises to decentralise and revolutionise not only the financial world, but also education in various ways. Blockchain technology offers opportunities to thoroughly rethink how we find educational content and tutoring services online, how we register and pay for them, as well as how we get accredited for what we have learned and how this accreditation affects our career trajectory.\ud \ud This hands-on workshop will explore the different aspects of education and lifelong learning that are affected by decentralisation. More specifically, we will discuss the ways that ePortfolios, accreditation, tutoring, as well as other aspects of teaching and learning can evolve within a decentralised ecosystem based on the Blockchain. Participants will also have the opportunity to try out and evaluate the online platform offered by the QualiChain project for the Blockchain-based award and verification of education and employment qualifications.\ud \ud The following outlines the structure of this workshop:\ud \ud 1. Presentation: Introduction to Blockchain technology and the QualiChain project (15 minutes).\ud 2. First activity: Participants discuss scenarios for the use of Blockchain technology in education and lifelong learning (30 minutes).\ud 3. Second activity: Participants try out and evaluate the QualiChain platform (30 minutes).\ud 4. Discussion on the overall findings and closing (15 minutes). Total workshop time: 90 minutes.

This paper presents a pilot case study of the QualiChain project, aiming at supporting lifelong learning through the combined use of Smart Badges and personalised recommendations. The pilot case study uses Blockchain technology as a means to decentralise lifelong learning and provide lifelong learners with transparent and immutable educational accreditation. At the same time, lifelong learners are provided with personalised recommendations that help them reach their personal and professional learning goals.

Blockchain technology provides a decentralised peer-to-peer infrastructure, supporting openness, transparency, accountability, identity management and trust. As such, the Blockchain has the potential to revolutionise education in a number of ways. Blockchain technology offers opportunities to thoroughly rethink how we find educational content and training services online, how we register and pay for them, as well as how we get accredited for what we have learned and how this accreditation affects our career trajectory. This paper explores a case study on the decentralisation of lifelong learning using Blockchain technology. In particular, we investigate the different scenarios and requirements for making online education and lifelong learning more open and decentralised, while placing lifelong learners in control of their learning process and its associated data. Additionally, we discuss various approaches to the Semantic Blockchain and the applications of these approaches on education.

The Cisco Networking Academy programme (NetAcad) supports education and training in network engineering worldwide. NetAcad works with diverse educational institutions to offer an educational ‘vertical’ from beginner to advanced network engineer. However, as recognised by employment stakeholders, skills shortages in networking remain (Tech Partnership, 2016), particularly at the entry point (vocational levels two/three).\ud \ud NetAcad has been seen as a closed community based on the use of proprietary (Cisco) technology, but since 2013 it has moved towards openness through the release of APIs, free-to-use software/content, and the adoption of open standards. This has been, in part, enabled via scalable engagement projects with diverse stakeholders, including the UK Open University (OU). The OU is an Academy Support Centre (ASC) within NetAcad, supporting the growth and academic development of network engineering.\ud \ud In collaboration with Cisco and funded by the Ufi Charitable Trust, the OU is developing an online Badged Open Course (BOC), as part of the Open Networking Lab project (onl.kmi.open.ac.uk). Using the OU’s OpenLearn Create educational platform (www.open.edu/openlearncreate) under a CC-BY-SA-NC licence, material from the course can be taken and reused. The BOC will provide what is colloquially described as ‘zero to hero’ learning in network engineering and represents approximately 24 hours of study over 8 weeks. The course, which is free and open to all, is aimed at post-16 learners and is intended for use both by individuals engaged in independent study and classroom-based learners. Early versions of the course have been used by a number of UK further education colleges over the past 12 months. These institutions have been using the course with students who are studying towards a vocational qualification but currently have little previous experience of networking.\ud \ud Drawing on Sfard (1998), who argued that acquisition and participation are both necessary for learning, the course is primarily a combination of screencasts (acquisition) followed by experience/practice (participation) with a web-based computer network simulator. With the use of an Open API, integration between Cisco’s freely available and powerful ‘Packet Tracer’ network simulator and any compatible browser is enabled. The web-based network simulator, known as ‘PT Anywhere’ (Mikroyannidis et al., 2017) offers an authentic experience of networking, while developing learners’ confidence. Students can put into immediate practice technological skills learned via the screencasts. Each new practical activity delivers a network with configurable components. Students can follow the instructions, as well as freely exploring the network – adding, removing or modifying components.\ud \ud We will present findings from two large-scale evaluations of different stages of the course development. These evaluations took place with FE colleges using the course, and include student surveys, observations, learning analytics and interviews with staff. We will consider how these findings have shaped the development of the course as it moves towards becoming a BOC, hosted on the OU’s OpenLearn platform (www.open.edu/openlearn) and also accessible via the OU’s OpenSTEM Labs (stem.open.ac.uk/study/openstem-labs). We will discuss with participants the implications of being open to a range of learners with different learning preferences, learning needs and prior experience.\ud \ud References\ud Kolb, D.A. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice-Hall Inc., New Jersey.\ud \ud Mikroyannidis, A., Gomez-Goiri, A., Smith, A. & Domingue, J. (2017) Online Experimentation and Interactive Learning Resources for Teaching Network Engineering. IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON). Athens, Greece http://oro.open.ac.uk/49733/, IEEE Education Society Publications.\ud \ud Sfard, A. (1998). On Two Metaphors for Learning and the Dangers of Choosing just One.\ud Educational Researcher, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp.4-13\ud \ud Tech Partnership (2016). Factsheet: Demand for Digital specialists [online]. Available at:https://www.tpdegrees.com/globalassets/pdfs/research-2016/factsheet_demandfordigitalspecialists_july16.pdf. [Accessed 30 November 2018].

Blockchain technology provides a decentralised peer-to-peer infrastructure, supporting openness, transparency, accountability, identity management and trust. As such, the Blockchain has the potential to revolutionise online education in a number of ways. Blockchain technology offers opportunities to thoroughly rethink how we find educational content and training services online, how we register and pay for them, as well as how we get accredited for what we have learned and how this accreditation affects our career trajectory. This paper explores the different aspects of online education that are affected by this new paradigm. In particular, we investigate the different scenarios where the use of Blockchain technology can make online education more open and decentralised, while placing learners in control of their learning process and its associated data. Additionally, we discuss various approaches to the Semantic Blockchain and the applications of these approaches on online education.

Learning to configure computer networks is a topic requiring a substantial practical component and suggesting a pedagogic approach that foregrounds experiential learning. However, providing appropriate computer networking hardware is expensive for classroom labs, and is not viable for individual distance learners. \ud \ud Simulation offers an alternative basis for practical learning and supports a range of modes, from individual distance learning to in-class blended learning. Sophisticated network simulation packages, such as Cisco’s Packet Tracer, have high fidelity to networking devices and can simulate complex network scenarios. Unfortunately their complex interfaces make it difficult for a novice student to engage productively.\ud \ud The Open Networking Lab (ONL) will provide online resources for students of introductory computer networking. It will take an activity-centred approach, supported with video and screencasts, in preference to lengthy text. Practical activity is based on PT Anywhere, a network simulator that provides students with an easy-to-use, browser-based interface over Cisco’s Packet Tracer. PT Anywhere thus provides fully authentic simulation but, by only revealing a subset of features, supports a carefully scaffolded approach to teaching and learning.\ud \ud We report at an early stage in the development of the ONL. Material is being piloted with students at UK Further Education colleges. Evaluation will include observation, surveys and interviews with students and staff; PT Anywhere also provides learning analytics. A further stage of development will culminate in a badged open course on the Open University’s OpenLearn platform.\ud \ud The ONL will provide vocational learning at scale in educational institutions, employment contexts and for individual learners.

The emergence of Blockchain technology promises to revolutionise not only the financial world, but also lifelong learning in many different ways. Blockchain technology offers opportunities to thoroughly rethink how we find educational content and training services online, how we register and pay for them, as well as how we get accredited for what we have learned and how this accreditation affects our career trajectory. This paper explores the different aspects of lifelong learning that are affected by this new paradigm and describes an ecosystem that places the learner at the centre of the learning process and its associated data. More specifically, we outline the ways that ePortfolios, accreditation and tutoring can evolve within this learner-centred ecosystem and we discuss the various benefits that this evolution bears for lifelong learners.