Decentralising Education Using Blockchain Technology

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.