Blockchain and the Future of Digital Learning Credential Assessment and Management

Abstract Blockchain educational technology has created assessment and management tools for learner credentials that are permanent, transparent and sustainable while giving users direct access. Personal encrypted credentials enable users to shape lifelong learning pathways and personalizes education according to individual values and needs. They allow for the permanent documentation of both formal and informal learning based on transversal competencies, adjustable across the economic sector and responsive to situational needs. Badging was the initial response to online credentialing. Mozilla’s open digital badges have become the unofficial global standard and the specifications remain free. They may be viewed in e-portfolios and social networks. Yet, if issuers cease hosting badges, they become invalid even when authentic. Some experiments with blockchain technology remedy this situation by creating a permanent, secure and sustainable infrastructure for learning records. The MIT Media Lab has produced the bitcoin based Blockcerts; whereas the Knowledge Institute, Open University, UK has developed Ethereum’s Smart Contracts to document Microcredentials (Badges). Both are Open Source products. Most EU nations are experimenting with educational blockchain. The technology creates an infrastructure to document, store and manage credentials and provides learners with a sustainable record of achievements they can control. It also benefits universities by reducing administrative costs and bureaucracy.