Page 22 - Campus Technology, May/June 2019

Blockchain
employers to search through student profiles for certain skill sets, and also let college administra- tors know what skills are most in demand.
“Since we are partnering with IBM and utiliz- ing Watson’s capabilities, we will be able to build a smart pathway for our students,” said Hou. “For instance, if you take a digital badging pro- gram, then you can figure out the next steps to take to lead you to a career, profession or degree program using the platform.”
The Disruptor
While colleges and universities in the U.S. are just starting to explore how blockchain could revolutionize credentialing, academics are look- ing into how to upend the traditional model of attending college. Professors from the Univer- sity of Oxford (England) and University of Cam- bridge (England) are working together to create a borderless university called Woolf University (online), where blockchain technology takes on the role of traditional administrators.
“Woolf will provide a vital platform through which students from all over the world can study and learn. Further, by structuring courses around tutorials, students will gain incredible one-to- one access with experts in their fields. In this way online education becomes personal, aca- demically rigorous and bespoke,” said Helen Ack- ers, a teaching fellow at the University of War- wick (England), in a Medium blog post.
The educational platform is designed to lower tuition fees while increasing faculty pay by using blockchain-based smart contracts to automate administrative tasks and reduce administrative overhead costs. The founders of Woolf Univer- sity are currently seeking accreditation from the European Union and plan to have a global launch later this year.
Blockchain at Scale
For now, the focus in the U.S. is building up a critical mass of schools to explore the digital cre- dentialing use case for blockchain at scale.
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CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | May/June 2019
“We see more schools wanting to cut down on