Page 23 - Campus Technology, May/June 2019

How blockchain works
Issuer (school)
Issuer invites recipient to receive a blockchain credential
Issuer hashes credential onto the blockchain
Issuer sends recipient a blockchain credential
Recipient (student)
Verifier (employer)
Recipient accepts invitation, sending issuer their blockchain address
Employer checks the blockchain to verify the certificate
BLOCKCHAIN
Recipient sends credential to verifier (employer)
internal verification costs and to have a system where all of the credentials issued are in one place,” said Learning Machine’s Smolenski. “This is where we see the value that we can present to market and we expect to see a real uptick in interest in 2019.”
MIT’s Callahan said she has seen more indi- vidual conversations going on at various colleges about badges and credentials, but there hasn’t been a wholescale movement to adopt block- chain for micro-credentialing.
“There are financial considerations that need to be taken into account to create the model of how this will work in practice,” said Callahan. “Registrars are very interested in the value for the students of digital credentials, but it becomes an issue for the university itself on
how to fund this activity.”
To expand the possibilities of what blockchain
can do, Callahan said MIT is currently working on an awareness program to build up the num- ber of students accessing the mobile app and sharing their diplomas with employers.
“We want to create a lifelong learning approach where people who want to represent their skills and experience can do so through a blockchain- based app,” said Callahan. “I consider this initia- tive as a way to help students gain a foothold in the world, which will require us to be more facile and nimbler to create a suitable experience for students.”
Sara Friedman is a reporter/producer for Campus Technology.
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