Blockchain as a tool for consensus building within higher education institutions
Poster 22
Charles Lang
Teachers College, Columbia University
@learng00d
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Tuesday 5 December 3pm – 3.45pm
Refectory
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Abstract
Discussion of Blockchain, the much-hyped backbone of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, began to be discussed by higher education researchers and practitioners in earnest in 2014 (Lemoie, 2016). The conversation since that time has mostly centred around the use of blockchain technology to support credentialing or an “education economy” (Sharples & Domingue, 2016). In this scenario blockchain acts as a way of verifying and tracking valid educational activity and this has been implemented at several institutions, the University of Nicosia being the first (University of Nicosia, 2016). In the following poster, we discuss an alternate use for the technology, as a tool for monitoring consensus around educational goals and institutional mission. A way to bake into the IT infrastructure the negotiations and decision making relevant to goals that are currently covered by policy documents only. Such infrastructure is of growing importance as institutions look to incorporate more varied data sources into their operations.
About the authors
Charles Lang
Charles Lang is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Learning Analytics at Teachers College, Columbia. His research interests center on the use of big data in education and the role of online assessment data in accurately determining student learning. Specifically, Charles studies innovative methodologies for understanding student learning through predictive analytics, personalization and graphical models. He received his Doctorate in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education and his Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Melbourne, Australia.