The Adoption of Blockchain Technology for Developing a Trusted Achievement Record System in Higher Education

Abstract

The utilisation of blockchain has moved beyond digital currency to other fields. Regarding education, blockchain applications are relatively new, and the number of products based on blockchain is currently modest. In recent years, the role of blockchain applications in education has received increasing attention across several disciplines, and they have become increasingly involved in education in different ways and forms. However, scant attention has focused on the utilisation of blockchain and smart contracts to create user-friendly infrastructure to record students’ achievements in conjunction with a high degree of usability and feasibility. This thesis primarily introduces a blockchain-based achievement recording system that creates a verifiable record of students’ achievements in higher education. The system offers students the opportunity to review their progress, plan for their future accomplishments, and improve their non-academic skills. Furthermore, the knowledge that all of their academic and non-academic achievements will be recorded on a transcript will motivate students to maintain a robust and well-organised record of their work and to perform well in assessments. This trusted system helps to reduce administrative tasks. The benefits of such a system for an employer include producing trustworthy and verified achievement records that have a standardised template to ensure validity which results in benefit to employee. This thesis explores the subjects and challenges of blockchain-based applications in higher education in a systematic mapping study. Additionally, we investigate the requirements of building a user-friendly blockchain-based trusted achievement record for students in higher education, with the aim of facilitating the verification of their achievements. Consequently, A conceptual design of the system is provided with a profound explanation of its component and usage scenarios, giving information concerning the implementation and verification. Finally, a case study approach is undertaken to collect data from end-users to evaluate the proposed system’s usability, feasibility and performance.