The world of cryptocurrency is growing by the day. Its popularity has stemmed from its real-world use cases, and now more than ever there are numerous ways to utilize cryptocurrency in your everyday life. The education industry can also benefit immensely through its integration with cryptocurrency.
The following are six ways to apply cryptocurrency for education:
Certification Tracking
One of the biggest challenges within the education industry is ensuring that students are not only getting the right information but also that they are getting it from a reputable source. The ability to easily track academic certificates through distributed ledger technology would help alleviate some of those issues. A student or certification issuer could simply distribute the public address to which they want to attach their certificate information. Then, when the certification is issued and recorded on a distributed ledger, it would be easy to verify that exact address and provide proof of completion or authenticity.
Distributed Learning
There are many situations where an instructor wants to teach a course but doesn’t have the resources available locally. This is especially true in the case of online courses. Using cryptocurrency, an instructor can create a smart contract to which an interested student will send their payment. The money that is sent into this smart contract will then be held until the course has been completed. After completion, the student would receive certification for their work and the instructor would get paid.
Private and Custom Currencies
One of the most popular and widely used cryptocurrencies is Bitcoin. But there are many other types of cryptocurrencies that may be useful in a classroom setting. Instead of using cash or traditional debit/credit systems, students could use their own cryptocurrency to purchase school supplies, and food at the campus cafe, and even pay their tuition fees. The school would then be able to sell its currency for an established cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, at any time. This is beneficial because it allows the school to act as its own bank and essentially offers interest on the payments students make in order to buy their currency.
Easier Payment Systems
Most educational facilities rely on some sort of centralized payment system, like a debit/credit card, for their day-to-day operations. These are not only costly but are also susceptible to data breaches and identity theft. With cryptocurrency, students can send money directly to the school or even an instructor without needing to disclose any sensitive information.
Course Material Payments
When it comes to online courses, students have been reliant on PayPal to send money from one party to another. In comparison, cryptocurrency allows for a faster and cheaper way of receiving payments from students or other parties. In fact, it can be as easy as sending someone your public address and then receiving the payment in that wallet without having to pay any fees!
School Fundraising
Cryptocurrency is a great way for schools to raise funds through online events. For example, instead of holding a traditional fundraiser where someone has to physically be there, the school can have its own fundraising event where people who are interested in donating can send money directly to the school’s smart contract wallet. They would then automatically receive an equal percentage of the school’s own currency.
As you can see, cryptocurrency can be very beneficial for the education industry. The only thing that is left now is for educational institutions to start utilizing it in their everyday operations!
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