An Overview of Blockchain for Higher Education

Abstract

Blockchain technology is one of the most widely acclaimed technologies of recent years. It enables the creation of distributed applications involving multiple actors or organizations in which transactions and data are not under the control of a central authority. Transactions are stored in a distributed public ledger in an immutable format in such a way that they can be verified by participants. This disintermediation promises to remove much of the “friction” (and lower costs) from distributed transactions by cutting out the intermediary party, thus enabling a variety of applications in finance, government, health, etc. This paper provides an overview of recent research in the application of blockchain technology to higher education for those who are interested in working in this area or just understanding how higher education may be positively impacted in the future by blockchain.