Discovering Blockchain Applications in Education

Department of Computer Science
Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology
International Islamic University Malaysia
1st. Advanse Conference Malaysia 2018
Rizal Mohd Nor
rizalmohdnor@iium.edu.my
BLOCKCHAIN
APPLICATIONS
Discovering Applications in Blockchain .edu

Rizal Mohd Nor, Ph.D.
What is Blockchain, DLT, Cryptocurrency and
Bitcoin?
Bitcoin ≠ Cryptocurrency
Blockchain ≠ Bitcoin
DLT ≠ Blockchain

Bitcoin ≠
Cryptocurrency
Source: https://masterthecrypto.com/differences-between-cryptocurrency-coins-and-tokens/

Source: Dilbert.com

Blockchain ≠ Bitcoin
Source: https://holbornassets.com/dummies-guide-blockchain/

DLT ≠ Blockchain
Source: https://bitsonblocks.net/2017/02/20/whats-the-difference-between-a-distributed-ledger-and-a-blockchain/

So what is Blockchain?
● Blockchains use complex mathematical functions to
create a secure and definitive record of who owns what
and when.
● Why is revolutionary.
○ Decentralizing Trust.
○ From Banking, Insurance, Healthcare, Internet of Things, Social
Interactions, Governments, Supply Chains
○ Connecting every network of services (remember the internet)
Reference: https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/

Smart vs Traditional Contracts
Traditional physical contracts
● created by legal professionals
● contain legal language
● vast amounts of printed documents
● heavily rely on third parties for enforcement
● If things go bad, rely on the public judicial system
Smart contracts
● created by computer programmers
● entirely digital and written using programming code
● defines the rules and consequences
● stating the obligations, benefits and penalties
● Code can be automatically executed by a distributed ledger system

Private and Public Blockchains

How Blockchain Works
The technology can work for almost every type of transaction involving value,
including money, goods and property.
Its potential uses are almost limitless: from collecting taxes to enabling migrants to
send money back to family in countries where banking is difficult.
Blockchain could also help to reduce fraud because every transaction would be
recorded and distributed on a public ledger for anyone to see.

Source: Adopted from https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-
blockchain-technology/
Consensus
Protocols
P2P: Not a new concept, Napster, Bittorrent, DHT
A verified transaction can
be cryptocurrency,
contracts, records or
other information.
Records, and
other information

Trust Issues.
Doing business in an Untrusted Network
How Do We Trust Doing A
Business Transaction, With
People We Don’t Know?

Brain Teaser: The Byzantine Generals Problem
(BGP)
An Army Surrounding an Enemy
City with various separated camps
has to agree on an attack strategy.
There are unknown traitors within
the army.
The traitors can corrupt the
message and avoid consensus.
Source: https://www.weusecoins.com/bitcoin-byzantine-generals-problem/

Okay, so how does
BGP relate to
blockchain and
trust?
Source: https://www.weusecoins.com/bitcoin-byzantine-generals-problem/

Properties of the Consensus Protocol
Safety – if all nodes produce the same output and the outputs produced by the
nodes are valid according to the rules of the protocol. Ie Consistency
Liveness - if all non-faulty nodes participating in consensus eventually produce a
value.
Fault Tolerance – provides fault tolerance if it can recover from failure of a node
participating in consensus.

Blockchain Consensus Models
● Proof of Work (PoW) – Ethereum (Homestead)
● Proof of Stake (PoS) – Ethereum (Serenity)
● Proof of Elapsed Time – Intel SawtoothLake
● Byzantine Fault Tolerance and variants – HyperLedger Fabric
○ PBFT
○ SIEVE
○ Cross-Fault Tolerance (XFT)
● Federated Byzantine Agreement – Ripple & Stellar
○ Ripple Consensus Protocol Algorithm
○ Stellar Consensus Protocol
Reference: Understanding Blockchain Consensus Models, Dr. Arati Baliga, Persistant Systems Ltd.

Comparative
Analysis
Each would fit a
Specific Business
Case
Source: Understanding Blockchain
Consensus Models, Dr. Arati Baliga,
Persistant Systems Ltd.

Applications of Blockchain in Education
1. Issuing Certificates
2. Snapshot of Vendors in the Certificate and Identity
Workspace
3. Storing a Verified e-portfolio
4. Managing Intellectual Property

1. Issue Certificates
Source: Blockcert(2016)
● Developed by MIT Media Lab and Learning Machine
● Blockcerts is free and available for anyone to use
● The purpose of making Blockcerts open source was to
avoid a standards war and vendor lock-in.
● Recipient ownership means that individuals control the
private keys that allow them to demonstrate ownership of
money or their digital records.
● Vendor independence means that access, display, and
verification do not rely on any particular vendor.

Discovering Blockchain Applications in Education

1. Issue Certificates (cont)

2. Certificate and Identity
Workspace by Vendors
● Workspaces used by organisations to design
certificates, connecting with recipients, and issuing
official records.
○ import/manage recipient lists;
○ easily collect recipient public keys;
○ design templates for digital records (content,
layout, metadata);
○ issue records to entire cohorts;
○ track aggregate analytics of how records are
being used online;
○ view profiles that show all records issued to an
individual.
Source: Learning Machine (2016)
Multiple layers in production of a certificate notarised on the Blockchain

3. Storing a Verified
e-portfolio
● Professional
Blockchain Profile
● Skill Validation
● Reputation Score
● Company Pages
● Validated
Connections
● Token Reward
Source: https://indorse.io

4. Managing Intellectual Property
Source: Bernstein (2017)

4. Managing Intellectual Property (cont)
● Providing proof of existence, integrity and ownership for copyright or patents.
● Patent claims can be uploaded, notarised and time-stamped on the blockchain.
● Traditional copyright and patent practices provide protection for an invention,
but also require the disclosure of such invention.
● Does not need to reveal any content.
● Can also be used to secure trade secrets, lab notes and other internal
intellectual property.

Student
Applications
Use Case: MyEdu-chain
Student
Student
Records
Record Smart-Contract
MyEdu-chain is
about Life Long
Learning
MyEdu-chain
Student Records
.edu
DApps
Registry Data Mapping
Analytics, Visualization, Mapping, Indexing,
Benchmarking, Modelling, Insights, Certificate
and Transcript Validation
Industry &
Employers
Advertisers
BankingInsurance
Business
& Retailers
preschool secondary

Do You Really Need A Blockchain?
Source: Dilbert.com

Analyzed your needs
Reference: Wüst, K., & Gervais, A. (2017). Do you need a Blockchain?. IACR Cryptology ePrint Archive, 2017, 375.

Let’s rediscover education for a better
future.
Share your ideas:
Rizal Mohd Nor
Department of Computer
Science, International Islamic
University Malaysia, KL
http://rizal.mohdnor.name
rizalmohdnor@iium.edu.my
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rizalmohdnor/
https://twitter.com/@rizalmnor

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