• The article discusses how the education sector is facing recurring issues such as fake credentials and teachers being undervalued and underpaid.
• It suggests that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may be a solution to these problems, allowing for individual courses to be verified on an unalterable public ledger.
• Professor Beau Brannan of Pepperdine University believes that NFTs can help make education more valued by making individual classes matter more.
Rising Problems in Education
Ezra Reguerra May 19, 2023 NFTs in the academy: Fighting fake credentials and unfair wages Pepperdine University professor Beau Brannan believes that NFTs could allow verification for individual courses and give more insight into college degrees. 1943 Total views 6 Total shares Listen to article 5:25 Follow up Join us on social networksThe rise of fake credentials and teachers being undervalued and underpaid are some of the recurring problems that the education sector continues to face.
Fake Credentials
On May 18, The Washington Post reported that there are about 2,800 people who purchased their credentials without attending the proper classes. They were able to pass the National Council Licensure Examination in the United States. Authorities are now trying to find these people. In the United States, some estimate that around 100,000 fake degrees are purchased from illegitimate institutions or “diploma mills” every year. Some of these degrees can be bought for $1,000 without any of the work required for such academic achievements.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
In 2021, Beau Brannan, a professor at Pepperdine University, argued the case for the use of NFTs in education. Back then, Brannan wrote that taking individual classes and putting them on an unalterable public ledger, with uniquely designed images, could make education more valued. “Institutional education would arguably improve because the individual classes would matter more as opposed to being bundled into a degree and hidden.” Fast forward a few years later and Brannan still holds this belief about NFTs offering a “solid solution” to degree forgery internationally.
Verifying Degrees
According to Brannan there is no way currently verify what is inside a degree from a school “I have no idea what is in it,” he said “I am just trusting the institution brand and accreditation body”. A Google search shows various websites offering fake diplomas which demonstrates how easy it is today too purchase an illegitimate diploma or certificate online without any effort or hard work put in from those obtaining it .
Conclusion
NFT’s could potentially offer educational institutions an additional layer of security against diploma mills or forged certificates which thus allows students who actually worked hard receive recognition for their effort instead fraudulent individuals obtaining wrongfully acquired qualifications . This technology also offers transparency when verifying qualifications which makes it difficult for individuals forge documents as they will need access to digital records rather than paper ones thus making it much harder counterfeit or falsify .