# Decentralized education? By [Ashley Cribb](https://paragraph.com/@ashecribb) · 2022-11-26 --- ### So we hear this great dialog about how blockchain and other forms of digital ledger technology (DLT) will have new and exciting ways to educate our learners. But what does this mean for education, and how can existing educational providers utilize this system to help educate? What are some of the issues with the education system of the US? * Very expensive * Monolithic * Not Agile * Resistant to change As a person who has obtained a Master’s degree in Education (Instructional Design) and is in the education blockchain space, I have spent many hours trying to devise ways to teach individuals, from kids to older adults, about blockchain technology and how it will be the infrastructure of the future. But how can we use this innovation to help take some of the pain points within our education system and help spur new learning based on it? Let’s dive into some items that will help our learners and, most importantly, our education system. This is the beginning of a series of innovations that will help education through blockchain. We will start with learning lockers. Learning locker --------------- We all may have heard of a [digital wallet](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/best-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-wallet). If you haven’t, a digital wallet (hardware or software) can hold digital items such as digital currency, a fungible or non-fungible deed to your house, your marriage license, and other forms of ownership. But what if we use the same technology to hold educational data? For many years educators have been attempting to create a digital backpack. The concept is that you would have a backpack that would hold all your educational records and that you could take this backpack everywhere you went. You could give your educational records to people wherever you went and not allow them to have them when you wanted to revoke their privileges to your data. Well, now that we have a decentralized world that is beginning, this concept is possible. [Safe](https://gnosis-safe.io/) has introduced a concept called a safe instead of a wallet. What is different between a crypto wallet and a safe? If you look at Safe’s website, you have the following: https://help.gnosis-safe.io/en/articles/3876456-what-is-gnosis-safe So, safe is a multi-signature solution. What does this mean? It means that more than one person can access this “safe.” In education, we have HIPPA, and other forms parents must fill out to access their children’s records and any data concerning their children. We can use Safe’s example to have an Education Locker, aka “Learning locker.” A learning locker will hold all your diplomas, grades, and attendance, among other items that are collected. What else can this do? Each student will be given a locker (outside of the education system) that they will have with them and can take this locker to a new school. Within the school, the administration will ask the student and parents to have access to their previous records and be able to append them to their existing info. The locker does not have access to the person’s name, only the address. This is important because the locker address is the only identified item. So, all learning data does not reference the individual learner but uses the wallet address. So, all educational data can be used to help the individual learner. And like on all forms, A parent and a student will be in charge of the locker. When the learner is of adult age, the parent must ask permission to view the records. My next article in this series will concern smart contracts. ------------------------------------------------------------ --- *Originally published on [Ashley Cribb](https://paragraph.com/@ashecribb/decentralized-education)*