EPPR: blockchain for educational record sharing and recommendation using the Ethereum platform

Abstract

There has been a great deal of discussion of the challenges on privacy, data interoperability and quality of Educational Professional Personal Record (EPPR). Therefore, there is a need to reassess the current models, in which various parties generate, exchange and observe a huge amount of personal data with regard to EPPR. Ethereum blockchain has shown that trusted, auditable transactions is detectible using a decentralized network of nodes accompanied by a general ledger. Thus, due to the fast-moving development of educational and professional data generators such as online universities and distance learning, requires learners to engage in detail into their EPPR as well as the educational and professional data generators. In this paper, we propose a novel decentralized framework to manage EPPR using Ethereum blockchain technology. The framework provides the owner of the EPPR a comprehensive immutable log and ease of access to their educational records across the educational record editors and consumers. Furthermore, it provides a recommender engine to endorse skills and competencies to the education record owners and similar candidates for educational records editors and consumers. Ethereum blockchain can provide solutions in terms of exchanging of data among parties by ensuring privacy, accountability and data interoperability. The aim of the proposed framework is to enable educational stakeholders (universities and employing agencies) to participate in the network as blockchain miners rewarded by pseudonymized data in compliance with General Data Protection Rules in United Arab Emirates.