Part I: Introduction to Blockchain and Literacy and Language Learning
Clarissa Terracciano is a PhD student in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Denver. Her research examines how blockchain technology can be used to expand inclusive access to educational experiences, advance EdTech policy, and empower learners with ownership over their records and credentials—supporting more equitable, self-directed educational pathways and promoting global social mobility through lifelong learning.
*This is the first of two blogs on blockchain and literacy and language learning
Since the spread of COVID-19, literacy and language education are increasingly shifting online with virtual instruction, adaptive assessments, and multilingual support. Blockchain technology enhances this shift by providing secure, verifiable student progress and achievement records. Blockchain technology is a digital ledger decentralized system that can act as a learning management and record system. Blockchain technology enables learning platforms to track literacy proficiency, deliver personalized content, and award micro-credentials for milestones. Smart contracts automate the tracking, verification, and fulfillment of agreements. They can automate adaptive assessments, ensuring students advance based on mastery rather than fixed timelines. Immutable records help multilingual learners by maintaining verified language proficiency data, giving learners ownership over their records. Blockchain technology is commonly associated with cryptocurrency, yet its application across sectors has become more relevant as the technology advances and spreads globally. Blockchain in education can provide a secure, data-driven system that has the ability to track literacy progress, ensuring students receive consistent, personalized support throughout their learning journey (Edwards, 2024). Blockchain serves as a tool to enhance teachers' capacities to deliver personalized instruction and feedback and to enhance equitable and practical instruction.
One of the most promising applications of blockchain in literacy education is long-term learning documentation and dynamic assessment. Unlike traditional grading systems, which can be inconsistent or lost when students change schools, blockchain ensures secure, permanent tracking of literacy skills across multiple domains and practices of language, allowing educators to make data-informed instructional decisions (Ugli, 2023). Ugli (2023) notes that 4th-grade science students' scientific literacy can be applied with blockchain by “Blockchain helps in creating a system where each student's scientific research or project is recorded in a block, creating a unique "digital footprint." This not only encourages students to take their studies more seriously but also helps them develop scientific analysis and writing skills” while allowing students and teachers to see literacy application across learning domains (p.88-89).
Blockchain technology enables students to be at the center and in control of their educational journey facilitating secure engagement through teachers, peers and digital resources. Students learning achievements and milestones, such as vocabulary mastery, reading development and assessment, and writing projects as verifiable credentials in their learning journey through a learner owned digital portfolio (Li, 2022; Sun et al., 2020). As Cheriguene et al. (2022) explain, “Blockchain provides a level of transparency, provenance, reliability, and trustworthiness in both course delivery and assessments,” which reinforces the technologies role in building equitable, learner-driven educational ecosystems (p. 56). In literacy education, this supports consistent, personalized documentation of reading and writing development across time and settings.
Figure 1. Blockchain for education
Source: Cheriguene, A., Kabache, T., Adnane, A., Kerrache, C. A., & Ahmad, F. (2022). On the use of blockchain technology for education during pandemics. IT Professional, 24(2), 52–60. https://doi.org/10.1109/MITP.2021.3066252
References
Cheriguene, A., Kabache, T., Adnane, A., Kerrache, C. A., & Ahmad, F. (2022). On the use of blockchain technology for education during pandemics. IT Professional, IEEE Computer Society, 24(2), 52–60. https://doi.org/10.1109/MITP.2021.3066252
Edwards, M. (2024). How Blockchain Technology is Revolutionizing Education: The Future of Learning. Business News, September 23, 2024.
Li, J. (2022). Adaptive Learning Model of English Vocabulary Based on Blockchain. Mobile Information Systems, 2022, Article ID 4554190.
Sun, X., Zou, J., Li, L., & Luo, M. (2020). A Blockchain-Based Online Language Learning System. Telecommunication Systems, 76, 155–166.
Ugli, U. K. Q. (2023). Blockchain in Education: Transparency and Literacy Formation. IJMEF, 3(12), 86-91.
