Non-fungible tokens have gained relevance in recent years through digital art. Several collectors and creators have made fortunes with them. In just a few years, the technology has spread to a vast network of creators, companies, brands, and celebrities who trade huge  volumes in various markets. However, with the growth in market volumes come pressing questions about the long-term value proposition of NFTs. It is worth asking if digital arts is all there is to this nascent technology, and this piece will provide some answers. 

A closer look at the roles of NFTs in Education

1. Issuance of certificates

Certified qualifications are vital to every firm or institution primarily because they are proof of the bearer's competence. The major problem with certificates nowadays is their authenticity. Fake certificates are fast becoming a norm, and anyone with good graphic design skills can forge one within minutes. While this might not mean much for some roles where the certificate bearer can learn on the job, the effects might be devastating for others where laser precision is needed. 

How, then, do we tackle this problem of certificate issuance? The existing solution involves getting letters from several offices to verify authenticity, but this method is time-consuming and inefficient. Thanks to the underlying tech, a modern world where institutions create blockchain-based systems to issue certificates as NFTs is not hard to imagine. These certificates can not be tampered with, and anyone that cares–including employers– can view and verify their authenticity at any time.  

2. Preservation of records

Record keeping is an age-long sector that can be improved upon by NFTs and its underpinning technology–blockchain. Keeping paper records is a risk-– things happen beyond our control, often coming unannounced. Disasters, natural or otherwise, can be devastating, destroying everything in their wake, including certificates. If things like that happen, what do you do? Getting copies of their certificates is tedious, but all this stress can be avoided by having your certificates as NFTs. Schools and colleges will have reduced paperwork, and students can keep records of their degrees from the beginning of their education to their current level. Institutions that have scaled up to digitizing records are still plagued with security issues such as hacks, record manipulations, etc. Creating a blockchain-based record-keeping platform solves these, as technical blockchain networks are technically impossible to hack into. Even if a nation's educational system collapses, the blockchain records of their certificate can keep their credentials.

3. Protecting intellectual property

Intellectual theft is prevalent in academic circles, which is pitiful, considering the time and resources put into making some inventions. Licenses and patents can be stored on the blockchain as NFTs. This way, inventors can defend their intellectual property because of the time stamps on digital assets. Research can also be crowd-funded, with each investor owning a piece of NFT to show financial collaboration in the research work. 

Conclusion

NFTs in education might sound bizarre initially, but taking a step further makes you realize the gaps in the existing system for which they are an ideal fit. They have the potential to revolutionize the way we learn and how we assess learning outcomes. They can also help to create more secure and efficient systems for managing educational data. Hopefully, in a few years, institutions will explore NFTs and other blockchain-based solutions for their online ventures.

AirNFTs is a non-custodial NFT marketplace driving NFT adoption across industries. It enables everyone to trade NFTs seamlessly while maintaining complete ownership and control of their private keys and digital assets. Follow our Telegram, Twitter, and Instagram pages to stay on top of the latest NFT news.

Read the last piece on our NFT use cases series here.