Computing for Social Good 1: Blockchain and Education

Ok, how does (and is) computing providing social impact, the short answer is one project at a time. In this occasional series, I will be highlighting some of the projects that the Computing team at the University of Northampton are involved in. The first is the Blockchain Education Passport  #BlockchainEducationalPassport project.

Image produce Dr Hala Georges

Blockchain Educational Passport
The Ana-Aqra Association, University of Northampton and the United Nations would like to implement a Blockchain-based solution which will enable people to have an Educational Passport in which they will be able to keep a trusted record of their educational experience for the rest of their lives. This project led by Dr Cristina Devecchi, Associate Professor of Education brings together a multidisciplinary team to start work on this problem including Dr Scott Turner, Associate Professor of Computing and Immersive Technologies and Dr Ali Al-Sherbaz, Associate Professor of Computing from.

So what is it about? The initial focus is helping Syrian refugees in Lebanon to track educational credentials and experience across borders via an educational passport to record and provide documented proof of their educational experiences. The second part of this to provide teachers by helping them to develop pedagogical approaches that are evidence-based and certified.

How can you help?

Please play a role creating this new system by joining or forming an open source collaboration project. We are looking for:

• Project managers / coordinators
• Blockchain specialists
• User Interface Designers
• Programmers
• Architects
• Testers
• Educators, psychologists and curriculum designers
• Legal experts (especially in the areas of children’s rights and refugees)
• Translators, communicators and other related skills.

See more details about the features and characteristics of the required platform at the Project repository:

https://github.com/UniteIdeas/BlockchainEducationalPassport/wiki

All the inputs and outputs of this project must be covered by recognized open source and creative commons licensing. You will be asked to accept terms and conditions prior to submitting any content. It is encouraged that teams leverage and extend existing open source frameworks.

How do you get involved?

If you want to contribute, please register at this site https://blockchainedupass.uniteideas.spigit.com/Page/Home   and send a message to the core team members below. You can contact them by creating your account on United Nation's Unite Ideas site. You can also start a new team or offer your skills by posting a comment explaining what you can do or invite others to join your team. If you have something to offer please get in contact.

From the University of Northampton:
Dr Cristina Devecchi, Associate Professor, Education
Dr Scott Turner, Associate Professor, Computing and Immersive Technologies
Dr Jane Murray, Associate Professor, Early Years Education
Dr Ali Al-Sherbaz, Associate Professor, Computing
Dr Eunice Lumsden, Head of Early Years Division
Dr Angela Rushton, Head of Postgraduate Programmes, Marketing
Dr Luciano Batista, Senior Lecturer in Operation Management
Prof Olinga Taeed, Professor in Social Enterprise
Mr Wray Irwin
Dr Hala Georges, Senior Lecturer in Graphics and Communication
Prof Nick Petford, Vice Chancellor

From Ana-Aqra Association:
Rima Doany Musallam, CEO Ana-Aqra Association
Amina Kleit
Ali Fakih
Dr. Maha Yaha
Tarek Jallad

Timeline
Throughout all phases below, teams are encouraged to interact with the core team at the challenger organizations to discuss the requirements for this project.

1. Formation of Teams (self-organized online and offline). Using the Unite Ideas website, project leaders can submit their ideas for architectures and approach while volunteers list their skills and offer to join their team(s) of choice. You don’t have to be in a team, you can also work independently. 1 month (End: Feb 28, 2018)

2. Individuals and self-organized team(s) collaborate independently to implement their solution. 2.5 month. End: May 6, 2018 last day to submit your work (system design, specifications, prototypes, demos, etc.)

3. Review phase. End: June 3, 2018.

Expected Outcomes
By the end of this challenge, we expect to have identified one or more self-organized teams designing and building versions of this new platform (using test data).

It is expected that interested participants will be able to continue collaborating in an open source manner towards the full completion, testing and rollout of the new platform by the core team.

What is Blockchain?
These videos may help.





All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruon