We all know the blockchain space is well-hyped, and many companies use that hype to their advantage.

Our mission at Disruptor Daily is to drive the adoption of blockchain technology, and to do that, we’re highlighting those companies that are truly leveraging the blockchain for all its potential.

To help recognize the companies out there developing practical use cases for the education industry, we are excited to announce our first annual Blockchain In Education Use Case Award!

Here’s how the awards will work:

Our readers have nominated the companies below and until October 11th, you will now have the chance to vote for your favorite use case!

This is your opportunity to vote for the companies you feel have the most practical blockchain use case for the education industry.

In order to be an eligible voter, please follow the steps below:

Step 1: Carefully review the use cases below and vote for the one you feel could have the biggest impact.

Step 2: Cast your vote.

Step 3: Share this page and encourage others to vote!

*To maintain the integrity of the awards series, ALL votes must be linked to a LinkedIn page. We will manually review each vote and ensure there is a legitimate LinkedIn profile associated with the name. All votes that do not pass this test will be discarded*

BitDegree is an integrated online education platform focused on teaching professional digital skills. BitDegree gamifies the learning experience by creating a game-like environment and offering blockchain-powered rewards for learning. Essentially, the more courses you complete and the skills you acquire, the higher your rewards potential. It’s proven a popular model in an age of self-improvement. BitDegree also offers blockchain certificates to all learners completing courses on the platform. Among the most notable recent developments – fully transparent, achievement-based blockchain micro-scholarships. From now on, learners globally can apply for a scholarship tied to a specific course, while anyone can fund learners directly.

In addition, BitDegree is bringing context to online learning and clear short term goal to learners by linking courses and specializations to real employment opportunities. This creates a more efficient signaling system on the most in-demand skills and brings employment and education markets together.

Degree verification today demands a labor-some inefficient process that involves employers, universities, and students.

During recruitment, employers may need to wait up to 2 weeks to verify the credentials of job applicants. As a result, many of them skip degree validation all together which leads to more fake degree holders going undetected – degree fraud constitutes today an ever growing industry valued at $1 billion.

The traditional method degree verification is also costly for universities as their registrars lose a significant amount of time and money each year answering verification requests.

Learners, on the other hand, have their certificates scattered in different places, most of which are still in paper format. Verifying these certificates requires them to go back each time to the institution they received them from.

BlocRecs helps educational institutions issue their certificates on the blockchain. Doing so helps the institution digitize its certificates while eliminating the risk of certificate fraud. Also, employers enjoy instant certificate verification. While other non-blockchain solutions for digital credentialing exist, we believe the value of blockchain is in helping every individual consolidate all their credentials into a single e-portfolio linked to their identity. This revolutionizes education by giving students the ability to create a diversified educational path in the sense that credentials become stackable and a student is not confined to one educational institution or a specific learning path to gain a credential; instead, they can mix and match modules from many different educational institutions that can add up to a credential.

College students and professionals lack practical skills to build real products after completing online courses and college degrees that teach mainly theoretical knowledge.

We are a blockchain company, a video-based decentralized learning ecosystem that teaches professionals and college students how to build real products. We use LEDU coins to incentivize viewers and project creators for their proof of work in the ecosystem. Viewers earn LEDU by watching projects, sharing projects, referring friends, doing content quality checks or community moderation. Creators are subject-matter experts and are compensated in LEDU and cash for creating projects.

Despite the considerable progress of the access to education since 2000, there are still 250+ million children and youths aged 6 to 17 that are out of school and more than half of children and adolescents surveyed are not meeting minimum education proficiency standards. Globally approximately 20% of people on earth speak English, and yet over 50% of the information and educational tools on the internet are in English. The fulfillment of the United Nations goal no. 4 of universal primary education by 2030 involves multiple stakeholders and complex steps, and the progress and recording of knowledge and skills transfer, as well as verifiable accreditation, is not currently globally available.

EnglishForward is a blockchain-based earn-as-you-learn platform that encourages and rewards students to learn, while simultaneously creates a verifiable accreditation system for their future employment and learning opportunities. Harness the global English language power of native speakers by incentivizing them with crypto tokens to contribute their language skills by sharing their knowledge with students. This contribution to the English Forward platform and knowledge base creates a resource to improve students' English as a communication tool. These skills allow the students to effectively access educational information and tools online, including tutors and teachers of English. The platform is alive for 17 years and has served over 290 million users so far with monthly traffic of over 1.5 million users. It’s reputed across universities and educational institutions around the world and is run by the community.

We provide a system for schools to Issue official records in a digital format that students can share and have verified anywhere. Diplomas, transcripts, examinations, and badges can all contribute to a lifelong record of learning and achievement.

The traditional education system can be burdensome and costly, often failing to support those who rely on it most: students and educators. Institutional processes can be cumbersome, relying on human intermediaries for access to documents, course changes, and access to educators. Education today is expensive and students are often left to guess which skills they actually need to develop professionally. Employers have immediate needs for specific skills that are often left unfilled. Broadly, the system benefits intermediaries when it should be supporting students in their journey towards employment and providing educators with teaching opportunities. The global epidemic of fake degrees and diplomas challenges the authenticity of even legitimate certificates, making it hard for students to prove their education credentials. Digital nomads like remote workers and students dealing with international education and employment systems are particularly vulnerable, requiring a method for quick and easy verification of credentials.

ODEM makes education and employment more affordable, accessible, verifiable, and transferable. ODEM has developed a blockchain-based on-demand education marketplace that directly connects students, educators, and employers. The decentralized nature of the technology instills trust, allowing participants to interact in a transparent environment without the need for intermediaries. Using ODEM, employers can engage with course creators to produce learning experiences resulting in employment, while students and educators can directly collaborate to ensure that course material meets the skills gap. Course credentials are secured on the Ethereum public blockchain, rendering them immutable from possible manipulation or hacking. ODEM also partners with education institutions, helping them secure student records on the blockchain in order to provide students with globally validated, verified, and easily transferable degrees, diplomas, and certificates. ODEM’s edtech solution demonstrates how important it is to prioritize students and the skills required for future employment, making it easier to learn and find career opportunities.

Tutellus is the creator of the TUT protocol, a ‘set of tokens and smart contracts to disrupt the EdTech industry’. It began as a platform for Spanish speakers but has evolved to include services in other languages. It’s an open-source platform where users can build decentralized apps and educational services. The primary demographic are educational technology service creators.