Blockchain education and learning trends have significantly changed as mainstream awareness and interest have risen over the past several years.
Blockchain is still somewhat perceived as an abstract, technological subject catering to those with advanced knowledge in computer science, networks, engineering, and other related fields.
However, this perception has gradually changed as students and professionals with increasingly various backgrounds have shown interest in learning blockchain. NFTs, DeFi (decentralized finance), metaverse, digital asset wallets, stablecoins, and other crypto-related products & services have captured the imagination of many people and continue to do so.
Thus, demand for blockchain jobs from both the private and public sectors is forecasted to continue increasing over the years to come. Accordingly, global consulting firm McKinsey has named Web3 (blockchain-based Internet) as one of the hottest business trends in 2023.
Looking at 2024 and beyond, the field of blockchain education is evolving and maturing to meet the needs of many different kinds of learners including new and experienced developers, business professionals, entrepreneurs, and the general population.
In this blog, we’ll look at recent blockchain education trends and how different types of learners are increasingly looking at learning about this space.
In the past, blockchain technology was mostly a subject of non-interest for those in the public sector as it was a nascent technology with minimal adoption.
It was also avoided by some due to political reasons.
As is with emerging technologies, this has resulted in many public sector agencies needing to be faster to realize the quick adoption of blockchain and digital assets by the general populace and the private sector.
Nowadays, more governments around the world are incorporating blockchain-based services and actively engaging with blockchain associations and companies to figure out the best way forward to balance innovation with regulations.
For example, several European Union initiatives are centered around blockchain integration, especially when it comes to digital identity.
Some other examples:
- European Union Blockchain Sandbox is a program that encourages companies in the EU to join with government entities and find new innovative use cases for blockchain technology.
- European Blockchain Partnership is a program created to find new applications for distributed ledgers in the public sector.
For this reason, there has been an increasing emphasis on creating and launching blockchain education courses and workshops for those in the public sector.
Bodies such as Blockchain 4 Europe, a Brussels-based membership organization, aim to work with EU policymakers, academics, and private sector companies to raise awareness and create frameworks to support blockchain innovation.
Other examples include Singapore’s central bank which has started testing tokenization with established financial institutions and working on a tokenized government bond fund. Several other Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines, and European countries such as Germany, Luxembourg, France, and Switzerland have also tested issuing digital bonds.
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Emerging technologies, especially blockchain and cryptocurrencies, tend to spark an interest among younger users. Naturally, this leads young prospective developers and entrepreneurial-minded students to become engaged in learning blockchain. Universities are also driven to enroll and educate students and this has led to more universities launching blockchain education courses to meet increased demand.
In the early days, most universities would not even offer blockchain-related courses or they would limit them to students with a technical background or those pursuing post-graduate degrees. This narrow education scope limited the impact blockchain education could have on a student’s career.
However, this has changed as blockchain courses are now taught at the undergraduate level in more universities across the world and to non-technical students.
Many other university departments such as economy, social sciences, marketing, public relations, etc. have incorporated blockchain courses in their curriculums, or are taking the process of adding them in the future.
Some examples come from EMURGO Academy with the implementation of SmartBlocks, a blockchain learning solution for educational institutions.
EMURGO Academy is a blockchain education company that has rolled out several of its education courses aimed at teaching and upskilling business professionals to acquire blockchain-related job skills as well as offering a blockchain education solution for universities to utilize.
Read here:
- EMURGO partners with the City University of Seattle
- EMURGO partners with Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
Many other universities have started blockchain clubs on campus to promote collaborative learning and teach blockchain at the undergraduate level too.
Similar to the public sector, many private companies also kept a distance from the blockchain field during the early days of the technology due to the narratives surrounding “crypto” at the time. It was seen as an area linked with illicit marketplaces of the deep web.
However, this also gradually changed as awareness grew and organizations such as the Hyperledger Foundation laid the groundwork for a closer relationship between the private sector and blockchain. Today, blockchain technology is a subject of intense study and many private companies have developed proof-of-concepts or integrated blockchain-based solutions.
Surveys have shown that enterprises are increasingly aware of the possibilities of blockchain to create new business models and are experimenting with different products and services that leverage blockchain such as NFTs, supply chain management solutions, and more.
Several corporate-only educational programs also teach about blockchain to employees through partnerships with blockchain education companies such as EMURGO Academy.
Many people with a non-technical background are also increasingly interested in learning about blockchain for a variety of reasons. Some are just curious to learn about an emerging trend while others are actively involved as professionals within the blockchain industry.
With more capital at stake now, there is a growing need to train people from a non-technical background in blockchain technology about user security and industry-related best practices from a non-technical perspective.
These expanded blockchain courses aim to show the inner workings of a blockchain through visual examples and aim to deliver a comprehensive understanding of blockchain and crypto from the ground up so that students are better prepared to engage or be involved with blockchain-based products & services.
EMURGO Academy and other popular learning platforms offer courses tailored for non-technical students seeking such education.
The education landscape is changing as people need to constantly update their knowledge. This means doing new training courses, seminars, and online degrees.
Coupled with this approach, there is a renewed interest in creating more open education resources (OER) offered by established educational institutions.
For example, the Decentralised Qualifications (QualiChain) project is a blockchain-based certification project launched by the Open University Milton Keynes campus. It’s a program to issue certificates backed on a distributed ledger for courses in Computer Science given by the university.
Another example is from the University of Lille, a public university in France, which has launched a blockchain-based certification campaign. The university has issued over fifty-six thousand blockchain-backed digital credentials to date.
These blockchain certification efforts by European universities have caught the attention of UNESCO. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization is in the process of preparing a Blockchain and OER report.
The study will be published by mid-2024 and will focus on different blockchain certification efforts. The text will also focus on open education resources and how blockchain can help validate, track, and publish certificates following this standard.
Are you new to blockchain and want to learn the basics about becoming a blockchain developer? Are you an experienced developer looking to learn more about Cardano?
Follow EMURGO on X for more information about EMURGO Academy online courses and workshops to teach and equip students with blockchain-related career skills.
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