# Blockchain-Based Applications in Education: A Systematic Review
## 4 Discussion
### What Applications Have Been Developed with Blockchain Technology for Educational Purposes? Although an increasing number of blockchain-based applications have been developed for educational purposes, only a few of them were launched to the public. These applications, which have been discussed in the previous section, can be classified into 12 main categories. Each category addresses an issue related to trust, privacy, or security within the education environment. The first category focused on some applications that were related to certificates management. This category concerns handling all forms of academic credentials, transcripts, students' certificates, or any other forms of accomplishment records. In the education field, many applications used blockchain to issue digital certificates. Most of these certificates' applications benefited from the high level of trust and the privacy provided by using blockchain technology. To illustrate, [PERSON] [7] proposed a blockchain certification platform, which compensated for using the school as a certification agent. This application would authorize the higher education providers or employers to supply official certificates for students with a high level of privacy of their information. Thus, students could share it directly with anyone requesting their official documents. Similarly, authors in Reference [10] utilized the decentralized nature of blockchain technology to provide novel blockchain-based education records for verifying and issuing official transcripts or certificates. The individuals could have access to their data records. However, only certified organizations are permitted to access and modify the stored data in the system under some restricted conditions and rules. The second category was concentrated on competencies and learning outcomes management. Greater attention was paid toward building some blockchain applications to improve the learning objectives and enhance the attainment of competencies within the educational scope. This would help enhance the learning process and enrich the education domain in a wide spectrum. Due to the high efficiency of blockchain, several applications could measure and evaluate the students' performance based on qualitative and quantitative parameters. For instance, [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] [22] built a system to trace the performance of students for their multi-learning activities. It adds up independently with all traces for each given activity into a block. Thus, this learning block can be considered as self-describing since it includes all metadata about many activities. Such an application leads to achieving a high level of self-efficiencies. Another application by [PERSON] [23] proposed a learning environment for students. The system provides a prompt/direct support and meaningful feedback. It was intended to enhance the learning process by applying a wide set of skills, encourage critical thinking and problem solving with better collaboration and communications. The third category covers applications related to securing a collaborative learning environment. This category focuses on the significance of using blockchain to support the learning environment. Since the blockchain provides a decentralized network that could be accessible easily with high security and integrity, it builds a collaborative atmosphere for all parties including students, faculty members, and authorities. Authors in Reference [30] introduced the Ubiquitous learning (U-learning) system, which uses the blockchain technology to provide students with anytime/anywhere collaborative learning environment with a high level of security. Thus, U-learning has an interactive multimedia system in order to encourage an efficient communication system among teachers and students. In a similar manner, authors in Reference [31], emphasized the importance of improving the schools' learning environment by employing blockchain as a School Information Hub (SIH).