World’s first blockchain university set to become “the Airbnb of degree courses”
by Pisana Ferrari – cApStAn Ambassador to the Global Village
Academia with a vision? Are we breaking the traditional codes that open doors to the realm of the intellectual elite? This blockchain university project is “geographically agnostic,” prioritizing a “borderless” academic community over local or national ties. Lower tuition fees for students? Less red tape? Academic records that cannot be falsified? All of that is envisaged. Oh, and full accreditation, too. To be followed closely… That was our CEO’s take on the launch of the world’s first blockchain university, Woolf, developed by an independent group of leading academics, including a number of Oxford professors. Woolf says it will use blockchain technology “to reinvent the way traditional education is delivered,” and to make widely available “the oldest form of human learning: individual apprenticeships in thinking”. Woolf will adopt the traditional Oxbridge course and collegiate structure by focusing on individual tutorial-led modules that will be available to students either on- or offline.
Woolf’s aim is “to disrupt the economics of higher education” and address underemployment among academics and poor coordination with students, which, it says, “is the intellectual equivalent of allowing the most expensive real estate in London or New York to sit empty”. Woolf believes it can make better use of academic resources “in the same way that we saw Airbnb allow for a more refined allocation of real estate resources”… Joshua Broggi, from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, founder and Director at Woolf, is quoted in a recent Forbes article as saying that Woolf’s ultimate aim is “to be a driver of job opportunities and security for academics, as well as a low-cost alternative for students.” An interesting demo of how to “check in” to a course is available on the Woolf website; check-ins will execute a “smart contract” that pays the teacher and provides micro credits to the student. Ambrose, the first Woolf college, formed by Oxford academics, is due to launch in the Fall of 2018.
Sources:
Woolf website: https://woolf.university/#/
Woolf demo: https://woolf.university/#/demo