Blockchain Just Got Much More Powerful

New tech created by Accenture and Stevens computer science professor can edit the blockchain without derailing it.

Stevens computer science professor Giuseppe Ateniese's breakthrough research innovation was to create a new type of blockchain tech that can edit the transaction chain — rewriting or removing information for legal, privacy or other reasons, and marking the change — while still preserving security and continuing the chain without complex additions required.

Read the full story @ Stevens Institute of Technology.

The hype and potential behind blockchain technologies

Recently a very influential technology analyst group released its annual Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies. In this report you can find their perspective on where a variety of new-wave technologies are on their journey to mainstream adoption.

If you’re wondering where blockchain technologies appear on that hype cycle, I can tell you that it sits precipitously near the top of the hype cycle peak and right before the drop into the “Trough of Disillusionment”.

 Full story @ IBM developerWorks.

Don't let banks fool you, the blockchain really does have other uses

A summary from The Register of where we are at the moment with Blockchain.

"there is exciting potential for this technology, but perhaps not in the ways most people think. And ultimately, new or old technology, it will all come down to business processes, policy and regulation to define what changes and benefits we will get out of this."

"In terms of a new underlying protocol, that will also depend on consensus and adoption, and to a much greater extent than in the early days of the internet as we are today more cognisant of the enormity of the potential impact of such technologies and thus more committed to trying to get it right."

Blockchain Gets a Push in Shanghai: ‘A Shared Version of the Truth’

Huddle several hundred bankers, regulators and geeks into a hotel and you’ll hear how the technology that underpins the internet currency bitcoin is on the brink of changing how the world tracks money, music, identities and even handbags — as well as predictions that real-world applications might emerge fastest in China.

Read more @ Wall Street Journal .

A Platform for the Next Generation Connected World

Blockchain has been described as email for money and the best known application of the technology is Bitcoin. However, the technology itself has vast number of uses beyond cryptocurrency and it is expected that the market for its applications will be measured in the trillions.

Read the full article @ Tieto 

10 amazing ways Blockchain in assessment could be used in education

Piece from Donald Clark about the possible use of Blockchain in education.

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies eBook

308 page eBook from Princeton University looking to explain the opportunities, the confusion and promote the understanding of the technical side of things.

Download here.

Blockchain is the most disruptive invention since the Internet itself - not just in finance

By now you are sure to have heard of Bitcoin and the blockchain technology. Even so, very few people seem to realize that the blockchain won't just kill banks, brokers and credit card companies.

It will change every transactional process you know. Simply put, blockchain eliminates the need for clearinghouse entities of any kind. And that means a revolution is coming, a fundamental sea change in the way we do business.

How the blockchain is changing money and business | Don Tapscott

Investigating the potential of blockchains

From the Knowledge Media Institute @ The Open University:
"We believe the blockchain technology and smart contracts can also be used in education in many interesting and potentially revolutionary scenarios. On this website you can see some of the ways we see the future of education developing using the blockchain and what we are doing to progress towards our vision."

Beyond Badges: Why Personalized Learning Advocates Need to Care about Blockchain

Tom Vander Ark of Getting Smart has argued that “parent-managed learner profiles” will by key to both enabling and scaling personalization in education. As Tom envisions, these profiles would include all of the elements of traditional school transcripts, supplemented with richer, more nuanced, and actionable information about student learning attainment, achievement, and needs. Critical to this vision is the ability for the student transcript to both be easily portable (and under direct parent/student control) and decentralized (in that traditional education institutions should not completely control or dictate its contents).

Read the full article from Doug Levin @ EdTech Strategies

Blockchain Misconceptions and the Future of Education

Blockchain technology may seem magical, but it is not magic. For every advantage it may offer over traditional approaches to ‘big iron’ centralized, proprietary IT systems, it imposes new requirements on its users.

From Doug Levin @ EdTech Strategies

10 Things To Know about the Future of Blockchain in Education

Piece from Doug Levin on EdTech Strategies
"Given the growing interest in the topic and recent blockchain-related announcements specific to education by organizations such as Sony, MIT Media Lab, and the Holberton School – to say nothing of the visions advanced by BadgeChain, the KnowledgeWorks Foundation, and Learning is Earning 2026  – I thought it might spur some interesting dialogue if I took the time to share my current musings on the topic.

To that end (and based on my DC Blockchain Summit experience), here is my current list of the top 10 things to know about the future of blockchain in education."