After a small pilot program with coding students proved successful, CNM gave all students the option to receive their diploma using blockchain technology this past summer.
“We will continue to issue these digital certificates to all students going forward, but they don’t have to activate them if they choose not to,” says Phelps. “We will also give students a paper certificate for the foreseeable future. There are plenty of logistical issues to sort out, especially with our population of students. Not all of them are going to be in a position to use a digital certificate.”
Launching a digital certificate program
CNM is using technology from a software company called Learning Machine to issue the digital certificates. Learning Machine has built a toolkit of open-source components that any developer, school, student, or employer can use to create, issue, view, and verify blockchain credentials. The toolkit is available free of charge at Blockcerts.
Other institutions using the technology include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, and Southern New Hampshire University.
Related: MIT issues learner-owned digital diplomas on the blockchain
Whether blockchain ultimately transforms the credentialing process depends on how employers respond to the technology. Communicating with students and area employers about blockchain has been a key to CNM’s success, Phelps notes. Despite some early confusion about the technology, he believes employers are recognizing its value—especially once they see it in action.
“We thought it was going to be a slow adoption curve among employers, and we’re actually getting quite a bit more use than we anticipated,” he says. “Joe’s auto mechanic shop on the corner doesn’t care about blockchain, but our larger employers in Albuquerque have gotten on board.”
Tying everything together
In the next phase of its blockchain initiative, the college plans to issue micro-credentials to students. These micro-credentials will prove to employers that students can demonstrate the soft skills they desire, such as communication or email etiquette.
“When we talk to employers, that’s the number-one thing we are asked for,” says Phelps. “They’ll say something like: ‘I can teach them to do the job. I can’t teach them to think critically or show up on time.’”
When the college bundles micro-credentials into students’ blockchain certificates, students will be able to graduate with a diploma, a transcript, and micro-credentials that “show to employers in a verifiable fashion: Here are the skills that I learned that will help me do my job more effectively.”
A former eCampus News editor, Dennis Pierce is now a freelance writer with more than 20 years of experience in writing about educational innovation.
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