NFT與STEM的關係.不止STEM,還有STEAM (Art) The relationship of NFT & STEM.And ever more, STEAM (Art)

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) 是科學、技術、工程和數學四個範疇的縮寫,現時讀STEM相關學科的學生太少,因此STEM對政府來說,變得更為重要。

在技術(Technology)教育方面,最近坊間開辦了不少STEAM課程,探索加密貨幣(如Bitcoin比特幣)、區塊錬和非同質化代幣(NFT),學生有興趣了解NFT,並討論NFT對未來教育的意義,甚至思考他們可以創造的事。現時有幾間大學正使用NFT來進行認證和遙距學習工作,其中美國杜克大學(Duke University)以NFT的形式,為其金融技術工程碩士畢業生頌授證書。

其他大學亦正在研究NFT的一些獨特用途,例如在學術方面,NFT可反映學生的學習表現,顯示學生在各科合格的時間,美國麻省理工學院(MIT)對NFT進行了研究,並倡議使用區塊錬作為大學驗證證書及成績單。

在高中時,當我們以評估評核學生的學習表現,或發出學生的學習成果,無論以證書保存記錄、參考統一考試的結果,還是記錄其他學術成就,都需要時間來取得和保存,但在個別情況下,這些記錄很容易被偽造,而在利用現時眾多可用的技術,我們可以輕易制造高度仿真的文件。而由於NFT獨特的技術,我們無法偽造這些文件,加上種種原因,因此,有學校會考慮採用NFT。

當學生或教師表現優秀時,學術界時可以設計和創造NFT,加深對該表現的印象。利用NFT作學歷或履歷,有助更有追蹤和查閱學生的學習過程,而由於這個代幣有「永久」和獨一無二的特性,因此這個成績單是不可更改的,學生亦無法偽造學術證書。NFT現時有多種使用方式,為工作和生活帶來好處,教育家及作家Rabbi Michael Cohen在NFT方面做了大量工作,甚至於星期二晚在Twitter Space舉行聯天,他留意到NFT在創作和藝術上有很大潛力。

億萬富翁及NFT平台投資者Mark Cuban認為,教科書將會成為NFT體驗的一部分,電子教科書可以轉售,而每次轉售可以收取版權費。

誇大履歷是就其中一個例子,大家都知道,提供虛假資格可以變得非常危險,你會希望由一個假的醫生或假的飛機師服務你嗎?除此之外,虛假資格對僱主也有很大法律風險,因此,大學和各所教育機構正在研究各種方法,驗證人們的資格是否真確,而在真確性這一點,不可更改的證書是有用的,僱主可在繞過第三方的篩選下,通過區塊鏈電子驗證人們的專業資格及學術成績,只需上載相關的文件至一個平台,比較文件上及該名人士的指紋,即可檢測這此專業資格的真確性及過期時間。

教學上的智能合約

智能合約是儲存在區塊鏈上的程式,它有潛在機會讓教師應用在教學上。智能合約允許教師把課程編寫到區塊鏈上,一旦逹到指定的條件,程式就會自動執行,而區塊鏈可以自動驗證任務是已完成。任務完成後,教師可以收取加密貨幣形式的款項,學生則可以獲得學分。整個教育課程可以透過這個方式構成,個別關鍵部分轉為自動化,目前可見,未來的教育將會包含智能合約和這些自動化的流程。

未來教育的遊戲化

我們都知道,遊戲對年輕人和長者來說,非常有吸引力,甚至令人上癮,即使一個遊戲很悶,遊戲開發商會通過取得進展和回報,吸引玩家一直繼續玩。同樣在教育方面,一直向前而獲得回報可以為學生提供學習動機,而教師亦可跟進學生的學習過程,除了人為外,獎勵也可以代幣的形式,它們對學生來說更有吸引力,從而給予學生和老師更多動機。

 

STEM is an acronym for the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Discussion of STEM-related programs has become a presidential priority because too few college students are pursuing degrees in these fields.

In education of technology, recently a lot of STEAM courses on emerging technology have explored bitcoin, cryptocurrency, blockchain, and NFTs. Students are interested in learning about NFTs and discussing what it means for the future and for education, and even brainstorming what they would create. There are several universities that are using NFTs for credentialing and also for working in remote learning environments. One example is Duke University which has provided educational credentials in the form of NFTs for its Master of Engineering in Financial Technology degree.

Other universities are exploring some unique uses of NFTs. In some Universities the NFTs represent academic tokens, without monetary value, that represents when a student has passed the course. The NFT contains unique details about student performance. MIT has done research and has been advocating for the use of blockchain for authenticating college certificates and transcripts.

Students are interested in learning about NFTs and discussing what it means for the future and for education, and even brainstorming what they would create.

At a high school level, think about times when we use assessments for learning or we share evidence of work that students have done whether that comes in the form of a certificate, maintaining student records, accessing results from a standardized test, or recording other academic achievements. These require time to obtain and to store and, in some cases, can easily be forged. With so much technology available, we can make certificates and other documents look authentic. However, with NFTs and the inability to forge them, schools are likely going to consider using NFTs for a variety of reasons.  


When a student or teacher does well, to make it memorable, the academic sector can now create and design an NFT. The use of NFTs as diplomas and resumes could help better track and access what students have earned throughout their school careers. By using NFTs, it serves to stop students from falsifying their academic certifications because the token serves as a permanent, unchangeable and unique “transcript.” There are many ways NFTs are being used now and which can benefit various areas of work and life. Rabbi Michael Cohen, educator and author, has been doing a lot of work in the area of NFTs and even holds a Twitter Spaces chat on Tuesday nights about it. He sees the potential for using NFTs for creativity and in the arts.

Mark Cuban, a billionaire and investor on NFT platforms, believes that textbooks will become part of the NFT experience. Digital textbooks can be resold and royalties can be collected for each resale.

Exaggerating resumes are one thing but we know that fraudulent qualifications can be very risky. Do you want a fake surgeon or pilot? The legal risks to employers are also significant. Universities and educational institutions of all kinds are seeking ways to validate and authenticate issued qualifications. A verifiable digital credential that cannot be tampered with makes sense. Employers can verify qualifications and academic transcripts digitally over the blockchain without third party screening. Just upload a copy of the document to a portal where the fingerprint is compared to the original and checked for integrity and expiration.

Smart Contracts in Teaching

Smart contracts are programs stored on a blockchain and there is potential for smart-contracts to be used by teachers within their courses. Smart contracts allow lessons and courses to be programmed into the blockchain and executed automatically once particular conditions are met. Task completion can be automatically verified on the blockchain. When tasks are completed, teachers could even receive payment with crypto tokens and students can be awarded credits. Entire educational courses and programs can be structured this way, automating several crucial parts of the process. The future of education will include smart contracts that automate processes.

Gamification in the Future of Education

We all know how attractive, and addictive, games can be for young and old? Whether you find the game enjoyable or not, we just keep playing. They achieve this by rewarding progression. In education it is helpful if we can measure the progress. If we can receive rewards for progress and measure this along the way it can become an integral part of both motivation for learning as well as tracking of progress. The rewards can be artificial but if tokenized they can be even more attractive. The rewards can provide significant incentives for both the learner and the teacher.