The Pulse of Higher Ed

Perspectives on Online and Professional Education
from UPCEA’s Research and Consulting Experts

The Building Blocks of Higher Education’s Future: Blockchain

Are you reading the blogs on technology by Ray Schroeder, Director of UPCEA’s National Council for Online Education?  When he’s not talking about augmented reality or robotics, he’s talking about blockchain.  Are you at an awkward mixer and everyone is talking about blockchain?  You’re not alone.  It’s a simple, but challenging concept that is coming.  It is not an “if it will come,” but a “when will it come?”  It’s actually here already and slowly integrating into society.

It also has many applications, many of which I struggled to visualize. While blockchain is the underpinning of cashless society, it could also revolutionize supply chains, health systems, manufacturing, agriculture and other industries.

Blockchain could become so integral in day-to-day life that it will become present in nearly all engagements or transactions. Like our DNA, as part of an engagement or activity in society, identifying or connective digital information would be created and act as a record that can be securely traced back as part of “blockchain.”

In the not-too-distant future, blockchain could become so widespread and integral to day-to-day activity, it may act as the genetic material of our world as we know it.

Read my latest report on blockchain here.

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UPCEA’s 2025 Online Education Benchmarking Report Provides Vital Data for University Leaders

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