18 Sep Knowledge BYTES Issue No. 6: Blockchain and AI in the Classroom
INATBA’s Education Working Group has published the sixth issue of Knowledge BYTES, its recurring knowledge series. This issue, “Blockchain and AI in the Classroom: Securing Trustworthy, Verifiable Learning Environments,” examines the intersection of artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology in educational infrastructure — two agendas typically treated separately, but which together determine whether a learning environment is both adaptive and trustworthy.
The issue covers three core areas:
1. The impact of AI on education. AI is simultaneously reshaping teaching, learning and assessment — from adaptive tutoring and automated feedback to the classification of certain AI systems as “high-risk” under the EU AI Act when used for admissions, evaluation or exam monitoring. The issue draws on UNESCO’s guidance for generative AI in education, and addresses a less-discussed risk: emerging evidence linking over-reliance on AI dialogue systems to measurable declines in critical thinking and independent reasoning.
2. Blockchain as infrastructure for stable learning records. The issue details how the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) — backed by the European Blockchain Partnership since 2018 — has prioritised education diplomas as a production use case. A cross-border pilot between a Belgian and an Italian university demonstrated verification of academic credentials without contacting the issuing institution, illustrating how blockchain shifts trust away from any single institution or server.
3. Verifiable, learner-controlled data. The issue outlines the W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model (v2.0, May 2025) and the European Digital Identity Wallet under the revised eIDAS Regulation (EU 2024/1183), due across Member States by the end of 2026 — the technical and regulatory foundation enabling individuals to hold and selectively share verified education credentials.
Importantly, the issue also raises a question that verifiability alone cannot answer: whether visible, verifiable skills actually translate into recognition in the labour market. It cites recent joint research by BlockW and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) on the digital gender skills gap in Ireland, set against a wider European comparison, which points to the gap between making a skill verifiable and having it recognised, used and rewarded by employers.
Key takeaways:
- AI and blockchain are complementary, not competing, agendas: AI increases adaptivity; blockchain increases trust; verifiable data connects the two.
- Blockchain does not determine the value of a credential — it only guarantees the record has not been altered. Who is authorised to issue a credential remains an institutional, not technical, question.
- Verifiable credentials (diplomas, Open Badges, micro-credentials) are becoming portable, machine-readable proof, replacing unverified claims on a CV — increasingly relevant as generative AI makes fabricated claims easier to produce.
- Cross-border credential recognition, enabled by EBSI, directly addresses labour mobility and skills-shortage challenges across the EU.
- The BlockW/ESRI research on Ireland’s digital gender skills gap underscores that visibility of skills does not guarantee equitable recognition — a reminder that technical infrastructure must be paired with institutional and labour-market change.
- Technology adoption without governance is insufficient: AI literacy, institutional responsibility and data governance remain the prerequisite, not the by-product, of these tools.
We thank the author of this issue, Jolanda ter Maten (MSc, EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum), for her contribution, and Joyce O’Connor (BlockW) for her review.
We invite members and the wider community to read the full issue.