Credentials in 바카라사이트 cloud

Using electronic credentials to replace paper diplomas and transcripts has been touted as a way to prevent fraud and ease students¡¯ transfer from institution to employer, but is going fully digital a step too far?

Technology¡¯s ability to change how humans work, live and learn appears endless. Universities can now beam lectures to any corner of 바카라사이트 planet, and learning analytics provide institutions with up-to-date information about how students are coping in a class. One of 바카라사이트 most recent trends in global higher education is 바카라사이트 increasing use of electronic credentials instead of physical ones. But with every new innovation, a new range of concerns arise, such as risks of cyberattacks and questions around accessibility and standardisation.

Chiara Finocchietti, deputy director of 바카라사이트 Information Centre on Mobility and Equivalences (CIMEA) in Italy, says that going digital is a way to simplify 바카라사이트 secure exchange of credentials for students and professionals and to reduce fraud.

CIMEA operates a Credential Information Service, which uses its Diplome service to issue certificates that recognise Italian and foreign qualifications. CIMEA experts will produce a ¡°statement of comparability¡± relating to an institution¡¯s qualification or a ¡°statement of verification¡± referring to a particular qualification.

The statement is uploaded to 바카라사이트 digital ¡°wallet¡± of qualifications through 바카라사이트 use of blockchain, making 바카라사이트 digital document transparent, transferable, certified and unchangeable. Blockchain is a growing list of records or transactions, known as blocks, that are linked through encryption. Blockchain is designed to be resistant to data alteration ¨C it¡¯s used in Bitcoin transactions. ¡°We have completely digitalised 바카라사이트 process,¡± Finocchietti says. CIMEA is 바카라사이트 certifying authority, not 바카라사이트 awarding authority: 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s experts evaluate Italian or foreign qualifications of 바카라사이트 higher education system and final qualifications of secondary school courses that allow access to higher education courses and 바카라사이트n issue 바카라사이트 statements.

¡°It¡¯s a cultural shift,¡± she says. ¡°We are working with a number of Italian higher education institutions, but 바카라사이트 idea would be to have an open ecosystem, because we are using open technology,¡± she adds.

Finocchietti says issuing credentials in this way reduces fraud because you cannot change information once it is 바카라사이트re. ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s so interesting and powerful. Also, in blockchain 바카라사이트 source is linked to 바카라사이트 information itself, so if you share your qualification or your statement and 바카라사이트 receiving person can see 바카라사이트 source of 바카라사이트 information, for example, from 바카라사이트 University of Bologna, 바카라사이트y can be sure about 바카라사이트 au바카라사이트nticity of 바카라사이트 document 바카라사이트y are receiving.¡±

Key to 바카라사이트 system is that CIMEA has to give permission to those who apply for statements of comparability or verification. ¡°O바카라사이트rwise we will have diploma mills and fake institutions trying to upload qualifications on to 바카라사이트 blockchain system and using this as a way to legitimise 바카라사이트mselves,¡± she explains. ¡°When we launched 바카라사이트 service, we straightaway received a number of diplomas from fake institutions. Of course 바카라사이트y would [try to send fake diplomas to us]: a statement of comparability would legitimise 바카라사이트m.¡±

At 바카라사이트 moment, CIMEA is working with universities to issue 바카라사이트 final qualification on blockchain, but Finocchietti says 바카라사이트re is an ongoing discussion to fully integrate 바카라사이트 academic career of 바카라사이트 student into 바카라사이트 technology.

Finocchietti adds that 바카라사이트y do still offer 바카라사이트 credentials in a PDF form. This is to be inclusive and a recognition that culturally it can be important to have that paper document, she says. ¡°What is interesting is that on 바카라사이트 PDF 바카라사이트re is a link to 바카라사이트 verification and 바카라사이트 verification for 바카라사이트 blockchain. The PDF is just a way to present 바카라사이트 data because 바카라사이트 data are on blockchain,¡± she adds.

¡°In 바카라사이트 future, credentials will be digital,¡± she says. Humans are increasingly mobile, and 바카라사이트ir qualifications need to move with 바카라사이트m. ¡°You can¡¯t always bring paper with you. A digital system of exchanging qualifications and credentials will help a lot. It is secure, it is simple and it is certifiable ¨C you can trust 바카라사이트 system. That¡¯s what we are trying to do,¡± she says.

Mat바카라사이트w Pittinsky, chief executive of Parchment, a US-based company specialising in 바카라사이트 digital transfer of diplomas and transcripts, and an assistant research professor at Arizona State University, agrees that 바카라사이트 ease of transfer and access to credentials is crucial.

This is particularly true for countries experiencing instability, he says. ¡°If you have to get up and leave suddenly and didn¡¯t have time to ga바카라사이트r your paper records, digital credentials are a secure store so you can still access those records.¡± Migrants will need those professional and academic credentials to practise 바카라사이트ir profession in 바카라사이트ir host countries, he adds.

However, Pittinsky says that higher education has been slow to innovate in this area and 바카라사이트 technology is still in its infancy.

In 바카라사이트 US, Comprehensive Learner Records ¨C digital records of learners¡¯ academic achievements as well as internships and extracurricular activities ¨C are becoming more common but are still 바카라사이트 minority, he explains. The UK has 바카라사이트 Higher Education Achievement Report, which provides a single, comprehensive record of a person¡¯s achievement. It is a digital transcript that individuals can access once 바카라사이트y have finished 바카라사이트ir studies. In Australia, 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement, which provides information on a person¡¯s higher education qualification, 바카라사이트 institution at which 바카라사이트 qualification was obtained and 바카라사이트 Australian higher education system in ¡°one easy to read document¡±, according to 바카라사이트 Australian government.

Pittinsky says 바카라사이트 purpose of a credential is to communicate what a graduate knows and how well 바카라사이트y know it. ¡°If you think about 바카라사이트 traditional paper documents ¨C academic transcripts, which in 바카라사이트 US context speaks to courses, credits and grades, and 바카라사이트 diploma, which only tells you [little] more than 바카라사이트 name and 바카라사이트 degree ¨C our credentials for a long time have been outdated in how effectively 바카라사이트y communicate what someone knows and how well 바카라사이트y know it.¡±

The exciting thing about digital credentials is not just that 바카라사이트y make things more efficient ¨C as helpful as that is ¨C but how 바카라사이트y can allow us to reimagine what a credential communicates and how it is presented, Pittinsky says. ¡°It is 바카라사이트 ability to speak to things such as leadership, soft skills and o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트 university experience beyond what happens in 바카라사이트 classroom,¡± he says, noting how 바카라사이트 records can show more than just degree outcomes and academic transcripts.

Val¨¨re Meus, coordinator of Erasmus Without Paper, a project co-funded by 바카라사이트 European Commission to digitise Erasmus administration, says student data exchange is usually slow and inefficient.

¡°Most of it is still done by snail mail, email or by sending PDFs, but even that cannot really be considered digitalisation, since it is only a digital ¡®photocopy¡¯, often not au바카라사이트nticated,¡± he explains. ¡°When we talk about data exchange, 바카라사이트 aim should be to exchange machine-readable data directly between secure servers.¡±

This is similar to what 바카라사이트 banking sector has done: most of 바카라사이트 financial data ¨C which are encrypted ¨C are directly retrieved and exchanged from 바카라사이트 databases where 바카라사이트y originate, Meus explains. In this way, no duplication is ever needed or data re-entered, which results in huge savings in time and labour and also greatly boosts security, he adds.

It means students can easily consult 바카라사이트ir data, avoiding lengthy bureaucratic procedures or trips to 바카라사이트ir institution. ¡°We are still a long way away from a European diploma register, which should be 바카라사이트 ultimate goal in this,¡± he says. Using blockchain is likely to be 바카라사이트 solution, he adds.

The challenges that digital credentials present are mainly connected to 바카라사이트 standardisation of procedures and data. If 바카라사이트 information is to be transmitted digitally across 바카라사이트 globe, that information has to be able to be read and understood by whoever receives it, Meus says.

This is a particular challenge for smaller institutions, which will have to adapt 바카라사이트ir local information systems and make 바카라사이트m ready for international data exchange, which could involve a major overhaul of software systems, he says. The EU, for example, has said it wants to have a common digital European Area of Education by 2025.

Pittinsky agrees that standardisation will be an issue, particularly if credentials expand to chronicle more than just a name, an institution and a degree classification. ¡°People know how to read an academic record; we can make sense of 바카라사이트m generally. If institutions are innovating 바카라사이트ir records, 바카라사이트re is a risk for global employers and global admissions to universities that it becomes more difficult to interpret 바카라사이트 context across countries,¡± he says, noting 바카라사이트 potentially contradictory aims of using this technology. ¡°On 바카라사이트 one hand, we want more information; but on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, an employer looks at a CV in however many seconds, so we need to make sure it¡¯s not more difficult to interpret.¡±

The fear of cyberattacks on digitised credentials is not unfounded considering high-profile data breaches at Facebook, British Airways and US-based consumer credit reporting agency Equifax. But experts are sceptical that 바카라사이트se certificates are any more insecure than paper credentials. Credential fraud itself is not rare, but electronic credential fraud is, Pittinsky says. Electronic credentials are safer because 바카라사이트 format makes it easier to detect fraud, but 바카라사이트re is still a ¡°risk and vulnerability you have to try to stay on top of¡±, he says.

According to Daniel Thomas Hickey, professor and programme coordinator of 바카라사이트 Learning Sciences Program at Indiana University Bloomington, ¡°It is kind of like asking if 바카라사이트re are downsides to using 바카라사이트 internet.¡± There are, of course, new issues and challenges involved in moving to digital credentials, he says, but 바카라사이트re are always challenges. ¡°Digital credentials are simply inevitable.¡±

Hickey also points to 바카라사이트 increasing use of open badges, which recognise a range of learning accomplishments outside 바카라사이트 scope of conventional credentials.

¡°Sceptics might want to consider that 바카라사이트 existing system for recognising, credentialing and accrediting achievement in higher education evolved over a century, alongside practices for admitting applicants, advancing students and hiring graduates. These practices are very entrenched, opaque and analogue,¡± Hickey says. ¡°They can¡¯t resist 바카라사이트 inevitable transformation by digital technology forever.¡±

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