Block Chain Untangled: My Journey to Demystification

Transcription

1 Block Chain Untangled: My Journey to Demystification Helen B. Garrett, Ed.D. University Registrar and Chief Officer of Enrollment Information Services University of Washington

2 Me at 19, Thanksgiving Day, 1983

3 Highly recommend this for anyone needing to learn statistics!

4 Session Intentions Introduce you to block chain so you can hold your own when this concept comes up Share my journey over the past two years to understanding block chain Exploring why this matters?

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6 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2016 American Association of University Registrars February 2017 Western Association of Graduate Schools March 2017 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2017 Lumina Convening - October 2017 Transcript of the Future Meeting December 2017 American Association of University Registrars February 2018 Lumina/AACRAO Data Integration Workshops Spring 2018

7 Technological Enlightenment My very first exposure to the term block chain No technological explanation of Block Chain provided Disintermediation what? Comprehensive Student Records Project July 2016 Emotional/Cultural Transformation Reaction Tom Black, Stanford University Intimidation Where are the women? Slow down, what are you talking about? Tom-speak English, what are you saying here? What is Block Chain?

8 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2016 American Association of University Registrars February 2017 Western Association of Graduate Schools March 2017 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2017 Lumina Convening - October 2017 Transcript of the Future Meeting December 2017 American Association of University Registrars February 2018 Lumina/AACRAO Data Integration Workshops Spring 2018

9 Technological Enlightenment Tom Black, Stanford University A transcript is a record of everything a student has forgotten Just find some Information Science students to set this up for you Emotional/Cultural Transformation Reaction Use block chain to validate certificates and eventually transcripts Yes, but what is block chain? What would I being telling the Information Science students to do? Too embarrassed to ask again Jumped into conversation with the credential/block chain kings transformation!

10 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2016 American Association of University Registrars February 2017 Western Association of Graduate Schools March 2017 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2017 Lumina Convening - October 2017 Transcript of the Future Meeting December 2017 American Association of University Registrars February 2018 Lumina/AACRAO Data Integration Workshops Spring 2018

11 Technological Enlightenment I reviewed aggregated credentials concept for graduate education professionals Types of credentials explained Moving from Carnegie units to Comprehensive Student Record Emotional/Cultural Transformation Reaction Barely knew what I was talking about Launching a registrar transformation of thinking about credentials beyond transcripts Received feedback: never heard a registrar speak like you Moving ownership of student records from institution to students

12 Credentials to be Validated by Block Chain Digital Badging Social Media Credential Sharing Credential Dashboards Lifelong portals Permanent URLs Institution verified certificates Student portfolios Electronic certificates Digital Academic Transcripts Student Achievement Experience Visual Transcripts Co-curricular transcripts

13 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2016 American Association of University Registrars February 2017 Western Association of Graduate Schools March 2017 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2017 Lumina Convening - October 2017 Transcript of the Future Meeting December 2017 American Association of University Registrars February 2018 Lumina/AACRAO Data Integration Workshops Spring 2018

14 Technological Enlightenment Joyce Li, Stanford University explained Block Chain concepts Hash Merkle Tree Block Chain explanation and use Emotional/Cultural Transformation Reaction I was finally starting to get it! I pictured the hash using Merkle Tree math as a key to open each record in the block chain to validate that it had not been amended First realization that I don t have to understand the science

15 Disruptive Innovation Clayton Christensen Products based on disruptive technologies are: Cheaper Simpler Smaller More convenient to use

16 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2016 American Association of University Registrars February 2017 Western Association of Graduate Schools March 2017 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2017 Lumina Convening - October 2017 Transcript of the Future Meeting December 2017 American Association of University Registrars February 2018 Lumina/AACRAO Data Integration Workshops Spring 2018

17 Technological Enlightenment Block Chain finally explained visually Comprehensive Learner Records validated It is not magic, it is math Emotional/Cultural Transformation Reaction Felt like an imposter, what was I doing there? Matt Gee, University of Chicago Trust is the key to all of this! Equity and access issues related to block chain and credentialing technology Heart beat racing this is disruptive innovation and we can t let it take off without us or be vendor led! I am all into the adventure now.

18 Three Big Ideas Associated with Using Block Chain to Validate Credentials 1. Validate- using digital signatures 2. Safeguard using same clever math to insure all access to update is universal 3. Preserve everyone on block chain has an identical copy of block chain-no single point of failure Helen s Translation: Block chain can be public or private, clever math validates all records below in the chain to insure that it has not been amended, no one can infiltrate data in each block

19 Major Lessons Learned from Lumina Convening: New technologies like block chain can invoke fear: Fear of appearing ignorant Fear of computers replacing people/jobs Fear of access and equity Fear of scalability of this for all institutions Fear lacking IT resources to make this happen on campuses Why do we trust humans over smart math with block chain? Humans can make mistakes Documents and credentials are defrauded every day in our business - by humans The computer does not care it either validates the credential or not no emotions

20 Post-Lumina Convening: Put my Doctoral Research Skills to Work! Watched more than 10 block chain videos Read everything I could find on block chain Talked about it to whoever would listen Knew that I could do this! Started to know (kind of ) what I am talking about, at last!

21 Best Block Chain Explanation: Ted Talk: Blockchain Massively Simplified - Richie Etwaru Tangerines: 20:28 on video

22 Tangerine Ted Talk Technological Enlightenment We are watching this Ted Talk on the internet on YouTube A lot had to happen to make this happen We take all of this technology for granted Block chain is all about using technology to expand the trust gap Emotional/Cultural Transformation Reaction Tangerine explanation at the end took my knowledge and appreciation for block chain to a new level We do not have to understand this technology we only need not to fear it

23 10 Ways Block Chain Could Be Used in Education

24 Ten Ways Block Chain Could Be Used In Education Highlights Block chain is a distributed database, over many campuses, not central control Each block is transparent, but tamper-proof Each block has a time stamp for recording transactions proof each block is accurate, must have the same Hash and time stamp Does not rely on third parties to validate-frictionless validation process Cut out the middleman (i.e. transcript vendors/banks/humans) Everything validated by smart math, error free Anyone can use it to make educational data available to others Education records do not live on the block chain still remain in custody of the institution

25 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2016 American Association of University Registrars February 2017 Western Association of Graduate Schools March 2017 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2017 Lumina Convening - October 2017 Transcript of the Future Meeting December 2017 American Association of University Registrars February 2018 Lumina/AACRAO Data Integration Workshops Spring 2018

26 Technological Enlightenment What will the transcript of the future entail? Far more than just Carnegie units and courses Emotional/Cultural Transformation Reaction Again, should I be here with these professors and technical experts? Brought our chief academic officers helped validate registrar visions More women than usual, I am feeling a little more comfortable I can imagine bringing this to UW need executive sponsorship Sue Van Voorhis, AAU Registrar colleague to the rescue!

27 Key Block Chain Technical Concepts: Hashes: A cryptographic hash function algorithm that is a pointer to validate credential has not been tampered with and is valid Merkle Tree: A dendritic pattern of hash function or a hash tree. The leaves of the tree contain content; the branches and twigs are hashes Blocks: Each block is a record file that describes groups of transactions do not contain much data. Container of pointers that record a transaction Chain: Each block is connected via transaction order (date/time) to previous blocks. Blocks are validated by multiple partners and date/time order is critical. Once validated by date/time, it is almost impossible to change a block Source: Sue Van Voorhis, Associate Vice Provost and University Registrar at University of Minnesota

28 Identity Management in Higher Education The credential provider (institutions) The credential verifier (miner/machine validation) The owner of the credential (student/learner) The party to whom the credential is released (Employer/Institutions/Anywhere the learner wants it to go) Source: Sue Van Voorhis, Associate Vice Provost and University Registrar at University of Minnesota

29 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2016 American Association of University Registrars February 2017 Western Association of Graduate Schools March 2017 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2017 Lumina Convening - October 2017 Transcript of the Future Meeting December 2017 American Association of University Registrars February 2018 Lumina/AACRAO Data Integration Workshops Spring 2018

30 Technological Enlightenment MIT simple exercise to explain block chain Emotional/Cultural Transformation Reaction I am about the age of a teenager in my technological growth and understanding on more solid ground Becoming vested as a cultural transformation catalyst for my registrar colleagues nationally Commitment to scalability and access I belong in this conversation

31 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Block Chain Exercise Eight random people given cards with words on one side and a number on other Step One: Read words on cards in random order: *We *To*Understand*Come*Block Chain*Promise*You*Can Step Two: Read words in numerical order from cards: You Can Come to Understand Block Chain, We Promise

32 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2016 American Association of University Registrars February 2017 Western Association of Graduate Schools March 2017 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2017 Lumina Convening - October 2017 Transcript of the Future Meeting December 2017 American Association of University Registrars February 2018 Lumina/AACRAO Data Integration Workshops Spring 2018

33 Technological Enlightenment Lumina funded grant through AACRAO to increase number of institutions creating Comprehensive Learner Records How can we integrate the data at our institutions to support this? Emotional/Cultural Transformation Reaction I am in with technical experts talking about data integration! Two women out of ten in the work group sigh I know what databases/systems need to be incorporated have no idea technically how that will happen do I need to know? Need to step out in faith that learners/employers will embrace this and registrars will let it happen Employer workshops holding my own with industry technical leaders, standing our registrar ground

34 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2016 American Association of University Registrars February 2017 Western Association of Graduate Schools March 2017 AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference July 2017 Lumina Convening - October 2017 Transcript of the Future Meeting December 2017 American Association of University Registrars February 2018 Lumina/AACRAO Data Integration Workshops Spring 2018

35 Ultimately - Why Does Understanding Block Chain as a Registrar Matter? Block Chain, as a 3.0 web technology, does not matter Allowing learners/job seekers to represent their full experiences beyond just grades and class titles does We as registrars can be the catalysts to get this disruptive innovation off the ground for institutions/employers/human Resource technologies Jobs will not be taken away with block chain we will redeploy transcript and diploma producers and validators to serve students

36 Overcome Your Fear of the Technological Unknown Embrace this Cultural Shift and Let Those That Understand the Technology Make it Happen You Have Done it Before