BLOCKCHAIN-ENABLED STUDENT RECORDS: TEACHERS’ AND ADMINISTRATORS’ PERSPECTIVES ON PRIVACY, TRUST, AND IMPLEMENTATION
Abstract
Since digital technologies have become widespread in educational institutions in terms of managing student data, the issue of how to guarantee privacy, trust, and data integrity has become pressing. This paper discusses how teachers and administrators view the implementation of blockchain-based solutions in managing learners. The study examines the perceived benefits, obstacles and dynamics of trust through a qualitative approach of case study in three institutions of higher learning. Interviews with 18 respondents (nine administrators and nine faculty members), and the analysis of institutional data policies were used to collect data with semi-structured interviews. This paper has used thematic coding to determine prevailing issues about ownership of data, accessibility, transparency, and records immutability. Methods were NVivo to analyze qualitative data and the validated interview protocol based on earlier studies on the technology adoption work in education. The main assumptions were that blockchain would provide decentralized control, higher level of data security, and auditability, yet may cause issues related to institutional control, complexities of the system, and user training. The results showed a cautious optimism: the participants noted that blockchain potentially increased trust and could decrease tampering but had concerns regarding technical scalability, aligning policy, stability in ethical governance and clarity of roles. In comparison to the centralized systems, blockchain was perceived as a paradigm shift which needed to be adjusted to culturally and procedurally. The paper concludes that to make blockchain a feasible approach in education, the implementation of the solution should be supported by effective governance infrastructure, an open engagement of stakeholders, and a specific focus on professional growth. The appropriate way forward in future studies is to seek pilot implementations and interoperability problems with the available information systems.
