Metro-Atlanta, GA - FocalPoint Education is excited to announce the formal release of “FocalPoint Backpack” for student credentials. “Backpack literally reinvents the student data ecosystem,” says FocalPoint CEO, Kiran Athota. “It not only creates a student-centric model but promotes higher student engagement through micro-credentialing and badges.”
For those unfamiliar with blockchain in a K-12 education context, FocalPoint Chief Strategy Officer, John Randall Dennis and Dr. Wendy Oliver discussed it recently in District Administration digital magazine: Surf the Blockchain Wave Without Fear of Drowning.
“FocalPoint Backpack utterly eliminates data integrity concerns and makes security steady state – not merely a goal,” continues Athota. The Backpack platform provides seamless tracking of student learning progress on an ongoing basis. Districts, universities, and other public and private credentialing bodies control awarding academic credentials, but students own their blockchain data forever to provide for future access to education, prospective employers, and more.
Within a Student Backpack, once applied to the student’s blockchain, no one can tamper or delete a student’s data. If a record is found to have an error, a new, corrected record must replace it by the conferring body. Once the education institution awards transcript data or course data to a student’s backpack, providing access to view the data is student-centered. Students or families have control over who has access to their blockchains, and since it is a distributed ledger there is no single point of failure that would put their data at risk - blockchain technology exceeds FERPA requirements.
“Data supports that badging and micro-credentialing motivates students,” says Dr. Wendy Oliver, author of the Not Your Mama’s Classroom book series. “Intentionally using this motivation strategy clearly improves both engagement and outcomes for students. FocalPoint’s solution offers students all the benefits blockchain provides them, so it’s clearly ‘not just your mama’s transcript’ either!”
By leveraging Ethereum, FocalPoint’s Backpack identifies and verifies whether students meet their assigned objectives. Upon completion of each objective, students earn a personal, non-fungible ERC 721 token and certificate they award to their personal blockchain. “Students adding the certificate to their blockchain is as easy as using the camera on their phone to capture a QR-code,” says Athota. “We have not only tested the solution, we are in a CTE pilot with one of the nation’s largest school districts, and others are inquiring to participate.”
An Info Sheet on the FocalPoint Backpack can be explored at https://www.focalpoint.education/districts, where other district-level solutions are available. For additional information, email hello@focalpoint.education or call +1 (866) 377-4265.
ABOUT DR. WENDY OLIVER
Wendy Oliver, EdD is a consultant who has dedicated her professional life to preparing children, parents, educators and learners of all ages to be competitive in a global economy. E: wendy.oliver@partnersfordigital.com
ABOUT FOCALPOINT EDUCATION
FocalPoint Education is a metro-Atlanta based firm with extensive experience in educational technology development. FocalPoint has successfully deployed bespoke enterprise statewide solutions for Georgia, Rhode Island, Maine and North Dakota, as well as school districts in 14 states. Their innovative solutions include LearningTree (an Adaptive Learning Platform leveraging next-gen technology), LENS (learning analytics with a recommendations engine and data warehousing) and AssessCloud (a solution allowing educators to develop and manage assessments). FocalPoint utilizes xAPI, Learning Record Store (LRS) technology and relevancy algorithms to deliver advanced learning analytics to drive student engagement, match digital resources with targeted student needs and support data-driven, personalized learning. All FocalPoint solutions seamlessly integrate with countless third-party edtech solutions. For more information visit www.focalpoint.education. Video: https://vimeo.com/479411515
