ValuED: A Blockchain-based Trading Platform to Encourage Student Engagement in Higher Education

The provision of higher education has been changing ever more quickly in the UK and worldwide, as a result of technological, economic, and geopolitical factors. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated such changes. The “student experience”—the interaction of students with their institution and with each other—has been changing accordingly, with less face-to-face contact. In this work, we have explored a way to improve student engagement in higher education. We describe “ValuED”, a blockchain-based trading platform using a cryptocurrency. It allows students both to buy and sell goods and services within their university community and to be rewarded for academic engagement. ValuED involves a reputation system to further incentivise participants. We describe the implementation and piloting of this platform and draw conclusions for its future use. The platform’s source code is publicly available.