About TRUE

Rationale for the project

In Europe, within the educational sphere, there is little standardisation of student records. Currently, education received at tertiary level is represented by credits of learning using one of two credit standards, namely ECTS (in Higher Education) or ECVET (in Vocational Education).

All degrees issued within the European Higher Education Area are accompanied by a diploma supplement that describes the degree in standard terms. However, again there are no standards for computer-readable data for diploma supplements. Paper-based higher education diplomas, school certificates and extra training course certificates get lost and the original can be lost over time, while their common digital version can be counterfeit or not easily recognised.

According to the paper “Blockchain in Education” report, issued in 2017 by the Joint Research Centre (the European Commission’s science and knowledge service), using the blockchain for the automatic recognition and transfer of credits would make a learner’s entire educational history in terms of those credits instantly visible and verifiable.

Our Innovative Contribution

TRUE Project will introduce user-friendly tools which can support the uptake of blockchain technology within European Higher Education Institutions. Blockchain technology is not just used to secure and verify money transactions, but it can be useful for all kinds of online registration operations which requires to be verified and secured.

In education, the implementation of this technology is still falling behind institutions yet they are starting to understand the potential and benefit of such disruption.

To this end, the project will work on the development of:

A baseline knowledge

A baseline knowledge about the potential of blockchain technology adapted to Higher Education sector and in particular to HEIs’ staff, including a Competence Framework for the blockchain expert.

Training contents

Training contents and tools addressed to HEIs’ staff about blockchain technology through a Masive Online Open Course (MOOC), training focused on the democratization of education through community collaboration during the course.

Serious Game

Serious Game providing a new situational learning experience on how blockchain technology works. Challenge-based training, gamification and, of course, learning through games.

Consortium

The TRUE Project is implemented by multidisciplinary and highly complementary consortium of 8 entities representing 7 EU countries.

Maiêutica | Cooperativa de Ensino Superior

Maiêutica is the founding body of University Institute of Maia – ISMAI, and Polytechnic Institute of Maia – IPMaia, a private non-profit higher education institution (HEI) located in Maia, near Porto. ISMAI is the 2nd largest private HEI in Portugal. The university campus occupies an area of 70,000m2 and provides students with excellent infrastructures and leading-edge technological equipment.

How will contribute to the TRUE project?

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Maiêutica is the project coordinator and will cooperate in the development of all the project main outputs, namely the MOOC and the Serious Game. Maiêutica is the leader of O1 – Blockchain Baseline Knowledge in Higher Education, and as HEI will be able to involve directly the project end users and incorporate the project results at institutional level.

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Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto

P.PORTO is the biggest polytechnic in the country, devoted to create and further knowledge, science, technology and culture, and to provide students with technical, scientific, artistic and transverse skills that articulate knowledge and action, so as to become the agent of transformation at home and abroad, and through intervention contribute to the wise development of society.

How will contribute to the TRUE project?

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P.PORTO contributes to all the outputs of the project. We will analyse the feedback collected through interviews and focus groups with representatives of the target groups on the current level of blockchain technology solutions in higher education. We will contribute to the development and testing of the Blockchain MOOC. We will review the TRUE serious game. P.PORTO will also explore the certification of the course using micro-credentials.

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University of Eastern Finland

UEF is Finland’s most multidisciplinary university that educates future actors for the needs of society, offer degree instruction in almost a hundred majors. UEF have four faculties: the Philosophical Faculty, the Faculty of Science and Forestry, the Faculty of Health Sciences, and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies.

How will contribute to the TRUE project?

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UEF will contribute to activities leading to the intellectual outputs but mainly on multiplier events to disseminate the Intellectual outputs delivered, engaging the direct and indirect target groups in order to introduce them to the project results, explain the concept and methodology behind the products delivered and allow them to be involved with a practical approach.

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Lidi Smart Solutions

Lidi Smart Solutions was founded to promote the latest trends in the digital era, offering web-education for adults and youth in a number of fields. Among our core activities were developing and implementing online education platforms and e-learning tools. From there, we grew to tackle the leading-edge technologies, striving to demystify them and increase their accessibility to various social and professional groups. Hence empowering larger communities with the opportunity to take on the demanding challenges of the 21st century. Our recent ventures include exploring the various uses for disruptive blockchain and AI technologies as well as a content synthesis for MOOCs, contributing to EU-funded projects. The company is based in The Netherlands.

How will contribute to the TRUE project?

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Lidi Smart Solutions’ key role is to lead the development of a MOOC addressed to HEIs’ staff on blockchain technology. By bringing our experience from other EU-funded projects, expertise in technologies, and devotion to the work, we aim to achieve high-quality training content and tools. The company will also take part in the creation of a baseline knowledge pack about the potential of blockchain technology adapted to the HE sector, as well as an innovative learning experience on how blockchain technology works. Furthermore, Lidi Smart Solutions will run a pilot testing of the developed materials and will disseminate the project outcomes to a variety of stakeholders.

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Amaris Consulting

Amaris Consulting is an independent technology consulting firm providing guidance and solutions to businesses. It gathers more than 7,000 people from 95 different nationalities, spread across 5 continents and more than 60 countries. With more than 1,000 clients across the globe, we have been rolling out solutions in major projects for over a decade. Our experts engage across all sectors ranging from financial services and transportation, to healthcare and technology.

How will contribute to the TRUE project?

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Amaris will contribute with its expertise in delivering blockchain training courses for private companies as well as higher education institutions. Building from these experiences and success cases, we will be responsible for the development of the serious game for IO3, coordinating all the contributions from other partners and guaranteeing a high level of innovation and effectiveness. In addition, we will contribute to the content development for IO2 and to the collection of external feedback for IO1. Finally, we will host the C1 Summer School, welcoming staff members from every partner for a 3-day train the trainer activity, followed by the 4th Transnational Meeting.

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European Blockchain Association

The European Blockchain Association combines, synchronizes and leverages blockchain-related activities of European corporations, startups, venture capitalists, and scientific institutes. We serve as a superior, neutral body to aggregate and coordinate blockchain activities throughout Europe and to provide Non-European parties access into the European blockchain ecosystem.

How will contribute to the TRUE project?

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The European Blockchain Association (EBA) provides real world experience and deep blockchain expertise to the TRUE project. The association draws its membership from blockchain professionals with years of field experience as well as teaching expertise. As a result, the EBA is uniquely suited for the task of providing technical advising to guide the TRUE Initiative within the European context.

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Eurocrea Merchant

Eurocrea Merchant is a consulting and training company based in Italy, with two offices located in Milan and Naples. Its mission is to improve the competitiveness of the European society, through business development, training and creation of transnational partnerships. The company’s expertise is consulting and advisory for SMEs, education and training (in the field of business development, HR, organizational management and internationalization) and European projects.

How will contribute to the TRUE project?

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Eurocrea Merchant has implemented several projects and initiatives in the field of adult education, aiming to promote sustainability and acquisition of personal and transversal skills. The core staff group of trainers and researchers will contribute by bringing into the project a long experience in studies and research in the field of education, training, access to the labor market and skills mismatch. Moreover, in recent years, Eurocrea Merchant has also developed expertise in the recognition and validation of learning outcomes, favoring the acquisition of transparency tools, such as EQF and ECVET.

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IDEC

IDEC is a training consulting company located in Piraeus, Greece. Its activities consist of training, management consulting, quality assurance, evaluation and development of ICT solutions for both private and public sector. Clients of IDEC are both SMEs and the bigger Greek companies of a wide variety of sectors.

How will contribute to the TRUE project?

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IDEC will be part of the efforts made from all partners to develop the intellectual outputs of the project. Also IDEC will be responsible to coordinate the whole Dissemination effort of the consortium, designing a strategy for project promotion at local, national and international level.

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