Government authorities in Ethiopia are preparing to issue digital, blockchain-based IDs to students at select schools in the country.

The project is the result of a partnership with Input Output HK (IOHK), the company behind the Cardano cryptocurrency. It’s being orchestrated by the education ministry’s department of ICT and digital education, and is part of a larger “digital foundations project” being implemented by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology.

Starting next month, students at about two dozen schools will receive their blockchain ID credentials. By the end of the year, government authorities are aiming to have a million IDs issued. Ultimately, the plan is to provide blockchain IDs to five million students and 750,000 teachers across 3,680 schools.

The digital IDs will be used to track students’ academic performances and to eliminate the possibility of ‘academic dishonesty’. According to a report from Ethipia’s Fortune, the country’s Higher Education Relevance & Quality Authority detected 15,000 fraudulent diplomas and certificates in 2021.

The initiative reflects a broader enthusiasm for digital ID technology in Ethiopia. This past summer, TECH5, a biometric ID specialist, announced the success of a pilot program undertaken as part of the National ID Program of the Ethiopian Government Entity, or NIDP Ethiopia. Government officials used TECH5’s technology to register participants’ face, fingerprint, and iris data, and to issue them digital IDs for use on their mobile devices.

All of these efforts illustrate an appetite for the kind of “Digital Public Infrastructure” to which the Gates Foundation committed $200 million in funding last week. And the student ID project in particular shows that blockchain technology could end up playing an important role in that digital infrastructure.

Sources: Fortune, Crypto News Flash

• The rollout is part of a newly signed contract with federal education authorities in Ethiopia.
• Several projects are waiting for the Vasil upgrade to deploy their smart contracts on Cardano.

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As part of a blockchain-based initiative across Ethiopia, the federal education ministry in the country has started rolling out digital identification (ID) for teachers and students. According to the ministry’s head of ICT and Digital education, Zelalem Assefa, the ministry has chosen about 24 schools to participate in the initiative, with data entry set to start next month.

The authorities and the team behind the Cardano blockchain platform, Input Output HK (IOHK) Limited, recently reached a partnership agreement. Under the terms of the deal, Cardano will provide digital IDs to five million students and 750,000 teachers across 3,680 schools. Based in Singapore, IOHK began operations in 2015 and is one of the top blockchain firms in that country.

The officials hope that by the end of this year, Cardano will have issued at least 500,000 IDs. This program is one of the “digital foundations projects” that Ethiopia launched in 2020. The project is being coordinated by Ethiopia’s ministry of innovation & technology after the country received a $200 million loan from the world bank.

This year, the authority’s plan for this National digital ID program was for 10 million Ethiopians to have digital IDs. However, registrants into this program are still less than 100,000, with three months left before the year is over. Students and teachers from Addis Ababa-based Abyot Qirs and Addis Ketema preparatory schools are two schools the ministry has chosen to participate in this program.

Besides receiving blockchain-verified digital IDs, Zelalem disclosed that these IDs are linked to a registry system for verifying grades and monitoring academic performances remotely. Zelalem added that the ministry would soon extend the ID program to higher learning institutions to curb academic dishonesty. “Higher Education Quality & Relevance officials discovered at least 15,000 fake diplomas and certificates in 2021.”

Authorities and employers can use these IDs to verify academic credentials. However, education experts believe that digitization of the education system won’t have the desired effect without a dependable system. A top-level executive with Orange ICT Solutions PLC, Mekbib Getaneh, advised authorities to make internet and networking systems available in addition to issuing digital IDs and other digitization programs in other sectors.

Since launching the national SchoolNet initiative program in 2003, Ethiopia’s education ministry has been experimenting with digitization. The outbreak of COVID-19 has seen Ethiopia launch more ICT-related programs in the education sector. During the pandemic, few tech firms developed various digital systems to assist public school students with access to online educational resources.

Projects are waiting for Cardano’s Vasil upgrade completion

In the meantime, music streaming platform, NEWM, recently tweeted that it is waiting for the completion of the Vasil upgrade to deploy its smart contracts. NEWM attested that the upgrade would make Cardano more cost-effective and improve its efficiency.

Cardano founder, Charles Hoskinson, responded to this tweet, saying NEWM aren’t the only projects waiting for the Vasil upgrade completion. He added that several projects are excited to deploy as well. Cardano’s Vasil upgrade went live on September 22, 2022. These developments would likely positively impact the price of Cardano’s native token (ADA).

I’ve seen hundreds of tweets like this one. Lots of projects are excited to deploy now https://t.co/6SxxaotFcH

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) September 23, 2022

 

 

Most students live through college life with a “let’s just wing it” attitude. However, it doesn’t hurt to prepare a little bit and learn more about college life. College life makes up the most formative years of your life, and if you can learn about it, the more you will be able to manage yourself financially. To make college life a rewarding routine, there are a handful of apps you can use to improve your academic experience. Below are useful android apps for students in 2022.

myHomework planner app

myHomework is an ideal app that will help you to avoid being caught off guard by a deadline. Nothing feels better in college than being able to manage your time effectively and complete everything on time. The notion that there is a lot of time to enjoy yourself while on campus is false. In most cases, you will find it hard to manage your limited time and end up squeezing a lot of activities.

Help with thesis with EduBirdie

With assignment deadlines approaching fast, university life can be stressful, and you need to devise better ways to succeed in academic writing. This could be seeking help with the thesis assignment and then concentrating fully on other lessons’ coursework. The best thing that you can do for yourself is to have help on EduBirdie website. Then you can choose to spend a bit of your time in the library reading your favorite story books or research. This is the best way to be an academic hero and secure your career prospects.

Photomath

Math apps help students improve their understanding of different math concepts that are taught in class. While using these math apps, you can choose either to have writing material or just watch the steps involved in the disparate calculations.

Math concepts are introduced in the most easy-to-understand and entertaining way. Solving math problems sometimes takes time, and dealing with complex concepts can feel like a war against an army of zombies. If you are facing challenges with understanding different concepts taught in math, you should worry no further.

Download and install Photomath, which can help you solve math concepts by using the camera of the mobile phone. It’s one of the best apps for math help. All you need to do is just point your phone’s camera towards the math problem, and the app will instantly give you detailed step-by-step instructions on how to solve the problem.

Evernote

While in college, you need to keep your thoughts as organized as possible. If you are organized with your thoughts, everything else will likely fall into place. What you need to understand is that getting organized doesn’t happen abruptly. You need to keep trying an organized routine day in and day out. Evernote is one of the simplest apps that sync your checklists and notes across your mobile phone and laptop.

This means you can work on the tasks on a mobile phone and later switch to the others on the laptop without losing anything. With Evernote, you can keep your notes in different formats, including text, audio, photos, web clippings, and videos. You can also attach Microsoft Office documents and PDFs.

VPN

The pros of studying with a VPN are numerous. As you well know, education has drastically improved, and colleges are opting for online learning. There is a need to protect your details. Your privacy is more vulnerable while researching online without a VPN.

Public Wi-Fi isn’t always safe. Most colleges often use it because it is highly affordable. Sometimes, you sneak into a coffee shop or public library, and the only available option is to use the public Wi-Fi.

VPN is a fast proxy service that will ensure internet privacy and security as you research different websites. It will unblock all the media streaming and protect your data while shunning away snoopers and hackers that may interfere with your personal information. To be precise, you will enjoy this app’s full palette of the online experience. There is usually a free trial if you are interested in this app.

Forest

Being focused is not something you will achieve easily while at the university. Otherwise, who doesn’t like letting the grid off by sneaking into a club late evening or watching their favorite movie? Well, it’s not bad to watch your favorite movie. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean you should do it daily and postpone your assignments for later hours.

Forest app will help you be more focused and organized with your college routine. This is the only way to get many things done in less time. You can install this app on your mobile phone if you get distracted often. You will have to grow your tree; each time you turn on your phone when you aren’t meant to, the tree will get hurt. If you want to grow a great green forest, stay focused and keep your attention off the phone when you aren’t meant to.

Udemy

Success in academics is not about concentrating solely on your course. There are other short courses that will help you broaden your knowledge in the field of your specialization. Short courses will help you cover more subjects and learn things easily. If you are looking for the best app where you can do short courses, you should look no further than Udemy.

Udemy offers online training sessions and disparate courses that will help you with in-depth knowledge in the discipline of your specialization. Sometimes if you experience issues with the website, use the VPN as stated above to reach the website. This app attracts many students with its easy-to-use interface, helpful and planned lessons, and interesting articles. You will get a certificate upon completion that you can add to your resume.

Oxford dictionary

Do you love reading or writing creative stories during your free time? If you do, the oxford dictionary app is one of the best free dictionary apps, boosting a word base of more than 239,000 words. The interface for this app is one of the simplest, as it consists of a search box at the top where you can type your words. Then, there is the space below where word definitions will appear.

As long as you work with this app, you don’t have to worry about writing your essays. It’s the most convenient tool you can use instead of buying a hard copy. It saves time, and you can just download it and install it on your mobile phone very fast without hassles. Ensure that you learn how it works and make maximum use of the app. Wherever you aren’t sure of what a certain word means, just open the app and type it in the search box.

Mint

If you always fall victim to bad spending habits, make Mint your best friend while at college. Mint is an android app designed to help you minimize spending habits and track your accounts. It will not only help you track your bills, but it will also help in budgeting.

Your calculations will be categorized, and you will receive alerts on how to plan monthly expenditure. The app is free and easy to get started with. Create your account after downloading and installing it to see where your money is going and identify bad spending habits.

Even when you are keen on how you spend your money in college, you need to get this app. Sometimes you will fall into wasting your money on unnecessary things. From time to time, you will get advice on how to improve your spending habits. This app also tracks your credit score, which is vital to develop at the college level.

Chegg

Chegg offers 24/7 assignment help and online tutoring. It also sells textbooks at affordable prices. With Chegg, you can even search for scholarships and browse various course reviews that you are interested in. The courses offered on Chegg offers a comprehensive solution to learning online and the tutors teaching different subjects are highly qualified for great services.

So, if you need more in-depth and consistent learning, you can download and install this app on your mobile device. You can also use this app to sell books. You no longer need to earn a little extra money. It may not be too much, but the money you will get will make a lot of difference between being broke and having some cash to buy your favorite snacks and clothes.

Grammarly

Grammarly is one of the most popular apps used by college students. To enjoy better features, you can opt for a premium subscription. Whether you are writing an essay or notes, Grammarly can be a great tool to aid the writing process.

It will help detect spelling errors, correct grammatical errors, suggest ways to remove unnecessary phrases, and recommend the necessary changes in your sentence structures. It’s an app that will help you write an essay that is very clear and free of plagiarism.

The good thing with this app is that it shows you the plagiarism percentage and the parts that have been plagiarized. Grammarly uses an artificial intelligence system and other deep learning algorithms to analyze millions of words. However, do not use this tool blindly. It’s just a tool to guide you through! Read through the suggestions and see whether they alter the intended meaning of the paragraph.

Mendeley

Mendeley is a reference management tool designed for students mostly in research-oriented courses. It will help track the reference books, chapters, and other online material you will use for the research.

Mendeley offers a range of research functions that are not provided by any other reference management apps. It’s suitable for all students who are in different academic disciplines. This app has different ways to work with, not limited to, the web and mobile interfaces.

The Mendeley web importer performs a great comparison with similar bookmarklets and works great with various browsers. You can create public or private discussion groups with this app to discuss the research you are conducting. In addition, you can view information about the performance of the other publications, not limited to views, citations, and readers.

Coach.me

If you think college life is about great grades, think twice. Good grades might sound like the only thing that you are looking for on campus, but that’s not. While in college, you will procrastinate many actions because you think that they are not helpful anymore. That’s not correct. College life is more about building a character that will help you easily survive in the outside world.

Coach.me is an android app that will allow you to join millions of people who are striving to achieve their individual goals. On this app, you will get help from other people who will help you form good habits while in college. The better the good habits you will form, the more productive you will be at the end of the day. You will earn “props” in recognition of the achievements that you have made.

Google Maps

College life offers the perfect opportunity to travel around the world, and if you need a great app for directions, you can download and install Google Maps. The app has improved greatly in terms of accuracy with the location. You can easily find any place you are searching on this app, giving you real-time GPS navigation and local hotels for events and other activities.

With this app, you don’t have to stop strangers and ask for direction if you feel lost. Open the app and tap on the circular blue icon that indicates your current location. Zoom in to get more specific details about the location. This app is great when going out to parties or traveling to places you are not well-conversant with.

Conclusion

Honestly, you should consider checking out all these apps to make your college life easier. You will find it easier to finish the assignment on time, travel to places without fear of getting lost, spend your money wisely and avoid repercussions from copying someone’s work. These apps have an easy-to-use interface, and you will find it interesting to use them at college.   

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Original Source: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/useful-android-apps-for-students-in-2022/

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This fascinating experiment involving free BTC generated concrete results and we’re here to review them. The feel-good story arrives courtesy of CNBC, who interviewed some of the protagonists and got to the bottom of things. It all started with 19-years-old Jeremy Rubin, who developed a program called Tidbit. It  allowed “users to mine for Bitcoins on a client’s computer as a replacement for traditional advertising.” The authorities weren’t so keen on his idea, as the Electronic Frontier Foundation remembers:

In December 2013, the New Jersey Attorney General’s office issued a sweeping subpoena to Rubin and Tidbit, seeking Tidbit’s source code, documents and narrative responses about how Tidbit worked, which websites it was installed on and the Bitcoin accounts and wallet addresses associated with Tidbit.

Related Reading | MIT BTC Project Goes Live, Offer $100 of Free BTC to Undergrads at MIT

They eventually dropped the investigation, but one good thing came out of it. He realized that even though he thought “everyone was super cutting-edge” at MIT, not many were familiar with Bitcoin. So, logically, he raised “half a million dollars in donations from alumni and bitcoin enthusiasts” and the free BTC experiment was born. 

Were There Conditions To Get The Free BTC?

The idea was for undergrad students to “complete a few questionnaires and review educational materials,” and to “set up their own crypto wallet, which at the time was hard enough to discourage participation.” Still, 3,108 students got $100 of free BTC. At the time, Bitcoin’s price was $336, so they got about 0,3 BTC each. At today’s price, that would be worth about $13.500. 

“We wanted to get bitcoin out in the world more, and we wanted to spread the technology,” said Rubin. “We also wanted to study what it means to distribute a new asset.”

How Many Sold Or Spent The BTC?

Luckily for the history books, researchers traced the project. Apparently, “1 in 10 cashed out in the first two weeks. By the end of the experiment in 2017, 1 in 4 had cashed out.” Paper hands, sure, but remember that no one had any idea if Bitcoin as a whole was going to pan out. CNBC quotes Christian Catalini, one of the researchers:

“Even at the time, the technology was quite user unfriendly,” he said. “Even within a pretty tech-savvy community such as MIT, it was kind of surprising to see how much work it really was to use bitcoin at the time.”

Still, 3 out of every 4 held on to the BTC, which is pretty impressive. “What was fascinating is that in a sense, the MIT students got it right. The vast majority held on to their bitcoin as an investment.” Did they, though? Or was it so difficult to use and unknown by vendors that they didn’t even bother? 

BTC price chart for 08/18/2021 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

What Did The Students Do With Their Free BTC?

Well, long story short, they spent the free BTC on sushi. CNBC managed to track two of those students that, somewhat ironically, now work in the crypto space. One, Sam Trabucco, serves as Co-CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research. The other, “Van Phu, now a software engineer and co-founder of crypto broker Floating Point Group.” 

“One of the worst things and one of the best things at MIT is this restaurant called Thelonious Monkfish,” said Phu. “I spent a lot of my crypto buying sushi.”

Related Reading | Uniswap Labs Limits Access To Certain Tokens, What It Could Mean For The DeFi Sector

So did Trabucco, who remembers the experiment as an important experience for the people involved. He spent the free BTC because he “didn’t really think it was going to be the future of finance.” Still, he considers that maybe already having a Bitcoin wallet set up might’ve sent him on the path to head a firm as big as Alameda Research.

All’s well that ends well.

Featured Image by Yuhan Du on Unsplash - Charts by TradingView