From Smileys to Smileycoins: Using a Cryptocurrency in Education

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ledger.2017.103

Keywords:

Education, Cryptocurrency, Rewards, Low income

Abstract

This paper describes a cryptocurrency to reward students for their studies. The currency bears the apt name Smileycoin or SMLY and is used within the tutor-web online learning platform. In order to make the SMLY attractive to students several approaches have been used, including support from companies whose services can be purchased for SMLY. The paper describes the use of the SMLY as a reward mechanism in a large undergraduate calculus course, including student adoption, student use of SMLY, coinbase use for education in low-income areas, and response to abuse.

Author Biographies

Gunnar Stefansson, University of Iceland

Gunnar Stefansson is a Professor of Statistics at the Mathematics Department of the University of Iceland. He is a statistician interested in applications, particularly within webassisted education.

Jamie Lentin

Jamie has been developing websites and associated solutions since the turn of the century.

References

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Lentin, J., Jonsdottir, A. H., Stern, D., Mokua, V., Stefansson, G. “A mobile web for enhancing statistics and mathematics education.” arXiv preprint (2014) https://arxiv.org/pdf/1406.5004.pdf

Leuven, E., Oosterbeek, H., Klaauw, B. “The effect of financial rewards on students' achievement: Evidence from a randomized experiment.” Journal of the European Economic Association 8.6 1243-1265 (2010) DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jeea_a_00024

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Nakamoto, S. “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” (2008) https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

Stefansson, G. “The tutor-web: An educational system for classroom presentation, evaluation and self-study.” Computers & Education, 43.4 315-343 (2004) DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2003.09.004

Stefansson, G., Sigurdardottir, A. J. “Web-assisted education: From evaluation to learning.” Journal of Instructional Psychology 38.1 47-61, ISSN: 0094-1956 (2011) https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ952150

Stefansson, G., Stern, D. A., Lentin, J., Jonsdottir, A. H. “Evidence-based technology to enhance mathematics education from Iceland to Kenya.” Strathmore International Mathematics Conference, SIMC2017, 9 (2017) Abstract DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21125/inted.2017.0409

Smileycoin

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Published

2017-12-18

How to Cite

Stefansson, G., & Lentin, J. (2017). From Smileys to Smileycoins: Using a Cryptocurrency in Education. Ledger, 2, 38–54. https://doi.org/10.5195/ledger.2017.103

Issue

Vol. 2 (2017)

Section

Research Articles

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