Social Media, Cyberculture, Blockchains, and Education

Abstract

A new world is emerging to higher education worldwide. In Brazil, higher education took a significant turn in the last years with the substantial reductions of government investments in social justice policies. To compensate for the downturn of enrollment of new students in on-campus programs, universities started to invest heavily in distance education online programs and social media strategies. This new trend brought to the core of their strategy the necessity to develop new information and communication technologies to make the students' experience more enjoyable, to facilitate the learning process, and to increase enrollments. This process will enable professors and educators to create inspiring links with their students and within the cyberculture environment. The main objective of this chapter is to contribute to the debate of the uses of social media, cyberculture, and blockchain technology for the development of educational strategies. Therefore, it will review the existing scientific literature on social networking, social media, cyberculture, and blockchains related to Brazil.