Blockchain-Enabled E-Portfolios for Competency Tracking in Undergraduate Nursing Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Summary

This study evaluates whether a blockchain-enabled electronic portfolio can improve competency tracking and lifelong learning in undergraduate nursing education. Conventional electronic portfolios are often fragmented across courses and clinical rotations, difficult to verify across institutions, and limited in supporting learner ownership of records. To address these challenges, this study compares a blockchain-enabled e-portfolio system with a conventional Moodle-based e-portfolio during a medical-surgical clinical rotation.

Third-year undergraduate nursing students at Jouf University, Saudi Arabia, were randomly assigned to use either the blockchain-enabled e-portfolio intervention or the conventional e-portfolio control. The intervention was designed to support cryptographically verifiable competency records, structured reflective evidence, and personalized competency feedback through dashboard analytics.

The main outcomes include clinical competence assessed by an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), lifelong learning orientation, portfolio quality, and trust in the credibility and portability of competency records. After the quantitative phase, focus group interviews were conducted with students in the intervention group to explore their experiences with the system and the mechanisms through which it may influence learning.

The study aims to determine whether blockchain-enabled e-portfolios offer educational advantages over conventional portfolio systems in competency-based nursing education and to identify implementation factors that may support or hinder adoption.

Conditions

• Nursing Education
• Competency-Based Education
• Electronic Portfolios
• Lifelong Learning
• Clinical Competence

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Blockchain-Enabled E-Portfolio Platform

A blockchain-enabled educational portfolio system used to support competency tracking and lifelong learning in undergraduate nursing education. The intervention included a verifiable competency ledger, structured reflective evidence linked to competency tags and preceptor attestations, learner-held credential ownership, and dashboard-based personalized competency feedback during a 14-week clinical rotation.

BEHAVIORAL

Conventional Moodle-Based E-Portfolio

A conventional institutional electronic portfolio system used for routine documentation during a 14-week clinical rotation. The control platform included portfolio templates, artifact uploads, self-assessment activities, and discussion forums, but did not include blockchain verification, cryptographic attestation, portable credentials, or personalized competency dashboards.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Cairo University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mostafa Shaban · Cairo University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

20 Years

Max Age

24 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-02-20

Primary Completion

2025-06-18

Completion

2025-06-27

Countries

• Saudi Arabia

Study Locations