Role of IoT in Education

By Savaram Ravindra, Tekslate

Introduction

 
Today, the objects around us are becoming smarter due to the innovations in technology and various industries are getting disrupted. But, when compared with sectors like home automation, industrial automation, etc, education sector has not been in the forefront of adopting latest technologies.

The Internet of Things(IoT), the new technological paradigm is conquering the entire world by connecting various objects around us. But, as said earlier, education sector is falling back in leveraging IoT.

But, today, this started changing slowly as various educational institutions are now realizing the significance of introducing technology, especially IoT, into their daily teaching methods. Very soon, many schools and colleges will have IoT embedded into their day-to-day activities and there are a few reasons for this.

In this article, I will discuss the significance of IoT and gain insights on why this technology is becoming an integral part of the daily learning and teaching methodologies.

 

What is IoT?

 
The Internet of Things is basically a network of several devices which are attached with miscellaneous software, electronics, and network connectivity of distinct orientations, aimed at exchanging and compiling of any kind of information.

IoT is applied in many industries including finance, travel, teaching, telecommunication, and so on. When it comes to implementing IoT in the education sector, the major reason is the IoT enhances the education itself and provides advanced value to the structures and environment.

A smart school(a school that uses IoT), with the facilities operating smoothly promotes a higher level of personalized learning. The smart devices used in a campus utilize WiFi network for receiving instructions and sending data.

A computational IoT nervous system for colleges and schools helps to keep track of major resources, create smarter lesson plans, design secure campuses, enhance information access, and much more. With its set of advanced tools, IoT can be regarded as a new method of classroom management.

 

IoT Applications in Education

 
Now, let’s have a deeper look into the applications of IoT in the education sector.

Interactive Learning

Today, learning is not limited only to the combination of images and texts but much more than that. Many textbooks are joined to web-based sites that incorporate additional videos, materials, animations, assessments, and other materials to aid the learning process.

This provides a broader perspective to the students in gaining knowledge on new things with a better understanding and interaction with their friends and teachers. The real-world problems are discussed in classroom by the educational professionals and students are made to find the answers for these problems.

Security

As there will be many students present in a class of any educational institution, monitoring the whereabouts and activities of each and every students is not an easy task. Moreover, the students in an educational institution are more exposed to risks and require smart security when compared with the population at any other places of work. IoT can add an immense value in terms of enhancing the security of schools, colleges, and any other learning centres.

With the help of technologies like 3D positioning, students can be monitored 24/7 and their presence can be reported at any given point of time. The option of distress buttons can also be provided by these technologies for raising an alarm if in case the need arises.

For monitoring the student behavior, intelligent camera vision can be used in the campus. Recently, computer vision technologies have improved  a lot and can monitor any signature movements. This activity can automatically can stop any unexpected incidents from taking place.

Educational Apps

The educational apps leveraging IoT can be regarded as powerful creative tools and are transforming the way in which teaching and learning is done. They also enable the teachers and students to create 3D graphics textbooks which feature videos and provide the capability to take notes.

These kind of apps can be considered as game changers as they provide a large number of educational games. These games provide numerous features that offer interesting possibilities in teaching and learning. This makes education more appealing than ever before.

Increasing Efficiency

In many schools and colleges, a lot of time is spent on activities that do not add any value to the core aim of their very existence. For instance, attendance of the students needs to be taken several times a day. Additionally, this data has to be sent to the central office for different purposes. The IoT can put an end to this inefficient system.

With the help of IoT end-devices, this data can be collected and sent to the central office server automatically eliminating the need for any human intervention. Due to this revolutionary shift towards the IoT, the tedious task of teachers and students can be minimized. This allows them to concentrate more on teaching and learning which is the core function of any centre of learning.

 

Conclusion

 
The Internet of Things will be further integrated into the education system in the near future. Most of the schools may use it to prepare their students to become highly tech-literate while others may use it to harness data, save money, and for other specific needs. Our understanding of education must shift if we want to integrate IoT into the education. The organizations that create reasonable, practical products the administrators, students, and teachers can get behind are the ones that get benefited first.

 
Bio: Savaram Ravindra was born and raised in Hyderabad, popularly known as the ‘City of Pearls’. He is presently working as a Content Contributor at Tekslate.com. His previous professional experience includes Programmer Analyst at Cognizant Technology Solutions. He holds a Masters degree in Nanotechnology from VIT University. He can be contacted at savaramravindra4@gmail.com. Connect with him also on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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