The Applications of IoT in Education
Technology is everywhere! It has changed the way we live, learn and work. The plethora of data available on education and the development of new technologies has made us reconsider how students are taught and educational institutions are run. The way IoT in learning environments supports educators can influence how we as a society collaborate, communicate and operate. There are two aspects to look into here, firstly how students are taught and finally how educational institutions can bring in IoT to improve campuses.
IoT in Teaching
An educational environment that is focused on student learning and with IoT as an auxiliary tool can be quite advantageous. IoT can connect academia all over the world to provide a deeper learning experience for students to gain knowledge. It also helps students relate theory to practical applications. For instance, weather patterns can be understood through real time data from weather sensors all over the globe. In addition, teachers can focus on individual students for a more personalised learning experience. Students can learn at their own pace and it provides an easier medium for student-teacher communication. It can change how student success is measured and communicated. This is a dramatic change for both teachers and students, to be able to look at real time data rather than focusing only on text book content. The improved learning opportunities can decrease the time to master concepts while still being able to motivate and engage students [1]. It can also increase teacher creativity as they can focus more on the curriculum. Some of the current technologies implemented in smart schools are smart boards, tablet computers and 3D printers [2].
The main issue of a full fledged IoT package in learning is for us to first understand how the human brain learns new concepts and dealing with the inherent complexity of human behavior. Therefore, the software engineers who work in education projects must be thoughtful of how learning occurs.
IoT in Educational Campuses
Today’s smart schools have an infrastructure that can develop and progress into digital learning centers as more and more IoT devices are deployed frequently.
Educators can keep track of students, staff and resource to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. Although IoT in education is still in its infancy, many schools are now adopting new technologies to track student attendance, transport and oversee security systems [3]. For example, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) installed in ID cards or wearables can monitor attendance and track young students’ whereabouts in schools. Real time information of devices can also help maintenance departments quickly repair or replace devices to avoid disruption in classrooms.
Educators are always looking to make their campuses more secure and safe as it is a high priority for all stakeholders in the education sector [4]. Simply being able to track school children and staff can increase safety on multiple levels. School buses fitted with GPS transmitters can help parents easily track the location of their child anytime and anywhere. All this data coming in from several devices helps in the decision making process of staff during emergency situations and to notify the appropriate authorities.
Privacy Risk
The biggest hurdle to IoT in education is privacy and data protection. Information must be accessible but also confidential when required [5]. There is also the debate of who owns and accesses the data. The ethical risks must be understood and these risks must be addressed before implementation of technologies that rely heavily on personal student data. Security planning must be a top priority while developing applications and when choosing a cloud vendor to host the data. All stakeholders must be educated about the potential risks of collecting data and the steps taken to mitigate these risks.
Conclusion
In conclusion, IoT’s application in education are limitless and we are already seeing it in some of the smart schools today. However, we haven’t even scratched the surface when it comes to learning applications. In the long term, harnessing the data collected by IoT devices can help improve safety and nurture a student first learning environment. Although IoT devices need high upfront capital investments, the benefits can outweigh the drawbacks in the future. It not only provides a better learning process for students but also reduces operational costs.
References
[1] – http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/solutions/industries/docs/education/education_internet.pdf
[2] – https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2017/03/how-will-internet-things-impact-education
[4] – http://www.zatar.com/sites/default/files/content/resources/Zebra_Education-Profile.pdf
[5] – http://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/8/the-internet-of-things-for-educators-and-learners
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6 comments on “The Applications of IoT in Education”
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marketing and value chain management. I like to keep things simple and minimalistic!
Thank you for your great post!
First of all, it was really interesting to read about the impacts of IoT in education, since not many people are aware of these technologies and how they are/can be used. Education is key for a developed country, high living standards and a better future. That is why, I believe this field in particular is being overlooked and more ideas should be generated.
I would like to call attention to one of the other challenges of integrating IoT in teaching and educational campuses. Although these technologies take the teaching/learning experience to a whole new level, there are still some barriers that need to be overcome. In order for this system to work, both teachers and parents should be educated. For example, in Turkey, some schools do have these technologies, but not all teachers are aware of how to integrate them into teaching. For the IoT devices to have a long term impact on the educational system, I think teachers who have access to them should be informed about how and why these technologies are used. Schools, teachers and the government have a great role in adopting and interiorising smart education.
In addition, accessibility is another major issue. IoT devices are currently high in price and not affordable to a large percentage of schools and students. With new advancements in this area, reaching a wider range of people should be taken into consideration.
I believe IoT will be very effective in education only if it can be more accessible and is properly integrated into the education system.
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I agree, Romi. In order to implement these new technologies in a school, it is essential for educators to be comfortable using them inside their classrooms. If teachers do not know how to use these technologies, they could become a hindrance rather than a tool to improve the learning environment. I found one example of a school that promises a more personalized learning experience, and it achieves that by implementing technological tools and having educators who know how to use them fully. It is called AltSchool. If you are further interested in their work here’s their website and a video of what they do.
https://www.altschool.com/about/about
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfbVZdyHEqg
Even though what they are doing is really interesting and could be helpful in improving the children’s learning environment, the accesibility problem you also mentioned prevails. As of today, Altschool only has a few schools with between 30 and 120 students each, and surely for a premium price. However, they are trying to expand their reach by partnering up with other schools. Efforts are definitely being made to improve education through the use of technology, but I believe that a complete implementation of this model is quite a few years away.
Hey Rahul,
IOT combined with ML and AI is changing how a student takes lessons at school. One such example in our own vicinity is Khan Lab School (KLS) in Mountain View which is run by the Khan Academy. Every student gets personal attention with the help of tailored lessons and personal mentors which are available online. Depending on the performance on a given day, the lessons are then planned for the next day accordingly (How cool is that ! ). Technology can not only help students, it can even make the teachers more productive. Mindspark, an Indian company is using ML to help students overcome common mistakes in mathematics and English. The education sector is warmly embracing the use of sophisticated technology.
Source: https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21725285-reformers-are-using-new-software-personalise-learning-technology-transforming-what-happens
PS: My section is MS&E 238A
I’m interested by the ability for IoT to highly personalize a student’s education. This would definitely allow children to progress faster and more efficiently through the educational system, but it could also remove an important aspect of education. This is the social aspect of learning that accompanies discussion with classmates as well as explaining topics to classmates who might be a bit confused. If students switch to a solely technology-based individual learning track, they would be deprived of this aspect of learning. Therefore, while I think highly-personalized technology-based learning may be appropriate in certain subjects, there are definitely some classes that will refuse to fully adopt this technology because it could worsen the learning experience. For example, debate and discussion oriented classes would most likely prefer a group-oriented face-to-face approach (though it could still include some IoT optimizations). So while IoT may make education more efficient, I think it is important to make sure it does not isolate students from one another.
I also think you bring up a very interesting point about privacy. There definitely needs to be a discussion of who owns one student’s data. From what I’ve seen so far, the answers seem to be limited to the school, the student, or their family being the owner. But I think there’s another possibility: the student’s family, for whatever reason, deciding to opt out from this data gathering. Certainly there will be families who choose this path because they simply don’t trust this technology. I think there needs to be a discussion of what happens to students in this case: Is the student prevented from attending that school? Is there a minimum amount of data-gathering that is not optional? Could different privacy policies affect how families opt out?
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I am in MS&E 238A
Thanks, Rahul, for the insight into educational IoT. I think it can really have a hugh impact on how students are learning in the future, especially getting to know how to use information technology is a key criterion.
Furthermore you mentioned it needs to be first understood how the human brain is learning. In my opinion everybody is learning different, especially regarding the different learning styles (https://teach.com/what/teachers-teach/learning-styles/), so in order to fit individual needs of a student and to enhance the learning experience these learning styles need to be regarded as well, when implementing an educational IoT System.
Hi Rahul,
That is a nice explanation of how IoT helps educators and students enhance their learning and provides live data based on student/teacher activity and their interaction. I believe that technology is helping enhance the educational space by providing insights that are both personalized and provide an overview which can be consumed by parents, students, educators and administration to better understand the progress and learning better. I agree with the comments by our colleagues about the difficulty in adopting technology due to lack of training or finances, and about the comprehensive ineffectiveness of these solutions in many places. There are many differences, geographic, cultural and administrative that account for this. Further, many classrooms have teaching styles not suited for a particular technology. While in other cases, teachers, students, administration or parents may oppose the product altogether.
Among common revenue streams, the idea of monetizing consumer data raises deep concerns. In terms of data protection, Potential products should adhere to high security standards to protect unintended access to valuable data. Further, users should understand what information may be shared.
Some of my colleagues mentioned lack of technology access due to financial barriers. That may be solved by using advertisements. There may be a difference in product experience, but would enable broader access.