IoT in Education – Beyond the Classroom Walls
In this article, we will go over various applications of IoT in the education sector. We shall start by looking at how IoT can increase educational quality and then look at 12 fascinating examples of IoT being used in education. So buckle up, grab a snack or coffee if needed, and read till the end!
How is IoT Used in the Educational Sector?
It is high time to change the methods of teaching. For many centuries, schools have been exactly the same! However, in recent times, many schools have started implementing technology to take learning to the next level.
The rise of covid-19 and the “stay at home” lockdown forced every school to implement technology in the form of online schooling. Thanks to it, we even have hybrid modes today.
Today, most students and teachers use smart devices to connect to their school or any other educational institute. It is because IoT has so many uses in the educational sector. For example, it increases campus safety, improves education quality, saves teachers from tremendous paperwork, and keeps track of enrollments.
We can even use various IoT sensors in classes, libraries, and other locations to monitor students’ attendance instead of wasting ten precious minutes daily marking attendance.
Applications of IoT in Education
It is no surprise when I say that 82% of kids between the ages of 12 to 17 have smartphones. They use these gadgets for both educational and recreational purposes.
The coming generation is already attached to their phones. So we might as well take education into the phone as most of their activities depend on these phones.
1. Smartboards
Smart boards are already making their way into most classrooms. A smartboard is essentially an electronic board that makes teachers’ jobs much easier and makes learning smoother.
Many educational institutions implement them because they are reliable, student-friendly, and, most importantly, easy to use. Smartboards allow you to display images on the board, and lets you interact with the image.
Since the board is essentially a touchscreen, you can control the screen, move images around, draw graphics, and do much more to personalise learning. In addition, most models come with smart pens to draw and create 3D objects using colours.
2. Monitoring attendance
As we saw above, schools and colleges can install IoT cameras and sensors to monitor and track students and track their attendance. Today, all educational institutions have rules. For example, for a student to pass, they must maintain 80% attendance.
IoT can track student attendance and deliver reports to staff members. Therefore, students with low attendance can be notified. IoT also allows students to track their academic performance on applications developed through IoT technology.
3. Exam Surveillance
We all know that exams play a crucial role in a student’s success. Therefore, it is essential to devise a mechanism to ensure that exams are conducted properly and fairly.
There are several applications of IoT in education which are used to monitor exam hall behaviour. For example, IoT cameras are helping institutions maintain discipline during the examination. These devices can also display warning messages to students.
4. Helping Educators
IoT is not only used for the betterment of students. It can be used by teachers and educators also. For example, teachers can give their attendance through biometrics.
IoT can also help ease teachers’ jobs, as it can track student progress and list students who need help based on different criteria such as grades, sports, and others. But, most importantly, IoT helps connect the gap between students and teachers by assisting teachers in understanding their pupils’ needs better.
5. School Bus Safety
As many students travel by school buses, parents have concerns about sending their children to school through school buses due to rash drivers and the large number of accidents involving school buses worldwide.
Thanks to IoT, we can resolve this problem. Parents can now check the children’s location to ensure they reach school safely on time. Moreover, the school can also track the driver and the bus from the school premises.
Information like speed limits and tire punctures can be checked using IoT to raise alerts in case of danger. Bus drivers can also use IoT applications to monitor the condition of the students on board.
6. Improving Campus Safety
In educational institutions, IoT is not only used for educational purposes but also the safety of students. There are countless examples of Smart IoT safety devices used in the educational sector.
For example, fire detection sensors can alert the school premises and even go ahead and call the fire department in case of danger. Schools also use online activity monitoring to ensure students are not accessing explicit content on school premises.
Education institutions can also use standard IoT cameras to track student activities outside classes or during lunch breaks. These are only a few examples of IoT devices being used for the on-campus safety of students. There are many more examples, like digital signage, access control, visitor management, etc
7. Energy Management
With the increasing rate of global warming, educational institutions need to conserve limited energy resources. One example is the printing of notebooks, textbooks, and workbooks, in massive amounts, which leads to paper wastage. But through IoT, books are available in electronic mode on devices for students to read and make changes.
Installation of IoT sensors and actuators in taps and lights helps automatically turn them off in the absence of human beings. Moreover, IoT also helps reduce harmful emissions such as CO2 and CO in the air.
8. Online Classes
As we all know, the global pandemic in 2019 forced all educational institutions to shift to an online mode of teaching to create a safe and secure environment for students at home. It was seamlessly possible due to IoT.
With the help of online classes, students can listen to classes from the comfort of their homes and yet have all the amenities of teaching they have on campuses.
9. Monitoring Health
IoT devices can also regularly monitor the health of students and staff. But why would educational institutions want to check the health of students and staff? Well, healthy students and staff mean a more productive educational institute.
One excellent device to monitor health is a smartwatch. These devices have various biologic sensors to monitor patient vitals, hormone levels, heart rate, etc. Apart from smartwatches, they even have rings and bands that do the same.
10. Interactive Learning
As I mentioned earlier, IoT can help bridge the gap between students and teachers and provide interactive learning, making it fun and exciting.
IoT has brought textbooks to life through 3D graphics, colours, and noises, making learning much more enjoyable. In addition, various applications like voice-to-text converters help in taking down notes more efficiently and effectively. In short, IoT keeps students engaged in knowledge, builds their personalities, and sharpens their minds.
11. Virtual Reality
Augmented reality and virtual reality are slowly making their way into the educational sector as they promote live interaction and bring audio, videos, and graphics to life, which helps students learn and understand the concepts better.
Using AR/VR, students can visualise and understand topics better as AR can show concepts like project mapping by showing the distances physically on the ground. VR also helps achieve interactive learning by not limiting learning to only books and textbooks.
12. Collecting Data in Real-Time
We all know that one of IoT’s features is collecting and storing information. IoT collects various data from staff and students to understand their likes and dislikes to improve the production of school gadgets, accessories, and communication.
Since most of the syllabus in the current educational system is outdated, IoT collects data and performs analytics to produce topics that emphasize student interaction, build focus and promote learning on a much larger scale.
Disadvantages of IoT in the educational sector
There are countless advantages of IoT in the educational sector, But everything in this universe has disadvantages. So, let us look at some disadvantages of IoT in the educational sector.
1. High cost
IoT is a costly technology. It is expensive to buy, set up and maintain and requires a lot of software and even more hardware. Thus, educational institutions need to hire a skilled team of IT officials to manage the school’s IoT system.
2. Security
We all know that security is the only downside of IoT in general. If there is no proper IoT security, attackers can get hold of thousands of students’ valuable data and maybe even expose and misuse it.
3. Data Storage
As we saw above, IoT constantly collects and stores data. In other words, it needs large amounts of data processing information to be stored in the cloud. Unfortunately, educational institutions lack data storage infrastructure. Moreover, old ways of data storage are different from IoT ecosystems.
Summary
You have now learned many applications where the education sector can use IoT to increase the quality of education. We have seen 10 examples in this article: smartboards, AR/VR, enhancing safety, monitoring attendance, interactive learning, assessing exams, and more. We finally concluded by looking at the disadvantages of IoT in the educational sector.