There’s been a lot of buzz about the Internet of Things (IoT) over the past couple of years. A day is going to come when a computer is no longer seen as a separate device. Technology is already entwined in the basic fabric of everyday living today, and it’s going to become even more immersive. You can expect someone born at the height of the Internet age to feel disappointed if their room lamp doesn’t acknowledge their presence immediately upon entering a room and turn itself on.
Over time, the Internet of Things will become a mindset instead of a steady stream of technology. Even though other devices in our workplaces, homes, and surrounding environments are intelligent enough to talk and connect to one another, people are still going to focus on the transformational possibilities for the other world.
The educational realm isn’t an exception to the influence of the Internet of Things (IoT), and until recently, educational technology pivoted around virtual conferencing and classrooms, online tutorials, and other offerings. However, that was only the beginning, and we are going to be sharing the five ways that the Internet of Things (IoT) will influence education and learning today.
1. Sustain and Conserve to Flourish and Survive
With the help of the Internet of Things, there are various options possible when it comes to energy conservation and environmental, traffic, transport, and ecosystem regulation that can help schools build their budgets and provide better learning opportunities.
For instance, a school district in Pennsylvania can save a fortune on energy by using the Internet of Things to support its energy monitoring and control program and reinvest the savings into their education programs. In the end, having a green lifestyle is the way forward into the future, and it’s important that we put in the work so that we can invest in more important areas.
2. Connecting Academies from All Over the World
The latest Internet of Things artillery in the field includes digital highlighters, smart boards, and smarter boards. That means the printed text could be digitally transferred to your smartphone or to another app with incredible speed through tools, such as Scanmarker and C-Pen. Interactive boards can also acknowledge, receive, and reciprocate information, which will accelerate and simplify the learning process and experience.
Imagine a scenario where students in a classroom or at their desk at home can easily interact with their educators, mentors, and classmates from all over the world. Let’s suppose the topic of the day is sea life, and to give students a really exciting educational experience, the teacher chooses to access information generated through live feeds and sensors monitoring a water body.
3. Granting Equality for All
The connected world of everything offers a lot to students with modified learning plans and exceptions. There are several devices, apps, and tools that can create appropriate learning experiences, bringing students with special needs on the same level as the rest of the classroom. An example is the Lechal shoe project, which allows the visually impaired to navigate the world better through the aid of technology.
4. Safe and Secure Learning Environment
The safety and security of students take precedence over everything, whether you’re an educational authority or a parent, concerned citizen, or a security official. With the help of empowered RFIDs, cameras, sensors, and connected devices, monitoring the surveillance of entire buildings is now possible. It allows instant alerts, notifications, and configured actions that add a significant layer of safety and security to schools and other educational institutions.
At a time where there is growing uncertainty all over the world, the Internet of Things is making things easier to ensure that children today are presented with a safe and secure learning environment. That is the right of every child, and it is more important now than it ever was before.
5. Turning Learners into Creators
The Internet of Things paves and promotes the way for creativity, and, for children, there is nothing better than learning about the nuances and applications of hyper-connectivity in its original form. In the end, the predictions about the enormous number of connected communication and decision-makers are still to come true. That presents an excellent opportunity for young students to build, understand, and control such systems by themselves.
This is going to be important for the scientists and creators of the coming generation as they will have access to the best tools and resources to create even better ground-breaking technology. The ability to comprehend and use the knowledge gained in a meaningful manner is perhaps going to be the biggest change that the Internet of Things will bring to education and learning.
The Future of the Internet of Things in Education and Learning
The Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to strip away the common barriers that are present today in education like geography, economic status, physical location, and language. However, once the initial glitz of being ‘hyper-connected’ fizzles out, there are going to be more important questions that will need to be answered by everyone.
Converging technology and education isn’t only about bringing learning sources, making them more accessible, or making learning faster or simpler. It’s got more to do with the quality, the impact, the community, and the acceptance as well. Even if all the fancy technology and resources that are available at the fingertips of our children today die out, there is still a long road ahead for IoT to complete reform education in an everlasting and path-breaking way.
The good news is that the seeds have been sown, and the harvest appears to be promising in the long run, as it shapes not only the future of our children but the future of education and learning.
by Bobby J Davidson
I love our companies and we love what we do. For more information on the Davidson Family of Companies, visit www.bobbydavidson.com/about. Sign up for my Newsletter at the bottom of this page.