Scientific Article by the Assistant Lecturer Ali Hussein on How IoT Is Used in Education: IoT Applications in Education

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Education is not yet among the most common IoT applications. Students, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders are wary when it comes to implementing connected e-learning solutions.<br /><br />However, as the Internet of Things platforms become more widespread and cheaper to adopt, campuses, schools, and other institutions are leveraging the technology’s potential. From improving campus attendance to ensuring in-class productivity, IoT has dozens of promising applications in education. We will examine the IoT trend for education in detail in this post.<br />IoT application education<br />Table of Contents<br /><br />What Problems Does IoT Solve in the Education Industry?<br />Benefits of IoT in Education<br />Challenges of IoT in Education<br />Examples of IoT Applications in Education<br />Education Solution with Digiteum<br />What Problems Does IoT Solve in the Education Industry?<br />According to studies, over 1.6 million Americans are currently home-schooled. Not only that, but 47% of the country’s parents are dissatisfied with the quality of K-12 education. Kids don’t feel any better. Here’s what statistics show:<br /><br />70% of students feel bored at school all the time;<br />80% of surveyed kids feel constant stress;<br />75% of school-attenders answered a ‘How are you doing’ question with a negative reply.<br />Why are children and parents unhappy with what educational institutions have to offer? Most likely, the following issues take the blame:<br />Outdated curriculum<br />Despite the obvious technical advancements, a fair share of schools continue to use outdated teaching practices, paper textbooks, and curriculums that aren’t much different from the ones we had centuries ago (math, writing, reading, foreign languages, history, and science). There is little-to-no room for acquiring new skills needed to stay competitive in the workplace.<br /><br />According to the World Economic Forum, the skills that are crucial for the future workforce are not yet or rarely taught at school:<br /><br />Computer science and engineering;<br />Collaboration and ethics;<br />Problem-solving and logic;<br />Creativity.<br />As a result, when a young high school graduate enters the workforce or chooses a career path, they struggle to match the outdated skill set against the demands of the rapidly-changing job market.<br />IoT application education<br />Standardized testing<br />Standardized exams are considered an objective way to assess students’ skills and competencies. The reality is, such assessments are not immune to bias and do a lot to promote inequality at educational establishments. In ‘34 Problems With Standardized Tests’, The Washington Post emphasizes the impact of the following issues standardized testing brings forth:<br /><br />Those who can afford test prep classes typically have higher scores;<br />Tests don’t offer classroom teachers much relevant feedback on the way students learn and process information;<br />Standardized exams don’t promote creativity among students, encouraging sticking to tried-and-true patterns instead;<br />Exams are conducted under unreasonable pressure that often affects a test taker’s performance;<br />High, potentially life-changing impact of failure.<br />LET'S DISCUSS YOUR PROJECT<br />CONTACT DIGITEUM<br />Poorly educated teachers and professors<br />According to studies, teachers have a lot of power in determining students’ lifetime earnings and social status. It turns out, for every twenty students a poorly-skilled teacher instructs, that professional subtracts $500,000 per year. As a result, students who are stuck with under-trained professionals have lower odds of entering competitive colleges and finding lucrative jobs.<br /><br />The US suffers from significant education talent shortages. There aren’t enough pre-school and special education professionals to provide kids with basic memorization, comprehension, and problem-solving skills.<br /><br />Attracting young talents to education, ensuring successful re-skilling, and continuous learning throughout teachers’ careers is needed.<br />Low classroom engagement<br />The traditional ‘lecture, discuss, test’ approach is not likely to engage students and improve information retention.<br /><br />Outdated teaching methods prevent education professionals from adopting active interaction-based learning or personalizing the curriculum. While slow-learning students start losing concentration in class because the information is too challenging to process, academically inclined ones are not interested in following the lesson either, as the concepts are not stimulating enough and boring.<br />IoT application education<br />On-campus safety<br />Legislation like the Clery Act spread awareness of safety importance at educational facilities. Unfortunately, most schools don’t have the infrastructure to detect red flags for theft, abuse, sexual assault, and other crimes that occur within the institution. Nor do they have a contingency plan that could be implemented once a threat is pinpointed.<br /><br />As of February 2020, there have been seven school shootings across the US, claiming the lives of four people and injuring many more. The huge number of shootings that occur across the country every year is a declaration of the need to come up with new protection and prevention means for high school students.<br />Benefits of IoT in Education<br />The implementation of technology gives education professionals new tools to optimize classwork, improve the efficiency of the learning process, connect with students better, and ensure on-site safety.<br /><br />Here are the benefits of putting the Internet of Things and education into a unified framework:<br /><br />Improved school management efficiency. Managing an education institution requires filling in a lot of paperwork, keeping track of supply management, and distributing funds properly. IoT solutions lay the groundwork for faster, risk-free, and interconnected decision-making framework where all the stakeholders (teachers, students, parents, public officials) are engaged in improving the state of the facility.<br />Real-time data collection. IoT allows processing terabytes of data simultaneously, opening a lot of applications for schools and colleges — safety tracking, student progress monitoring, overseeing the professional training of teaching specialists, and many more. Ministries and principals could use real-time data to improve the efficiency of testing and grading or when looking for new ways to improve classroom engagement.<br />Improved resource management. IoT in education helps establishments run more efficiently, reducing operating and storage costs in the long run. Additionally, facility managers can employ connected IoT devices for education to ensure energy or water consumption efficiency.<br />Global interconnectedness. The global nature of IoT helps education professionals create uniform teaching standards and ensure equally efficient school and college training worldwide. The Internet of Things can support global peer-to-peer professional training tools, where educators all over the world can exchange tips and best practices. Students, on the other hand, will be able to share learning materials internationally, improving