IoT in Education Sector

Samarjit Gill, M. Sc., MCA

Head – BBA

The evolution of internet has made life simpler, quicker and easier. It has touched almost every sector/industry/segment. With the exponential growth of the internet, the next advancement we are seeingis the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT). All major industries are making a massive shift towards IoTwhich is anticipated to have a huge impact on our lives. Experts call it the ‘Next Digital Revolution’ or the ‘Next Generation of Internet’. The number of IoT devices has increased 31% year-over-year to 8.4 billion in 2017; and according to NASSCOM, the global market size of IoTis expected to touch USD 3 trillion by 2020.

Oxford English Dictionary definesIoTas”a proposed development of the Internet, in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data.” The objects will use sensors to transmit data to each other and even cause each other to perform physical activities. The IoT has already shown a significant impact on consumer as well as the industrial segment. Information sharing is a major source for another major sector,the Education sector,which likely will continueto remain impacted.

With the IoT being induced in the Education Sector we have analyzed dramatic transformation in this sector in the following ways:

  • Global networking among students and educators
  • Enhancement of textbooks with the assistance of QR codes
  • Easier data collection and analysis with the use of RFID chips
  • Higher collaboration in group projects
  • Greater safety in campuses
  • More efficient school management

The future seems more promising with the confluence of IoT with AR(Augmented Reality) and VR(Virtual Reality) that aims at merging the physical and digital world. Research has shown that children learn better with sensory representations of knowledge.With the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) concept gaining popularity, children can access virtual content anytime by just holding the camera in front of any object.The phenomenon is evident in the proliferation of ‘smart’ classes in schools that help the students to access content on their devices using the Internet.

However, in order to make all of the above effective, it is essential that the back-end infrastructure is made more robust and dynamic to cater to the pressure of the increased demand for the speed of the internet, multiple users, and updated, good quality content. This is where huge amounts of investment are needed, thus creating tremendous opportunities for IT graduates.