Abstract:

The Internet of Things or IoT is currently one of the key technology trends that is impacting various sectors of our modern society. In fact, this growing range of connected devices, which can collect and send data across the Internet, is increasingly altering every single aspect of our personal and professional lives. Today, IoT technology is used in various fields such as finance, retail, agriculture, logistics, business, healthcare and manufacturing. More importantly, it is rapidly making its way into education in ways never before imagined. Our objective in this paper is, therefore, to explore the opportunities of IoT in education. To this end, we carried out a review of the major studies that have been devoted to the applications of the Internet of Things in education. The findings of this review have proven that these emerging technologies can open up new horizons for key educational actors, namely students, teachers and administrators and can positively impact education in a variety of ways. In this respect, it was found out that IoT can enable students to get a deeper learning experience. In fact, while sitting in the comfort of their home or in a classroom, these technologies can help students interact with peers, educators, and mentors scattered all over the world and can allow them to have easy access to a wide range of learning resources. In addition to enhancing students’ learning experience, connected technology can also reshape the way teachers deliver their lessons and assess their students as well as the way many routine and rudimentary tasks are carried out. Thanks to IoT devices, the tedious task of grading students and marking attendance can, thus, be minimized as this can be carried out automatically, with no need for any human intervention. This will allow teachers to concentrate fully on teaching and learning, which is the core function of any academic institution. Besides improving learning and teaching experiences, it was also revealed that the Internet of Things can add an immense value in allowing for better operational efficiency and in enhancing the security of all campus facilities no matter where they are located and regardless of how large they are. Taking these findings into consideration, we recommend that education institutions leverage the power of these innovative connected technologies to enhance their services.

Keywords:

Internet of Things, education, learning, teaching, opportunities.