Can you imagine a world where everything is connected and can communicate with the touch of a button? Scratch that. It’s already happening. At least as far as we can see, there is a surge in ‘smart devices’.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, you probably are wondering what STEM is. It is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Recently education has pivoted to emphasize these fields as a way to solve problems and foster critical thinking.
And that is why we have this article. It’s to show you how STEM education and IoT will help students understand better and grow into creative people.
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Now let’s explore the role of IoT in education.
Easy Feedback
Using IoT in education can easily give students key feedback on concepts learned and point out areas for improvement. As opposed to just waiting for the exam results to come back so that students know they need to improve in an area.
Especially for STEM subjects, real-time feedback on anything the student does will go a long way in helping the student catch errors and perfect their work.
By connecting devices to the internet, students can get to understand how the devices work and apply those learned concepts in their daily lives. Students have shown marked improvement in subjects such as chemistry, biology, and physics.
And eventually, these concepts find a way of being reflected in their lives by solving real-life problems.
Boosts Interaction between Students
In addition to learning how devices work and solving real-life problems, students also learn from each other. In the fast-paced nature of classes, some students will face the issue of lagging behind and will need more coaching to get the necessary concepts down.
With devices connected to the internet, all an instructor needs to do is find a way for the students to collaborate and work together to solve problems.
In many ways, IoT takes classes from a theoretical nature to a practical one.
Efficiency in Class
IoT devices can help teachers monitor their students in real-time noting their progress and seeing who stays on track.
This can help teachers isolate students who need extra assistance. Students also get to see their progress immediately for quick corrections or improvement.
Better Tools for Instructors
Furthermore, instructors are equipped with tools to help their teaching. Teachers indeed spend a lot of time doing tasks that have nothing to do with teaching. These take time away from actual teaching. But with IoT, things like file organization and assessments are done by a device.
In addition to that, smart sensors can help track individual student’s progress and will alert the teacher of anything like a lack of resources or a power outage.
With more time left for the teachers, they can then focus on developing new methods of engaging with students. Or more time to tutor kids who need it.
Personalized Learning
A further benefit of using IoT in education is increased personalized learning. It is obvious in class that no two students are the same. Some will understand how to use visual effects, while others will prefer spending time reading through the coursework.
However, using IoT, a teacher can see what each student does to understand better. You can track what mistakes are made often and even who skips classes.
Once a teacher can see how each student learns better, a more precise learning course will be created.
Enhanced Security
Aside from getting an education on school subjects, a student is also expected to learn life skills.
For a school to be able to teach all these, the people who have access to the school need to be monitored. IoT can help a school set up a comprehensive security system that monitors each person in the school. This prevents unauthorized people from accessing the school.
Also, the security system will help monitor resources such as the library and labs that a student can only access at a particular time and with permission. Such systems would involve devices such as smart cards and biometric scanners.
This will help prevent strangers from entering the school and possibly disrupting learning. Or even prevent truancy.
Another system that can be managed by IoT are cashless payment system for the students. This will involve things like lunch or snack payments. Without cash, cases of theft will significantly reduce.
Better Learning Experience for Students with Special Needs
Previously, if a student had special needs, for example, hearing-impaired, visually impaired, and the students with autism, a parent had to seek specialized schools for them.
However, with IoT, such students need not find other schools. With the inter-connected devices, the learning experience can be altered to benefit each student. For example, a teacher can voice activate the coursework for the visually-impaired students.
Also, students with autism can be provided with a calm learning environment without necessarily compromising on the quality of education.
Better Learner Engagement
Finally, this is another way to boost education with IoT. In this era, content consumption is very high. And it’s almost everyone with access to a phone, tablet, or computer. So there is no way that a teacher can hope to hold a student’s attention with old-school teaching.
This is where IoT comes in. Gamified teaching content, interactive tables and charts, and other visual effects may help increase engagement with students.
Students can change the theme colors of their devices, select levels to complete, finish off modules with game-like quizzes, and complete tasks as a way to clear into the next level.
It might look like a game, but a student pays more attention this way and still learns important concepts. Gamified learning is the new way of teaching and IoT will help with that.
At the beginning of this article, you may have wondered what STEM is and what IoT has to do with it. We hope that we have been able to answer your questions and provide you with reasons why you should consider IoT in your teaching or learning experience.