The Internet of Things is making children and schools smarter, according to a survey of more than 600 IT leaders from higher education organisations in the US.
Nearly half of the professionals who took part in the survey (46 percent) said they believe that IoT will have a major impact on kids’ learning in schools over the next two years.
In the US, a smart school is a concept where schools use IoT technology to enhance the learning experience of students in different subjects. Tech could be smart boards, VR, robots and wearables.
Many in the dark
The survey, conducted by Extreme Networks, revealed that 9 percent of the education professionals have begun adopting the framework. 3 percent said they plan to implement it in the near future.
These adoption statistics pale in comparison to the amount of people who aren’t even aware of smart schools. 29 percent said the idea of a smart school is completely new to them, while 36 percent are only slightly aware.
This could come down to the fact that the requirements of the concept are relatively demanding. Schools need to have Wi-Fi running throughout their campuses and are expected to purchase expensive IoT devices.
Rich benefits from the Internet of Things
That said, smart schools offer a heap of benefits. For starters, children – from kindergarten right up to college age – are likely to become more engaged with their learning because they’re familiar with digital formats. IoT also allows for an interactive, personalised learning experience.
Jon Silvera, managing director of FUZE Technologies, believes that while IoT will impact younger generations the most, schools are ill-equipped in terms of resources and skills to teach how such tech works.
He told Internet of Business: “The Internet of Things is here to stay and yet it seems as though most people don’t know what it is. The people it will affect most is our youngest generations which means there is an unfortunate mismatch here.
“The education channel is ill-equipped in both skills and resources to teach the programming skills required to control such devices. And as such, as has been painfully proven by the software industry, our young people are destined to be users, not creators, of this incredibly important new technology.”