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IoT in Australian Classrooms: Where do we Start?

Sep 12, 2016

The average Australian school classroom has changed a great deal in the last decade. From primary school to high school, curricula have moved beyond being restricted by the traditional tools of learning and incorporated more technology-based tools and skills.
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Today we see students being introduced to new age skills sets like 3D Printing and facilities connected through the Internet of Things (IoT). Soon coding could become the next language prerequisite. As the IoT and all things technology now fast become the norm, connectivity and personalisation have taken on new significance. For schools that embrace these first, they will clearly be able to reap rewards as parents seek out what ‘edge’ schools can offer in terms education and facilities. We can expect to experience extensive changes to school facilities as a result of IoT services. Climate control and energy saving measures are a starting point. (Read more on the facilities aspect in our next article or see how we have helped Mercedes College in South Australia with energy savings).

A good starting point to enhancing the core service of teaching institutions (education) will be responsive and creative solutions. Teaching staff, students and developers can work together to integrate obvious tools like Google docs and SmartBoards with IoT capabilities. Making the appropriate investments in Cloud technology is another starting point drawing from pilot programs that have been running around the world so far. The pivotal methodology here being, to approach these as tools to improve the teaching experience. Not as all-encompassing solutions that fix everything.

Sensory technology can help students overcome physical disabilities and emerging neuro sensor technology can assist teaching staff better help students with learning disabilities. Distance learning, interactive presentations as well as the tools and platforms to collaborate in real time without the physical barriers of most hardware or geographic location can all benefit this cause. It’s all about using IoT as a channel for a better, more efficient learning experience.

There’s a lot of current media speculation on how IoT will revolutionise the study experience. The truth is, no one exactly knows the extent. While students are not going to have their own personal curriculum delivered to them any time soon and replace the actual need to turn up to class (remember those theories about computers completely taking over classrooms some two decades earlier?), incorporating the tech to current teaching methodologies is already (very successfully) being practised.

Technology and education have come to a point of harmony now where replacing the teacher or making the teaching process faster is not the objective anymore (rightfully so). It is about making the delivery of education and its features, better. To do so, schools of tomorrow should look towards emerging technologies today.

Keen to know more about how IoT technologies can be incorporated into your school? Get in touch with our Electrical Technologies team and we will be sure to offer some actionable insights.

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