The learning landscape has been changing slowly for many years, with pencils, paper and chalkboards being supplanted by digital devices, platforms and applications.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, this change was not consistently happening across all educational organisations. C19, and the ensuing move to remote learning for many months at a time, caused this digital divide between schools equipped to handle this shift, and those not, became starkly visible.
Schools, colleges and universities were forced to see education in an entirely new light, placing a huge focus on IT foundations, networks and connectivity beyond the classroom. Huge investment of time and budget has gone into schools making this digital shift, ensuring staff can maintain teaching standards and students are not limited by poor connectivity; as this shift continues to happen, the potential of inter-connected devices (IoT) becomes increasingly apparent.
What is IoT in schools?
IoT in schools refers to the integration of smart devices and sensors that connect to the internet to enhance learning environments, improve operational efficiency, ensure safety, and facilitate interactive teaching methods. From 1:1 laptops and tablets, interactive white boards, voice-to-text technology, smart cameras, sensors and so many other devices, the impact of edge tech is profound.
Examples include:
- Smart lighting/HVAC
- Access controls (doors, locks)
- GPS-enabled buses
- Any cloud-connected devices (tablets, laptops, wearable tech, digital whiteboards)
- Environmental sensors
How is the mass adoption of IoT in education changing schools?
Promoting collaborative, inclusive classrooms:
During the early months of the pandemic, it became evident that many students did not have laptops or tablets to attend online classes. These students were disadvantaged not only in terms of learning but also in terms of socialising, unable to connect with teachers or fellow students.
A rush on these devices for necessity has led to a huge rise in 1:1 learning post-pandemic, changing how classrooms see syllabus delivery in the classroom as well as remotely. 1:1 devices became a tool for facilitating digital collaboration, which has continued.
Improved classroom concentration and engagement:
Kids of all ages are increasingly tech savvy, so schools need to digitise and be adaptive to the best ways to harness curiosity and interest. Outdated teaching methods will progressively prevent students from engaging and result in a faster loss of concentration, decreased attendance, and declining results.
Creating smart spaces focused on the learning experience:
School and college campuses are rapidly becoming smart spaces where cloud-based dashboards allow control of every connected IoT device, from classroom temperatures and CCTV to 1:1 devices and WiFi access points. The benefits to both the learning experience and school budgets are becoming increasingly hard to ignore, whether saving on energy bills by turning off dormant equipment or automating network performance based on usage.
Harness IT technology to improve the student experience:
School and college campuses are no longer just buildings; combined with IoT and high-performance networking, they offer educational institutions the ability to keep students safer, happier, and engaging with their school at many more touch points throughout their time on campus. Possibilities are becoming endless, from booking available library desks, checking washing machine availability in universities, mental health apps, even the use of drones to walk students home safely. This all serves to push up student engagement, wellbeing, and satisfaction scores.
Keep students safer with cloud-controlled, edge security:
Student safety has become an absolute priority in recent years – whether we’re talking digital or physical security. IoT can improve students' physical safety on campus in increasingly integrated and automated ways. Door lock systems can be fully customised and monitored, smart cameras offer always-on, cloud-managed CCTV with automatic triggers and actions to remove blind spots, and emergency management can be fully automated in situations like fires to ensure safe evacuations and service alerts. All without the need for additional storage, servers or software.
Building management that reduces costs, interruptions and time taken to resolve issues:
Campuses need to evolve into smart spaces that can deliver excellent learning, working and socialising environments, without scaling resources and costs required to operate them. This is where IoT excels: enabling estates managers to monitor equipment and hardware performance, identify maintenance requirements before issues occur, and use AI and machine learning, so teams don't have to do any additional work.
Saving costs and the environment by through occupancy-based energy usage:
IoT sensors can reduce costs to both budgets and the environment by progressively lowering energy waste through automated, occupancy-based controls that monitor site-wide footfall and adjust lighting, heating, and cooling accordingly. At a time when these costs are skyrocketing, investing in long-term solutions to reduce energy use and costs is a step many schools, colleges, and universities are taking.
Migrating to personalised education with 1:1 learning:
The rise of 1:1 learning is about more than just teaching students via a medium that holds attention; it’s about giving educators the ability to deliver learning in a targeted, personalised way. Each student using a tablet or laptop places a heavy demand on networks to support more devices, but the opportunity to tailor lesson content to each student without multiplying a teacher’s workload is a big one. Once 1:1 IoT devices are distributed, software also makes it easy for teachers to see clearly which students are focusing or falling behind, and where in the lesson they are relative to other students.
Monitoring the mental wellbeing and focus of students through automated means:
Linked to 1:1 devices is the opportunity to use classroom monitoring software, such as Lightspeed. To receive additional support, struggling pupils do not need to ask for it or express to classmates that they are finding lessons challenging; teachers can help these students before their learning or their confidence is impacted. Triggers can be set to identify concerning behaviour relating to mental health, as well as bullying. In short, classroom technology can help safeguard pupils' mental well-being and improve the student experience in ways that teachers alone cannot, due to time constraints.
Summary
In summary, although the widespread shift to digital education occurred in response to the pandemic, its effects are long-lasting; over the last year, schools have been considering how the adoption of digital learning and cloud-based technology can continue to transform education well into the future.
The shift to embracing and harnessing IoT in education has not only made learning omnipresent and untethered, but it’s also continuing to evolve into a medium that enables teachers to keep a closer eye on students' well-being and progress without adding to their workloads. IoT is enabling schools to reduce energy usage, save on operational costs, and keep campuses safer.
The shift, however, isn’t without challenges. The sudden mass adoption of edge devices places a huge strain on networks, and schools need to lay the foundations for successful IoT adoption. Primarily, this means a wireless network for schools that is capable of handling huge amounts of throughput without compromising on speed or capacity, but also encompasses a deeper depth of defence to ensure additional edge points do not offer additional breach points to hackers. A network capable of supporting data collation and analysis at the edge will also give schools an advantage when implementing IoT.
As the complexity of school networks increases, IT teams also need to be mindful of the risk of increased network management time – a huge challenge amid shrinking resources. Next-gen networks leverage cloud-based management, automation, and machine learning, helping IT teams do more with less. Our client the Forest of Dean Trust have decreased network management time by 50% thanks to a new IT solution – read the case study here.
If your school, trust or college is interested in advice on implementing IoT in classrooms and campuses, get in touch with our education team.
We also offer a wide range of managed network services and wireless network solutions to help your school stay connected and secure.
If you’d like advice on troubleshooting, surveying, designing or installing Wi-Fi in a school, MAT, college or university, get in touch. / speak to our expert team on 01908 046400
