The internet of things is a term used to describe a mega network of digital devices connected to the World Wide Web by unique digital identifiers. Similar to a human fingerprint each identifier is linked to a specific device. Devices range from wearables to appliances to anything that has an IP address and serves a purpose for human interaction and information consumption. Smartphones track our location, connect us to information, entertainment, and other people through social media and other channels of communication. Smartwatches and wearables like Apple Watch, FitBits, and even smart rings record all types of health statistics from the person wearing them. Appliances such as iRobot vacuum cleaners are also connected by sensors and can navigate around a floor space to clean a room. AI technology is used on shopping websites like Amazon.com to suggest products. The IoT is being integrated into seemingly every area of our lives. How is it changing the landscape of learning and education?
Mostly, I envision IoT having influence in high school, higher education, online learning, and business training environments. Adaptive learning is already being adopted by some educational institutions across the USA. It is a type of personalized learning that uses predictive technology based on data that is collected about individuals.
As infrastructure begins to support IoT and make it more secure, I envision it becoming more intertwined with our daily activities, used more in educational settings, and providing individual support in online classrooms. Used in education and training, the IoT may provide more automated tutoring and recommendations. Through AI, virtual reality, and machine learning technologies combined with the use of data mining, highly personalized learning experiences will be more common. I believe IoT will help make us more efficient in our tasks, facilitate learning by targeting our individual learning needs, and change learning experiences to provide more automated/just-in-time support and feedback.