Smart Education: Higher Education Instruction and the Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) has many applications in our daily lives. One aspect in particular is how the IoT is making a substantial impact on education and learning; as we move into the 'Smart Educational' era. This article explores how the IoT continues to transform the education landscape, from classrooms and assessments to culture and attitudes. Smart Education is a pivotal tool in the fight to meet the educational challenges of tomorrow. The IoT tools are getting used more and more often in the area of education, aiming to increase student engagement, satisfaction and quality of learning. IoT will reshape student culture and habits beyond belief. As Smart Education is more than just using technologies, it involves a whole range of factors, from the educational management through to the pedagogical techniques and effectiveness. Educators in the 21st century now have access to gamification, smart devices, data management, and immersive technologies. Enabling academics to gather a variety of information from students. Ranging from monitoring student engagement to adapting the learning strategies for improved learning effectiveness. Through Smart Education, educators will be able to better monitor the needs of individual students and adjust their learning load correspondingly (i.e., optimal learning environment/workload to support and prevent students failing). One of the biggest challenges for educators is how new technologies will address growing problems (engagement and achievement). The scale and pace of change (technological IoT era) is unprecedented. Typically, jobs students are trained for today will not be here tomorrow. Education is not just about knowledge acquisition, but also the digital skills, adaptability and creativity (essential, if students are to thrive in the new world).