There's a growing trend of depending on wearable devices to promote education. Here are examples of how some of the latest IoT-connected gadgets are d
There’s a growing trend of depending on wearable devices to promote education. Here are examples of how some of the latest IoT-connected gadgets are driving that trend.
1. Making Learning Happen in More Immersive Ways
Virtual reality (VR) headsets are arguably among the most familiar wearables in education. Teachers can use them to show students what it’s like to visit a famous monument in another country or go inside the body to see how the human heart functions. Then, instead of merely reading things in textbooks, kids can experience the concepts brought to life as they wear VR headsets.
In another example of how wearables align with more interactive ways to learn, a primary school in the United Kingdom used wearables to help students get acquainted with their environment. More specifically, students with behavioral difficulties took part in six sessions where they donned movement-sensing gloves.
Those wearables aligned with a superhero theme that encouraged students to get engaged with their school and wider community while developing alternative personas for themselves. Educators also had students walk around the school and carry out different learning tasks as the gloves recorded their gestures.
These are just two of the many possibilities for how school representatives could make learning more memorable and effective for their students by relying on wearables. When kids genuinely enjoy learning, they’re more likely to have persistent positive impressions of it, too.
2. Keeping Parents Connected to Their Kids Without Disrupting Learning
It’s understandable for parents to want to stay in touch with their children, which usually means giving them smartphones. Those are useful gadgets, indeed, but of course, they come with plenty of distractions. However, some wearable devices keep the communication link between parents and kids open while letting uninterrupted learning happen.
One example is SMARTWATCH, an Australian-based brand. This smartwatch enables communication between parents and their kids, but it doesn’t have internet access or a camera — both of which could take kids’ attention away from school and pose dangers. SMARTWATCH has a school mode so parents can use a complementing app to disable or enable features during a school day, and silence all alerts without sacrificing the ability to make and receive calls.
Thanks to devices like these, parents can enjoy more peace of mind during the school day. There’s also a built-in safety feature, since SMARTWATCH has GPS tracking for verifying a wearer’s location.
3. Facilitating Learning for People With Visual or Reading Difficulties
People with seeing or reading challenges typically have to investigate specialized resources at various steps along their educational paths. For example, a blind person may need their standardized tests transcribed into Braille, and someone with dyslexia may request extra time for test-taking or work with an assistant who can read the test questions to them and record their answers.
However, wearables can provide similar assistance to people in ways that allow them to retain as much of their independence as possible. A company called OrCam offers a magnet-based wearable called the MyEye 2 people can attach to eyewear and use it to have information on a page or package read to them through an earpiece.
The product also recognizes more than 20 voice commands and detects faces and barcodes, as well as printed words. The MyEye 2 is wireless and features Bluetooth, but does not require a Wi-Fi connection to work. As such, people can use it when they shop, dine out or take care of other necessities, plus when going to school.
Another instance involved researchers developing a headset prototype that used augmented reality to interpret signs for visually impaired people. It converted them to high-contrast text, then gave users the option to hear them read them aloud. The people who tested the technology found it helpful in navigating around their environments.
4. Decreasing School Bullying
Bullying is, unfortunately, part of school life for many learners. But, wearable technology makes it easier for children to get help when it happens. School-age kids in Dublin, Ireland, showed what’s possible when they helped develop a wearable called BullyBug. The ladybug-shaped wearable has a transmitter that sends a Bluetooth signal to a teacher’s phone when a person presses an alert button on the gadget.
Educators instantly receive the notification, which includes the time and date, along with the name of the bullied person. The BullyBug is not on the market yet, but this case study illuminates how a wearable could make bullying less of a struggle for the people who experience it by making adults aware of the problem.
Ample Opportunities for Enhanced Education
This list gives an overview of some of the fascinating ways to use wearables. Moreover, you should keep in mind even more options will be available as technology progresses.