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Best Advantages of Integrating
BLE Technology in Education
Bluetooth Low Energy or BLE is an Apple developed portal and was first introduced at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference held in 2013. These are also known as beacons and fins use in a wide spectrum of industries like retail, healthcare, hospitality, entertainment to name a few. iBeacons have already created waves in the business world and now it’s the turn of the educational sector to follow suit.
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What are Beacons? Beacons are devices emitting Bluetooth on low energy and in this manner, messages and notifications will be sent to devices and smartphones. The best thing about this technology in the field of education is that it can send out personalized messages and tailored information with the sole aim of enriching the learning experience of students. This has taken the education industry by storm, and the success (of teaching) can be measured when you assess the teaching modules. Here are some of the major advantages of having BLE technology in education:
1. Location Based Learning for Students Once students have their own smartphones and tablets, learning takes on a whole new wave of digital transformation. Through beacon technology, they are able to enjoy a more engaging and personalized learning experience, because learning resources are sent based on location and each one’s learning capacity.
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2. Learning Knows No Boundaries It would be worthwhile to research and learn more about things, and students can explore a particular topic by clicking on the links in the online textbooks. If they want to go in depth into the topic, all they need to do is tap on the text or click on the link, and they will be taken further into the subject. So you can say that with BLE, learning has no boundaries.
3. Students can Enjoy a New Level of Personalized Education With BLE technology, it is possible to reach specific areas or zones in a classroom. Messages and information are sent to student devices to create a personalized plan. These messages are triggered by location and can reach specific user groups, depending on enrolled members. It could be alumni, professors, current or prospective students. The messages are aligned with the students’ distinct roles, so that each one gets what is really due to him/her. For example, if there is a discount for a particular textbook, all those who are enrolled to receive that information will get it promptly on their phones. For a location-based event notification, students would get information about a particular event at a particular venue, if they are enrolled for receiving information.
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Takeaway point: BLE technology uses IPS or Indoor Positioning System to locate people or objects within a predetermined area or range. All this is done through wireless means, but students would need to pair their devices with the technology to avail its benefits.
4. Training Youngsters to be Part of the Adult World We all know that children are given mobile phones to play with at a very young age. When technology based learning is introduced at a young age, it prepares the child to be capable of handling these devices, thereby positioning them to be responsible adults. They will have to use smart technology effortlessly in the future. It would also teach them the importance of mature implementation of devices and the fact that their own personal technology can aid in their studies.
5. Campus Navigation made Super-easy Students will no longer get lost in huge university complexes. They don’t even have to study the maps and get confused all over again. With BLE, students are given self-guided tours on their campus, so when a new student comes in to the school, he doesn’t have to depend on anyone to find his classroom. The technology can guide them from one location to another, collect information from various
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buildings within the campus and even schedule a tour of the entire campus.
6. A Boon for the Differently Abled Students Accessibility is a problem for differently abled students, especially with students that are blind, deaf, dumb or physically challenged in other ways. When you have BLE technology, it can actually tap into the various capabilities of each student and depending on their strengths and weaknesses, will provide guidance and direction as and when required. Many universities have begun to adopt this. Penn State University, for example, has introduced beacons to help students navigate the obstacles that might occur in the pathways. They are given training on how to walk around obstacles, handle themselves when the walkways are crowded and navigate crowded cafeterias.
7. Gaining Insightful Data Through BLE technology, it is possible for the college administration to collect a plethora of data. They can track the students, provided they stay within the wireless range and do “heat mapping�. This way they can garner information regarding the time students spend on certain locations.
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Armed with this information, they can schedule maintenance, improve service or hold events. They can also use this information to improve the layout of the place and put in more infrastructure or machinery.
8. Promoting Student Safety Beacon technology helps map foot traffic so the college administrators can watch student behavior more closely. Heat mapping is also a way to ensure student safety, especially in case of campus emergency. The faculty can instantly know where the students are located and reach them immediately.
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Conclusion Simply putting technology in the hands of the students will not give them digitized learning, it is important to have a proper technology that would engage and empower the students to further their studies. That is what BLE or Beacon technology aims to achieve. Now that students have easy access to iPads and smartphones, it is only a matter of time before these technologies are leveraged to the best of their capacities to improve teaching and learning in multiple ways. And that’s not all. Professors can now use BLE to assess the performance of students, and communicate with them more frequently and directly, maintaining privacy for the latter. They can beam worksheets, notes and test results, check student attendance in class or collect opinion on any issue. With BLE and other technologies in the market, professors can go beyond the traditional classroom teaching and impart better education to students.
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