An educational IoT lab kit and tools for energy awareness in European schools

Abstract

Abstract The use of maker community tools and IoT technologies inside classrooms is spreading to an ever-increasing number of education and science fields. GAIA is a European research project focused on achieving behavior change for sustainability and energy awareness in schools. In this work, we report on how a large IoT deployment in a number of educational buildings and real-world data from this infrastructure, are utilized to support a “maker” lab kit activity inside the classroom. We also provide some insights to the integration of these activities in the school curriculum, along with a discussion on feedback produced through a series of workshop activities in a number of schools in Greece. Moreover, we discuss the application of the lab kit framework towards implementing an interactive installation. We also report on how the lab kit is paired with a serious game and an augmented reality app for smartphones and tablets, supporting the in-class activities. Our initial evaluation results show a very positive first reaction by the school community.