Higher Education Disruption Through IoT and Big Data: A Conceptual Approach

Abstract

The emergence of new technologies such as IoT and Big Data, the change in the behavior of society in general and the younger generation in particular, require higher education institutions to “look” for teaching differently. This statement is complemented by the prediction of the futurist Thomas Frey, who postulates that “in 14 years it will be a big deal when students learn from robot teachers over the internet”. Thus, it is necessary to urgently begin a disruption of current teaching models, to be able to include in these processes the new technologies and the daily habits of the new generations. The early usage of mobile devices and the constant connection to the Internet (social networks, among others) mean that the current generation of young people, who are reaching higher education, has the most technological literacy ever. In this new context, this article presents a disruptive conceptual approach to higher education, using information gathered by IoT and based on Big Data & Cloud Computing and Learning Analytics analysis tools. This approach will, for example, allow individualized solutions taking into account the characteristics of the students, to help them customize their curriculum and overcome their limitations and difficulties, throughout the learning process .