Teaching Internet of Things on 3D Virtual Environment - Platform VRIOT

Abstract

In recent years, a considerable amount of research has been conducted on the theme of Internet of Things (IoT). Evidence suggests that IoT is among the most important factors in smart technologies and near future. However, understanding IoT concepts is technically not easy. This paper reports on a study in which a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment was designed and utilized for teaching IoT (http://www.virtualiot.net/). The main purpose of this research is to investigate the change in students' knowledge about IoT after using the VRIOT platform. To reach its goals, this study was designed as action research and participants comprised twenty-four university students studying in the Department of Information and Communication Technology at a public university in Turkey. A questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions was developed and used as data collection tool. The first step in this study was to determine students' knowledge level of IoT with the questionnaire. Then, students took a course related to IoT concepts on VRIOT platform. The platform was designed using Unity Technologies as a 3D virtual environment for teaching IoT as part of an Erasmus+ KA2 project. After completion of the course, post-test was administrated. The results of the study showed that although the majority of the participants stated that they heard the concept before using the VRIOT platform, they had misconceptions about IoT. Correlatively, the students also had problems in giving correct examples about IoT. On the other hand, almost all students were able to give correct definitions and examples about IoT after the training on VRIOT platform. Taken together, these results provided important insights into students’ perception of IoT. Further research needs to examine different methods and tools to teach IoT concepts more effectively.