Content uploaded by Raamani Thannimalai
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Raamani Thannimalai on Jul 26, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
Content uploaded by Raamani Thannimalai
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Raamani Thannimalai on Jul 26, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
ISSN: 2716-6546
www.ijitsc.net
Internet of Things: Applications and
Challenges at Higher Learning
Institutions
1Arumugam Raman,
2Raamani Thannimalai
arumugam@uum.edu.my1, drraamani@gmail.com2
1School of Education and Modern Languages, Universiti Utara
Malaysia 06010 UUM Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
2Ministry of Education, Malaysia
To cite this article:
Raman, A. & Thannimalai, R. (2020). Internet of Things: Applications and challenges at
higher learning institutions.. International Journal of Instruction, Technology, and Social
Sciences (IJITSS), 1(2), Page 1-Page 15.
International Journal of
Instruction, Technology &
Social Sciences
International Journal Instruction, Technology, and Social Sciences
Volume 1, Issue 2, 2020 ISSN: 2716-6546
Internet of Things: Applications and Challenges at
Higher Learning Institutions
Arumugam Raman, Raamani Thannimalai
Article Info Abstract
Article History
Received:
01 June 2020
The Internet of Things (IoT) is an inovative system where internet is
connected to the physical world via ubiquitous sensors and is rapidly making
its way into higher learning institutions. By modifying how higher institutions
gather data, interface with students and automate processes, the IoT has the
potential of revolutionizing education. Universities may offer opportunities to
magnify content delivery, augment learner and faculty interaction when IoT
devices are utilized. Massive open online courses, online software application
and education applications make students co-creators and active individuals in
acquiring their knowledge and experience. However, many challenges such as
Malware, Distributed Denial of Service, data storage, data security, privacy,
decentralized network management and connectivity come along with the use
of internet:. This conceptual paper offers suggestions to overcome these
challenges to address future threats to IoT and provides directions for future
research.
Accepted:
19 July 2020
Keywords
Internet of things
Higher learning
instituitions
Applications
Challenges
Introduction
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a new system designed to increase connectivity between computer systems and is
rapidly making its way into classrooms and higher institutions in ways never before imagined. In 1999, Kevin
Ashton introduced the term IoT, which refers to a system where internet is connected to the physical world via
ubiquitous sensors (Gokhale, Bhat & Bhat, 2018). IoT are uniquely identifiable connected objects with radio-
frequency identification (RFID) technology. IoT applications are widely used in healthcare, automotive
industries, transportations and is currently gaining acceptance in the higher education sector. Different from
earlier innovations, IoT technologies are ubiquitous and inspire solutions to be intelligent and autonomous
(Kahlert, 2016; Aldowah, Rehman, Ghazal & Umar, 2017).
Computers were brains without senses in the twentieth century; as it only relied on the input of information.
This caused a lot of limitations because there is too much information to be keyed in through a keyboard or
scanned with a barcode. In the twenty-first century, because of the wonders of IoT, computers can sense things
for themselves. Networked sensors such as the GPS-based location sensing is already being widely used all over
the world and is being taken for granted. Although the Global Positioning System (GPS) in cell phones were not
tested until 2004, people of all walks of life today, are so dependent on the GPS to find their way around on a
daily basis (Gabai, 2015).
Physical learning environments and structured learning has improved drastically over recent years and rapid
improvement has taken place at education systems across the globe. IoT has also in evidently increased
educational quality, and access thus paving the way for transformations in educational settings, managements
and even leaderships in educational institutions all over the world. The Internet of Things is a revolution in
advancing technology to change the lifestyles of humans (Li, Xu & Zhao, 2015) and it is synonym for a fully
interconnected world (Gubbi, Buyya, Marusic & Palaniswami, 2013). According to IOT Analytics (August 8,
2018), the number of IoT devices that are active is expected to grow to 10 billion by 2020 and 22 billion by
2025.
2
Figure 1. Total number of active device connections worldwide (Source: IoT Analytics Research, 2018)
By modifying how higher institutions gather data, interface with students and automate processes, the IoT has
the potential of revolutionizing education. IoT heightens the standard of education when it is incorporated with
innovations such as data analytics and individual flexibility. Besides other advantages, IoT enables education
institutions to (i) improvise how lessons are disseminated as well as the ways students’ performance are
evaluated, using audio-visual equipment, electronic video clip recorders for lecture capture and internet
screening (ii) support personalized methods to explore such as ‘immersive electronic books’ and ‘game-based
learning’ (iii) proactively monitor institutions infrastructure (iv) utilize cost-efficient lighting, cooling and
heating procedures (v) provide a secure environment for students as well as educators using digital security
cams, intelligent door locks and linked institution transportation.
The IoT is rapidly emerging in educational settings at higher educational institutions. The seven categories of
modern technologies, devices as well as strategies which revolutionize education settings are: consumer
technologies, digital strategies, internet technologies, learning innovations, social networks, modern
technologies and visualization innovations (Johnson, Becker, Estrada, & Freeman, 2015).The Iot being a
component of Net modern technology has enabled every device to be linked to the internet thus opening up the
entire world of innovations in education and all spheres of life. Looking from a wider angle, the Iot inclusion in
the academic setting narrows the gap between conventional education settings and modern-day education
demands by transforming traditional classrooms which are separated by place as well as time, right into linked
classrooms which are combined by internet based communication devices. For this reason, Iot developments
have influenced instructional techniques as well as boosted the delivery of course content by adding more
resources and tools to or online, making learning more dynamic and interactive (Advanced MP Technology, n.d;
Vujovic & Maksimovie, 2015).
Consequently, brand-new levels of connection as well as advanced discovery of strategies in academic practices
are brought about by IOT. Besides these, certain difficulties like personal privacy as well as safety and security
issues related to students can be brought about by IoT and has be dealt with promptly. In educational
institutions, the important aspect of the IoT is its potential not only to raise education quality, but also to
improve the education sector economically and socially (Maksimović, 2017).UNESCO has recognized some
principles and values that underlie education for sustainable development as follows: (i) takes into consideration
the wellness of the environment, society and economic systems (ii) is interdisciplinary, engages formal, non-
formal and informal education and encourages lifelong learning (iii) is culturally suitable and also addresses
material, context, global concerns and also regional top priorities and as a result have worldwide impacts and
repercussions; iv) develops civil capability for community-based decision-making, social tolerance,
environmental management, flexible workforce and quality of life; and satisfies the needs of the advancing
nature of the sustainability principle. Nonetheless, instruction and learning for lasting advancement and also
integrating facets of sustainability cannot be understood without techniques that require active participatory
learning and also higher order thinking skills (Blewitt, 2010). Thus, students, educators and other staff members
3
need to accept new means of instruction and learning, in order to obtain new skills and knowledge (Wals &
Jickling, 2002).
Concept of IoT
The exact concept of Iot is still developing and is subjective. Generally, the IoT is defined as a “dynamic global
network infrastructure with self-configuring capabilities based on standards and communication protocols”
(Gokhale, Bhat & Bhat, 2018). Vermesan, Friess and Guillemin (2011), defined the IoT as an interaction in
between the digital and physical worlds. The digital world communicates with the real world utilizing a huge
selection of actuators and sensing units. Peña-López (2005) explained that the IoT as a paradigm in which
computing and networking abilities are embedded in any sort of possible things. If possible, we utilize these
abilities to query the state of the item and to alter its state. In typical parlance, the IoT describes a brand-new
sort of world where practically all the gadgets and devices that we utilize are linked to a network. We can utilize
them collaboratively to attain complicated jobs that need a high degree of intelligence. The evolution of the
internet can be classified into five eras as shown in Figure 2 (Li, Xu & Zhao, 2015).
The Internet of Documents-e-libraries, document based webpages
The Internet of Commerce- e-commerce, e-banking and stock trading websites
The Internet of Applications- Web 2.0
The Internet of People-Social Networks
The Internet of Things-Connected devices and machines
Figure 2. Evolution of the Internet (Source: The Next step in Internet Evolution, 2014)
As illustrated in Figure 3, devices, objects and things are connected by IoT to the internet infrastructure in a
global physical network. This enables communication and interaction with internal and external environments.
Furthermore, information exchange through information sensing devices can also take place according to
standardized protocols (Aldowah et al., 2017).
Int J Inst Tech Soc Sci
4
Figure 3. Iot viewed as a global network (Source: Cisco IBSG, April, 2011)
In the near future, connectivity for everything and everyone can be networked around the world with just the
click of a mouse by using any service or network (Vermesan & Friess, 2013) in view of intelligent managing,
tracking and identifying all kinds of things (Stankovic, 2014). As explained in Figure 4, IoT which is also
known as the Internet of Everything is an extensive Internet-based network which multiplies tremendously the
communication between Human to Human (H2H), Human to Things (H2T) and Things to Things (T2T).
Figure 4. Internet of everything (Source: Cisco White Paper, April, 2011)
The IoT is engaging innovation specialists to create smaller and progressively moderate remote frameworks that
devour less power and can be coordinated into practically any kind of device (Jin, 2012). There are three parts of
IoT which empower consistent associations which are: Hardware: comprised of sensors, actuators and inserted
correspondence equipment, Middleware: on interest stockpiling and processing apparatuses for information
investigation, and Presentation: perception and translation apparatuses which can be generally used at various
stages and which can be intended for various applications (Gubbi, 2013). There are various potential
methodologies for presenting low-control interchanges to an IoT hub, extending from reason planned
conventions, for example, ZigBee to low power variations of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC. In spite of the fact that
5
Wi-Fi is the most well-known type of coordinated remote innovation and the best power-per-bit transmission
effectiveness, IoT improves different arrangements counting Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) innovation
which is utilized all through business, industry and individual innovation frameworks and empowers structure of
microchips for remote information correspondence (Gubbi et al., 2013). A portion of this innovation can include
Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) to any sort of device, as Fitbit wearable wellness trackers, and books.
IoT Scenarios in Education
The benefits of the IoT are being discovered by traditional colleges and universities. In fact, Carnegie Mellon
University introduced the first Internet-connected appliance (Coke vending machine) in 1982 (Symantec
Corporation, 2015). Traditional colleges and universities may offer opportunities to magnify content delivery,
augment learner and faculty interaction when IoT devices are utilized. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
codes can be used to identify and trace people, processes, data, and things (Selinger, Sepulveda& Buchan,
2013). For instance, Northern Arizona University presently uses RFID tags embedded in student Identity
Documents (ID) for attendance tracking; and the University of Illinois uses QR codes for students to access
videos, maps, and other campus resources (0’Connor, 2010). Higher learning institutions can use IoT devices to
initiate a campus lockdown system including electronic perimeter security and instant student, faculty, and
police notifications (Lutz, 2014). The potential advantages of IoT technology on higher learning institutions are
limitless.
Almost all aspects of our lives is transforming with the influence of IoT as a tool. With technology
advancements and IoT, the education sector has become more innovative and efficient than ever before.
Therefore, it has become a popular subject among present researchers who study innovative methods for
learning, teaching and managing the entire education system. IoT solutions promise to make higher education
institutions smarter as well as more efficacious at everything they do. Besides, helping enhancing learning
experiences, improving educational outcomes and decreasing costs, the IoT has the ability to redefine how
students, educators and administrators interact with technology and connect with devices in classroom
environments. IoT solutions for higher education include the following:
• Improving instruction and optimizing learning outcomes with Smart white boards and alternative interactive
digital media that can accumulate and analyse data for educators and learners to be utilized during interactive
learning in classrooms.
• Reducing energy consumption by innovations such as smart temperature sensors; smart heating; ventilation
and air condition equipment; and atomizing operations management
• Locations of students are monitored using smart student ID cards and attendance-tracking devices.
• Security for educators, students and staff are provided by wireless door locks, connected surveillance cameras
and face recognition systems.
• Cutting-edge and automated systems in key areas of study, such as medicine, agriculture and engineering to
enhance research fields.
Concept of Digital Campus
Digital Campus System is a significant platform for undergraduates to get a wide range of data (Ma, Zhou, Liu,
Qiao, Han & Wang, 2014). New innovations are fervently influencing administration of higher education
organizations. There is an expanding request for advanced education organizations, particularly, colleges to
digitize their academic delivery methods and all campus activities. There is also a demand to academics and
researchers to accept a digital based working environment (Ma et al., 2014). A well planned physical campus,
totally incorporating technology, is a basic necessity for the structure of a digital campus. A functioning
digitalized campus can be achieved by improving student’s involvement by giving proper digital facilities for
learning, teaching and research. Moreover, to be able to manage security threats, higher learning campuses must
always keep innovating new strategies and have skilled technology leaders with futuristic visions.
Technology can lessen operational expenses; heighten security on campus grounds; supply tools for scientists,
scholars, undergraduates and staff. These advantages give genuine incentive to university operations, increase
the experience of undergraduates, and researches. The digital campus consists of two primary parts. To start
with, it recycles the IT Service Delivery Platform-facilities to supply network connection, movement and
security for all applications and services throughout the campus. Secondly, it consists of many Internet of Things
(IoT) applications running over the platform system to support the scholars of the university, allow learning and
teaching activities, and improve student’s experience. According to Cisco -"Digitizing Higher Education” - IoT
applications vary from standard network applications as they support sensors and sensor data, instead of users
and user information. IoT applications for the digital school consist of 5 primary classifications: Energy
Int J Inst Tech Soc Sci
6
Monitoring and Control: Location and Attendance Systems: Video and Information Systems: Security and
Access Control: Building Control and Management, as displayed in Figure 5
Figure 5. IoT Applications for the Digital Campus. (Source : Cisco: Digitizing Higher Education,
https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/assets/docs/digitizing-higher-education.pdf)
IoT Architectural Model
Cloud computing has unrestricted abilities in regards to storage and processing power, and is typically
incorporated with IoT innovation (Botta, De Donato, Persico, Pescapé, 2016). To highlight IoT systems, the
Device-Cloud Mobile (DCM) design shown in Figure 6, is extensively utilized today in business IoT items. The
IoT devices require link to the Back-end Cloud system, and assistance services by a user application (app)
working on mobile phones. Sometimes, the app links straight with the IoT device utilizing the devices Wi-Fi
hotspot abilities, which either processes the demands straight or bridges it to the Cloud Back-end system.
Figure 6. Device-Cloud-Mobile IoT Architectural Model
The Device-Cloud-Mobile IoT Architectural Model was used by Tan, Wu, Lee & Zu (2018) to design a
Teaching Management System with applications of RFID and IoT Technology. The system architecture is as
illustrated in Figure 7. In the proposed system, to form an integrated IoT system for teaching management,
mobile terminal, RFID reader, RFID card, Node MCU and QR code are utilised.
7
Figure 7. IoT-based Teaching Management System architecture. (Source: Tan, Wu, Lee & Zu, 2018)
The functions of this system are as the following:
Course video based on QR code
The course, which is taped as video materials, is kept on the Cloud-based Teaching Management System, and
students can view them with their own smart devices through scanning the QR codes which can link directly to
their curriculum. This is extremely practical for students' who are self-learning and they are totally free to pace
out their learning according to their own capabilities.
RFID-based attendance record
In China, many universities and colleges have started using the Smart School Card System which utilizes HF
RFID cards as students' identification device. Students swipe the RFID card before entering classes. The
suggested system can record student’s duration in the class and can be used for student evaluation. This system
can motivate students to be disciplined and punctual for lectures.
Real-time interactive response
In a real-time teaching, learning and facilitation session, an instructor can utilize the Teaching Management
System to distribute practice worksheets through a QR code provided to students, and after that via smart mobile
devices (such as IPAD and Smart phones) students can scan the QR code which gives access the worksheets in
the Cloud-based system. Students are then required to respond and interact with the instructor immediately. At
the same time, the students' ID number and name will be recorded. The system can document student’s answers
and the time taken to complete tasks. The instructor can examine the total students' response to each worksheet.
If it is discovered that many of the students are not able to respond correctly to the task/worksheet, the instructor
can deduce that the lesson did not achieve its objective and another method of instruction must be used to make
the students understand the lesson better. The real time interactive response can be used for course evaluation
and for instructors to innovate their instruction methods to make learning more effective.
Potential IOT Applications in Higher Education
Technology as a main enabler of education in the 21st Century can be practiced in different methods in order to
transform the education sector (National Research Council, 2000). IoT makes learning based upon real-world
issues; supplies resources to improve learning; enhances feedback, modifies instructional methods; allowing
Int J Inst Tech Soc Sci
8
instructors to enhance their abilities; and encourages collaboration among stakeholders to transform the
education sector. The characteristics noted above for enhancing education sector are substantially strengthened
by a phenomenon called the IoT. The IoT is based upon the connection of devices besides basic devices. These
devices or “things” are Internet capable and managed, able to engage autonomously not just with users, however
with other devices, and produce important information daily. The information produced by IoT can be quickly
gathered, measured, kept and processed, attaining in this method, important insight and understanding
(Morphus, 2016). Together with the various IoT applications and advantages in all elements of our lives, the IoT
holds the prospective to empower academic practices and environment, through virtual, shared, smart teaching
and learning environment (Vujović and Maksimović, 2015). In other words, the IoT allows significant
improvement in instructional technology and not only virtual class and online tutorials. Typical existence of
Internet-capable innovation and smart devices (e.g. tablets, smart boards, and so on) in the classroom makes
conversations and lessons livelier and more intriguing. Massive Open Online Courses (MOCC), online software
application and education applications make students co-creators and active individuals in acquiring their
knowledge and experience (Brandt, 2016). The IoT assists lecturers to make their work more practical and
effective, through the automation of various jobs and faster access to student data. Because the IoT holds the
possibility to change our society, economy and all elements of individual’s lives, its essence depends on the
power of connection and collaboration. The fast advancement and adoption of the IoT needs unparalleled
collaboration. The development and enhancement of IoT-supported education likewise counts on a collaboration
of all stakeholders.
The IoT addition in education allows students to access their courses or lab workouts at any time, from
anywhere they can log on, and select whichever manual they wish to obtain knowledge from. Together with
access to courses customized according to student’s requirements and choices, the students are able to select the
pace of work, to repeat the lessons that they haven’t fully grasped. They are also able to keep track and assess
their own progress. The availability of unique IoT technologies and devices at
any given time inspires students to work independently or to collaborate online with
other students or lecturers, establishing analytical abilities and own understandings (Stošić,
2015). With the aid of IoT, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), Radio-Frequency
Recognition (RFID) chips and Cloud-based applications, students have the capability to research many real-
world issues, obtain information in real-time and effectively enhances their learning experience (Ralhan, 2017).
The smart devices executed in the classroom, such as digital highlighters and interactive boards (Figure 8),
considerably streamline the learning experience and improve the collaboration amongst students, instructors,
mentors and colleagues throughout the world (Maksimović, 2017).
Figure 8. The smart and interactive classroom (Maksimovic, 2017)
9
Smart applications can be applied in many sectors. These applications are not yet easily accessible; nevertheless,
initial research study shows the capacity of IoT applications in enhancing the lifestyle in our society. Two
widely used IoT applications are higher education are as the following:
Interactive learning
Learning in the 21st century is not restricted just to a concoction of images, audio and texts however, it
encompasses far more than that. Student’s reference books are linked to websites that include videos, animations
and evaluations. These offer a wider insight and understanding to the students in acquiring new knowledge with
a much better understanding and interaction with their course mates and lecturers. Real-world and academic
issues are facilitated in class by instructors and students are made to discover the responses for these issues
outside the classrooms by themselves through interactive methods such as Flipped Learning.
Security at campuses
With the assistance of innovations like 3D positioning, students can be monitored twenty four hours a day and
their locations can be detected at any point of time. Distress buttons can be supplied by these innovations for
raising an alarm if in case the need arises in an emergency.
As there will be numerous students present in a class of any university, keeping track of the location and
activities of each and every student is not a simple task for university administrations. Furthermore, the students
in a university are more exposed to threats and need smart security compared to the population at any other
communities. IoT can include tremendous value in regards to improving the security of schools, colleges, and
institutions of higher learning.
For keeping track of student behaviour, smart electronic camera vision can be utilized in campuses. In the past
decade, computer vision innovations have enhanced tremendously and can keep track of any motion or
unwarranted movements. This activity can instantly stop any unforeseen occurrences from happening and this is
vital for the safety of all students and staff of higher educational institutions.
Educational application at higher learning institutions
The educational applications leveraging IoT can be considered as effective imaginative tools and are changing
the method which instructing, learning and facilitating is carried out. They make it possible for students and
instructors to produce 3D graphics books which include videos and offer the ability to remember better.
These types of applications can be thought about as video game changers as they supply a great deal of
instructional video games. These video games offer many functions that use fascinating possibilities in learning
and teaching. This makes education more thrilling than ever to new generation of students who are digital
natives who will only engage in exciting ways of gaining knowledge.
Efficiency in student management
In numerous colleges, a lot of time is invested on activities that do not include any worth to the core goal of their
very presence. Presence of the students requires to be taken numerous times a day. With the aid of IoT end-
devices, this information can be gathered and sent out to the main headquarters server, instantly removing the
requirement for any human intervention. Due to this innovative shift towards the IoT, the tiresome job of
students and instructors can be lessened. This permits them to focus more on learning and teaching which is the
core function of any centre of knowledge.
Challenges of IoT Utilization
Although the benefits of the IoT are unlimited, it brings about increased security risks from all end-points and
challenges to the network infrastructure along with it. Network administrators at educational institutions need to
acclimatize conventional network designs to provide new platforms of automation, network intelligence and
security. Simple and cost-effective network infrastructure that securely handles vast flows of data is needed by
higher education institutions.
Malware.
Int J Inst Tech Soc Sci
10
Nevertheless, many higher education institutions do not realize to the need for IT security. (Wolff, 2015).
Finding a balance between gaining academic freedom and internet security has been a never ending battle for
many universities (Callahan, 2014). One of their most common security problems currently plaguing
universities is malware and cyber-attacks are a growing problem which needs to be addressed immediately. It
was estimated that security threats attributed to malware rockets to about thirty-six per cent of breaches in
higher education (Smith, 2014). Educating users of the network on security best practices is one of the most
powerful defensive steps a university can take. According to the 2018 Education Cyber Security Report, the
education sector is the least secure among 17 industries studied (Zimmerman, 2018). This problem is made
more critical with university initiatives such as ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BOYD).
One of the most serious security threats on the Internet is the malicious software or malware (Symantec
Corporation, 2015; Kaspersky Labs, 2015; McAfee Labs, 2015).There are a few ways malware can be spread
namely by social media, email, documents, removable media, programs, or by downloading sources from the
Internet. Furthermore, viruses, worms, and Trojans are a few of the many forms of Malware that can be found.
Cybercriminals are capable of hacking into campus’ network to steal private and confidential information once
malware has infected the network for example credit card information, social security numbers, student
examination records or medical records.
In the past decade, many studies have linked malware infection to smartphones. A research conducted by the
Chicago Better Business Bureau found that college students are the most at risk for malware infection because
of their wide usage social media and smart phones (Jedra, 2013). Furthermore, a research carried out by
Experian Simmons found that 98% of college students visited social media networking sites everyday (Griffin,
2015).Personal information such as birth date, place of birth, cell phone number, and home address are often
requested on social networking profiles. The more personal information that students share over the internet, the
more vulnerable the data is to be exploited and misused.
Security issues are becoming more complex as students, faculty, and staff are bringing their own devices and
connecting to university networks. College and university campuses are being infiltrated by mobile devices such
as notebooks, tablets, and smart phones. Moreover, colleges and universities have minimal control over the
devices that users introduce to the network (Smith, 2014). Campus network can be easily infected by
unprotected mobile devices which are susceptible to infection. According to a study by Verma (2011), top ten
most common threats to smartphone security included malware, data loss, loss of the devices, insecure data
transfer, and end user behaviour. BOYD technologies are great concerns with malware, intrusions, and data theft
(Mahesh and Hooter, 2013). Many colleges and universities have to seriously rethink the structure of their
computer networks due to the rising threat of hacking and malware.
Distributed Denial of Service.
‘Distributed Denial of Service’(DDoS) is also one of the many challenges being faced by higher learning
institutions which is rapidly increasing with the explosion of the internet usage especially by the younger
generation (Akamai Technologies, 2016). A ‘Denial-of-Service’(DoS) is a cyber-attack which occurs when an
individual or a group of people disrupt a website which in turn denies access to clients; for instance services that
rely on the affected computer or network like websites, email, and online accounts such as banking and online
shopping (Goodin, 2018). A large-scale DoS attack where the perpetrator uses more than one unique IP address
is known as a DdoS (Khalifeh, Soltanian & Reza, 2015). Besides enabling attackers to steal network data and
metadata. the danger of DDoS is that makes university resources inaccessible to students and staff, thus making
them handicapped in carrying out their daily work, research and development. A few universities who have
fallen to the DDoS attacks are like the University of Virginia, Pennsylvania State University, University of
Connecticut, Washington State University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, and the
University of Southern California (Johnston, 2016). The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was not
spared of this internet catastrophe. In early 2016, 35 DDoS targeted attacks on the MIT. Later that year, many
popular websites including Twitter, Amazon, PayPal, Comcast, Spotify and PlayStation Network were shut
down due to a DDoS attack (Akamai Technologies, 2016).
Higher learning institutions will face a challenging and daunting task in securing the Internet of Things. With
the threat of malware, network intrusions, BYOD technologies, and DDoS attack, the Internet is already under
continuous attack caused by vulnerable systems. The IoT will inherit all the problems mentioned and also have
its own concerns regarding security (Clarke et al., 2014). Since IoT is still at the infancy stage, it faces much
vulnerability and cybercriminals are taking advantage of this situation. There are special search engines for IoT
to look for devices which are connected. Shodan, which has been around for more than seven years was, the first
11
IoT search engine and it links to IPv4 addresses (Snow, 2016). Censys is another IoT search engine created to
make the internet more secure. Jimenez and Peris (2015) in Simmers and Anandarajan (2018) explained that
both, Shodan and Censys have the ability to locate “things” based on physical location, hostname, operating
system, IP address, and vulnerabilities. Although there are countless advantages with the internet being
connected to a myriad of ‘things’, however, this exposes higher learning institutions to exploitations and attacks.
Data management.
Data storage, data retrieval, and data analysis are issues caused by the big data which is created by the IoT. As
announced by Cisco Systems Global Cloud Index Report (2019), Big data will reach 403 EB by 2021, up almost
8-fold from 25 EB in 2016. Big data alone will represent 30 per cent of data stored in data centres by 2021, up
from 18 per cent in 2016. The massive amount of data from sources around the world that will be generated by
IoT will create issues concerning data storage. Universities would not have the capacity to back up zettabytes of
raw data as it would be expensive and most campus networks will be overwhelmed with data processing loads.
Data Security and Privacy
The influx of large volumes of data produced by IoT may create privacy issues. Personal identifiable
information can be generated by device sensors and RFID tags. Weber (2010) in Simmers and Anandarajan
(2018) explained that students, faculty and staff would have no control over personal information embedded in
object tags and without their knowledge; these information can be tracked by unauthorized personnel.
Decentralized Network Management.
Most higher learning institutions focus on ICT to augment student learning and not much emphasis is given to
securing campus network environment. At colleges and universities, students, faculty and staff are given
minimum security options and different schools have different degrees of needs and restrictions. Besides these,
they also have different budgets, support staff and security requirements. This decentralized culture brings about
silo mentality which is a ‘reluctance to share information with employees of different departments in the same
organization’ (Gleeson & Rozo, 2013). This mentality can bring detrimental to organizations especially for
educational departments for example the reduction of efficiency, morale and conducive learning environments.
Furthermore, network securities across universities will face major challenges due to these silos as enforcing
securities and procedures will cause difficulties to stakeholders.
Connectivity
.
One of the most significant challenges will be to connect as many devices as possible as it would counterattack
existing structures and technologies associated with it. Currently, to authenticate, authorize and connect several
terminals in a network, a centralized, server/client architecture is being utilized (Jindal, Jamar & Churi, 2018).
Suggestions to overcome challenges
Constructive measures must be taken to overcome obstacles and challenges if IoT is to become part of lives. As
IoT applications generate extensive amounts of data, not everything is required to be stored on cloud as it might
contain large amounts of unimportant data generated by devices. New methods of selecting storage of data on a
cloud which will reduce the storage issue in the usage of devices where garbage data produced by IoT devices
will be deleted selectively should be prioritized.
All the processes in IoT are managed by data in data centres. The reliability of the network which manages IoT
applications should be enhanced. Reliable transmission of data, rapid delivery of sensor data, sending of details
from sensors to a cloud all depend on high-speed Internet, thus it is utmost important to keep improving the
speed and quality of the Internet (Marjani, Nasaruddin, Gani, Karim, Hashem, Siddiqa & Yaqoob, 2017).
Research and development on designing and developing IoT devices should place highest priority and utmost
concern on security and privacy. Since technology has avenues to be abused, it is the responsibility of policy
makers, manufacturers and all stake holders to foresee and address all future threats to IoT.
Conclusion
Int J Inst Tech Soc Sci
12
The digitization of education is a powerful vision as the IoT is making an impact by changing how Learning and
Teaching is being implemented in Higher Education institutions. However utilization of the full potential of IoT
applications with complete and effective security systems will require not only innovation in technologies but
also huge investments by Education Ministries across the world.
The future of IoT is full of uncertainty. IoT is a revolution to change the lifestyles of humans with advancing
technology. If the challenges are not addressed and reciprocated immediately, they could lead to unfavourable
results which could affect every aspect of our lives and pose a threat to its own success. the responsibility of all
stakeholders of the Internet of Things to make the most out of the internet but at the same time be responsible
for its safety and everything connected to it.
Recommendations
With the cooperation from all stakeholders and implementation of Education policies, Internet of Things can
envisage to reach its fullest potential in this Digital Era. the responsibility of all stakeholders of the Internet of
Things to make the most out of the internet but at the same time be responsible for its safety and everything
connected to it.
References
Advanced MP Technology, The Future of IoTs in Education. Retrieved March 04, 2017 from
http://www.advancedmp.com/the-future-of-iots-in-education/
Akamai Technologies Annual Report (2016). Retrieved 18, July, 2019, from
http://www.ir.akamai.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=75943&p=irol-reportsannual
Aldowah, H., Rehman, S. U., Ghazal, S., & Umar, I. N. (2017). Internet of Things in higher
education: a study on future learning. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 892(1),
012017, IOP Publishing. doi :10.1088/1742-6596/892/1/012017
Battons, C. (2018). How IoT Is Benefiting Education and Learning - DZoneIoT. Retrieved
from https://dzone.com/articles/how-iot-is-changing-education-and-learning-positiv
Blewitt, J. (2010) Higher education for a sustainable world, Education + Training, Vol. 52
No. 6/7, pp. 477-488, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Botta, A.; De Donato, W.; Persico, V. & Pescapé, A. Integration of cloud computing and
internet of things: A survey. Future Gener. Comput. Syst. 2016, 56, 684–700.
Brandt, C. (2016) The Internet of Things and its impact on education, University Herald,
Retrieved from http://www.universityherald.com/articles/41190/20160921/internet-of-
things-and-education.htm
Callahan, M.E. (2014) “Cyber security and hospitals: What hospital trustees need to know
about managing cyber security risk and response”, American Hospital Association,
USA.Retrievedfromhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/283329102_the_inform
ation_confidentiality_and_cyber_security_in_medical_institutions
Cisco Global Cloud Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2016–2021 White Paper. (2018).
Retrieved from https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-
provider/global-cloud-index-gci/white-paper-c11-738085.html
Clarke, J., Gritzalis, S., Zhou, J., & Roman, R. (2014). Security in a completely
interconnected world. Security and Communication Networks, 7(12), 2726-2727. Doi:
10.1002/sec.1175
13
Cyber Infrastructure Understanding Denial-of-Service Attacks. Retrieved 20 Julai 2019 from
https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/tips/ST04-015
Evans, D. (2011). The internet of things. How the next evolution of the internet is changing
everything. Cisco IBSG, 2011.
Evans, D. (2011). The Internet of Things: How the next evolution of the internet is changing
everything. Cisco white paper, 1(2011), 1-11.
Gabai, A. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/kevin-ashton-
describes-the-internet-of-things-180953749/#pbYoum89VFRbtGlC.99
Gleeson, B., & Rozo, M. (2013). The silo mentality: How to break down the barriers.
Retrieved 30 July 2019, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2013/10/02/the-silo-mentality-how-to-
break-down-the-barriers/
Gokhale, P., Bhat, O., & Bhat, S. (2018). Introduction to IOT. International Advanced
Research Journal in Science, Engineering and Technology, 5(1), 41-44.
Goodin, D (2018). US service provider survives the biggest recorded DDoS in history. Ars
Technica. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
Griffin, R. (2015). Social Media Is Changing How College Students Deal With Mental
Health, For Better Or Worse. College Huffpost, 1-4. Retrieved from
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/social-media-college-mental-
health_n_55ae6649e4b08f57d5d28845
Gubbi, J., Buyya, R., Marusic, S., & Palaniswami, M. (2013). Internet of Things (IoT): A
vision, architectural elements, and future directions. Future generation computer
systems, 29(7), 1645-1660
IoT Analytics (2018). State of the IoT 2018: Number of IoT devices now at 7B – Market
accelerating .Retrieved from https://iot-analytics.com/state-of-the-iot-update-q1-q2-
2018-number-of-iot-devices-now-7b/
Jedra, C. (2013). Study: Millennials indifferent to online risks. USAToday. Retrieved from
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/16/millennials-cyber-
security/2995157/
Jin, D., (2012). Application of" Internet of Things" in electronic commerce. International
Journal of Digital Content Technology & its Applications,6(8).
Jindal, F., Jamar, R., & Churi, P. (2018). Future And Challenges Of Internet of
Things. International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology
(IJCSIT) 10(2), 13-25
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V. & Freeman, A. (2015). NMC Horizon Report:
Library Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved July 5, 2019
from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/151822/.
Kahlert, M., (2016). Understanding customer acceptance of Internet of Things services in
retailing: an empirical study about the moderating effect of degree of technological
autonomy and shopping motivations. University of Twente.
Kaspersky Lab. (2015). The Volume of New Mobile Malware Tripled in 2015. Retrieved from
https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2016_the-volume-of-new-mobile-
malware-tripled-in-2015
Int J Inst Tech Soc Sci
14
Li, S., Da Xu, L., & Zhao, S. (2015). The internet of things: a survey. Information Systems
Frontiers,17(2), 243-259.
Lutz, R. (2014), The implications of the Internet of Things for education. Available at
http://www.systech.com/systech-blog/384-theimplications-of-the-internet-of-things-
for-education
Lyons, J. P., Hannon, J., & Macken, C. (2014). Sustainable practice in embedding learning
technologies: Curriculum renewal through course design intensives. In Curriculum
Models for the 21st Century (pp. 423-442). Springer, New York, NY.
Ma, L., Zhou, Y., Liu, S., Qiao, J., Han, Z., & Wang, J. (2014). Development and Research of
Digital Campus System Based on Android. International Journal of Smart
Home, 8(4), 25-36.
Mahesh, S. & Hooter, A., 2013. Managing and Securing Business Networks in the
Smartphone Era. In Fifth Annual General Business Conference, Sam Houston State
University, Huntsville, Texas. Texas: Management Faculty Publications.
Maksimović, M. (2017) Green Internet of Things (G-IoT) at engineering education
institution: the classroom of tomorrow, INFOTEH-Jahorina, 16, 270-273.
Marjani, M., Nasaruddin, F., Gani, A., Karim, A., Hashem, I. A. T., Siddiqa, A., & Yaqoob, I.
(2017). Big IoT data analytics: Architecture, opportunities, and open research
challenges. IEEE Access, 5, 5247-5261
McAfee Labs. (2015). McAfee Labs Threats Report: May 2015. Retrieved from
https://www.mcafee.com/br/security-awareness/articles/mcafee-labs-threats-report-
aug-2015.aspx
Morphus, N. (2016) What you need to know about the internet of things for education,
capterra school administration blog, Retrieved July 16, 2017 from
http://blog.capterra.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-theinternet-of-things-for-
education/
National Research Council (2000) How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school:
Expanded Edition, Chapter: 9 Technology to Support Learning, Retrieved June 23,
2017 from https://www.nap.edu/read/ 9853/chapter/13
O'Connor, M. (2010). Northern Arizona University to Use Existing RFID Student Cards for
Attendance Tracking. RFID Journal, 1. Retrieved 9 July 2019 from
https://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?7628
Peña-López, I., (2005). Itu Internet Report 2005: The Internet of Things. Geneva: ITU.
Ralhan, B. D. (2017). How IoT is transforming the education sector, Inc42, Retrieved August
1, 2017 from https://inc42.com/resources/io-transforming-education/
Selinger, M., Sepulveda, A., & Buchan, J. (2013). Education and the Internet of Everything:
How ubiquitous connectedness can help transform pedagogy. White Paper, Cisco, San
Jose, CA.
Simmers, C., & Anandarajan, M. (2018). The internet of people, things and services. New
York, NY: Routledge.
Smith, F. (2014). EDUCAUSE 2014: Cyberattacks Are a Growing Problem for Higher
Education. Edtech,1.Retrievedfromhttps://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2014/10
/educause-2014-cyberattacks-are-growing-problem-higher-education
15
Snow, J. (2016). Shodan and Censys: The ominous guides through the Internet of Things
[Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/shodan-censys/11430/
Stankovic, J.A., Research directions for the internet of things. IEEE Internet of Things
Journal, 2014. 1(1): p. 3-9.
Stošić, L. (2015). The importance of educational technology in teaching, (IJCRSEE)
International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education.
3(1).
Symantec Corporation World Headquarters. (2015). Symantec Intelligence Report (pp. 1-19).
California.https://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/other_resources/intelli
gence-report-06-2015.en-us.pdf
Tan, P., Wu, H., Li, P., & Xu, H. (2018). Teaching management system with applications of
RFID and IoT technology. Education Sciences, 8(1), 26.
Thirty five percent of all security breaches take place in higher education.
(2014). SecurityMagazine,1.Retrievedfromhttps://www.securitymagazine.com/articles
/86000-percent-of-all-security-breaches-take-place-in-higher-education.
Verma, A., M. Rao, A. Gupta, W. Jeberson and V. Singh, 2013. A literature review on
malware and its analysis. Int. J. Current Res. Rev., 5: 71-71.
Vermesan, O., & Friess, P. (Eds.). (2013). Internet of things: Converging technologies for
smart environments and integrated ecosystems. River publishers.
Vermesan, O., Friess, P. and Guillemin, P. (2011). Internet of things strategic research
roadmap. Internet of Things: Global Technological and Societal Trends,1, 9–52.
Vujovic, V., & Maksimovic, M. (2015). The Impact of the Internet of Things on Engineering
Education. The 2nd International Conference on Open and Flexible Education
(ICOFE), Hong Kong, 135-144.
Wals, A.E.J. and Jickling, B. (2002). Sustainability in higher education: from double think
and newspeak to critical thinking and meaningful learning, International Journal of
Sustainability in Higher Education, 3(3), 221-32.
Wolff, J. (2015). Cyber security as metaphor: Policy and defence implications of computer
security metaphors. (March 31, 2014). In TPRC Conference Paper. Retrieved from
http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2418638
Zimmerman, E. (2018). 3 Cybersecurity Focus Areas for Education Institutions in
2019. Edtech, 1. Retrieved from https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2018/12/3-
cybersecurity-focus-areas-education-institutions-2019
Author Information
Arumugam Raman
Universiti Utara Malaysia
Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
Contact e-mail: arumugam@uum.edu.my
Raamani Thannimalai
Ministry of Education
Malaysia
Contact e-mail :drraamani@gmail.com
Int J Inst Tech Soc Sci