by Frank Zhao
IoT (Internet Of Things) is based on the latest development of multiple technologies such as electronics, computer firmware, software and cloud services. That’s why only a few colleges are providing IoT classes.
Do you want to wait for another 5 years to learn IoT when it becomes ubiquitous and transparently weaved into our daily life? Or do you want to start engaging more with what might be, NOT what is, to immerse yourself in the immediate future 5 years out from today? If your choice is the latter one, then welcome to our TCEF’s IoT club.
How do we handle the challenge of learning multiple technologies simultaneously for IoT? The answer is “Just in Time Learning”.
Our current school learning system has been around for hundreds of years. In the years without Internet, this is the way for most of the people to be educated. The system is based on “Just In Case Learning”. Knowledge was divided into different categories, or majors. For each major, certain courses were selected based on the previous experience or guess that these courses might be useful in the future.
A lot of time were wasted in learning courses that will never be used in the future. Even students graduate from the same major can work on totally different areas. Therefore, students are not motivated in learning because they don’t know why they need to learn, except for the exam.
It is very hard to teach students the latest technology in the Just in Case learning system, especially for information technology which is a such fast growing area that often involved knowledge across multiple categories.
The power of Internet search engines, online courses, video tutorial and tech forums is lessening the need for “Just in Case Learning”. Now it is possible for us to do “Just in Time Learning”. When you learn just in time, you have a clear goal to reach or problem to solve. You are highly motivated and highly focused. Your brain can learn faster and your memory can last longer when the knowledge is being acquired instead of being taught. Your study will be very efficient and this can make you quickly stand in the frontier of the technology development.
Yahoo, Paypal, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and Uber – when these well known IT companies just started, they didn’t invent any super advanced technologies. They succeeded because they were the first to use the latest technologies in a creative way to change our life. That’s why it is so important for you to immerse yourself in the immediate future 5 years out from today. How? “Just in Time Learning” is the key! History has shown that the more advanced we become, the faster we become at advancing. Embracing just in time learning, focusing on the latest technologies, pursuing knowledge instead of being feed with knowledge, that is the way to succeed in the age of Internet.
The TCEF student IoT club is designed to challenge traditional just in case learning and to promote just in time learning. To make our students to get ready for the next big thing!
More readings about Just in Time Learning:
