Teaching Internet of Things during the Health Pandemic

This paper discusses the instruction and delivery of a course on the Internet of Things (IoT) which was developed to combat the constraints imposed by the health pandemic. The course is taught with compact and portable laboratory components thereby facilitating the online approach to instruction. This is especially necessary during the health pandemic which has disrupted face-to-face laboratory instruction. The hands-on laboratory experiments and projects introduce the students to the collection of data using sensors, software programs for the microcontroller, and wireless communication between WiFi-enabled modules. The emphasis was on the use of simple, cost-effective, off-the-shelf components rather than on the hardware and software tools from established vendors in the areas of IoT. The focus of the experiments and projects was on system design and integration based on the distinct laboratory experiences. The students taking this course are expected to possess basic knowledge of electrical circuits and electronics, programming skills in the higher level languages such as C/C++, and the fundamentals of test and measurement analysis.