ScienceScope - the startup using the IoT to upskill students

by Startacus Admin

Innovation in EdTech thanks to ScienceScope, the Somerset based startup using the IoT to upskill students

Continuing with our recent theme of future-proofing our children with the likes of Cypher and Erase All Kittens, we are looking at the Internet of Thingstoday.

The IoT connects the dots of all of the...well, things that can connect to each other, to the internet, to us, and makes them all work together. It is a fairly broad term and examples include anything from smart thermostats and house lights, to cars, to environmental sensors.

The smarter our technological world becomes, the more important the umbrella of Internet of Things becomes. So, it goes without saying that the better our children understand the Internet of Things and know how to interact with it and utilise it to its fullest extent, the better situated they will be to take their place in the world of tomorrow (read dramatically).

Somerset-based edtech startup ScienceScope is developing technology to upskill students with tools around the Internet of Things. Their platform, IoT@School, is a framework designed to bring the Internet of Things concept into the classroom through small and big environmental data collection, sharing, and collaboration.

This consists of two key components: devices for data collection, and the exploratory for data visualisation and data sharing. For example, students can use sensors to measure the energy consumption in their classroom and upload that data to the IoT@School Exploratory, where it can be visualised and shared with other schools around the world. The data can also be analysed as part of a much wider data set, turning an experiment contrived solely for learning purposes into a chance to explore live data in the real world.

Just recently, ScienceScope was awarded an Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant, with support from the Department for International Trade. This grant will be used to implement a pilot scheme in schools across the Gulf region and elsewhere. The Department for International Trade also provided the startup with an Export for Growth grant to support international business development activities.

ScienceScope has also made strides in both the United Arab Emirates and in Singapore, making a deal with the National Institute of Education, which will include the startup building an IoT lab and providing every school in Singapore with 300 micro:bits. The micro:bit was designed in partnership with the BBC, Microsoft, Samsung, and ScienceScope. It was created to be an accessible introduction to coding for school students across the UK, and the partnership provided one device to every year 7 student or equivalent in the UK in the 2015-2016.

Seeing their ability to deliver this product and their educational platform further and wider is exciting, and we’re sure we will see more about them soon.

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• #startup
• #edtech
• #innovation
• #iot
• #education
• #upskills
• #sciencescope

Published on: 25th August 2019