Research Paper Engineering E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 6 | Issue : 3 | March 2020

EVOLUTION
OF
SMART
PEDAGOGIES
WITH
DIGITAL

GADGETS

1 2
Karthikeyan Ramiah | Pandian Pitchipoo
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, PAC Ramasamy Raja Polytechnic College, Rajapalayam, India.
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSR Engineering College, Sivakasi, India.

ABSTRACT
Up to the last century, teachers and their lecture notes were the only resources available for the learning community. Some of the reference books, publications, and
research manuscripts available in the libraries in the form of hard copies, stencils, photo copies, hints, manual written scripts, etc made the learning process more
difficult. Now, in the era of Digital Transformation all information is available in the digital formats with more detailed descriptions. These resources can be easily
accessed by anyone from any place and at any time. Hence the task of bringing the learners to the class rooms made tedious. The responsibilities put on the shoulders of
the teaching community apart from teaching-learning process are also increasing exponentially. If the digital resources were effectively used with the support of smart
class rooms, the teaching learning process will be a fruitful system with multiple benefits to all stake holders. This article explains various electronic (eLearning) and
mobile (mLearning) learning gadgets and techniques available to enhance the delivery of lecture sessions more lively and effectively.

KEYWORDS: teaching learning process, eLearning, mLearning, smart class rooms, 3D Printer.

I. INTRODUCTION:
In India, the term school was introduced in the year 1880 by the people of British
Missionaries for training the children of British soldiers. As pr the reports of
Kothari Commission (1966) and Yashbal commission (2005), the recent school-
ing programme increases the division among the communities and decreases the
interactions among the society and corporate people. This method was found to
be give importance to the teacher-centered class rooms. Even though this method
was found to be not more effective, whatever we achieved up to till date can be
said as the results of this education system. From the small toy manufacturing
company to aero space industries, production of home appliances to heath care
products, labour level to managerial level administration, law, financing, etc.,
almost in all the domains, our education system is found to be successful
(Natarajan R, 2014).

A,S. Makaenko built an education system called “Karki Colony” in which he

taught skill based education to the poor youths of Russia and it was a successful
system (Anton Semenovich Makarenko, 2004). He taught the importance of
learning instead of teaching to the students. He told that school will impart
knowledge and the family should inculcate the culture and habits system among Fig. 1. Online Course registration form
the students (Anton Semenovich Makarenko, 1951).
In this article, it is planned to discuss about some of the teaching pedagogies
Unfortunately after the fast global changes happened in field of digital informa- those will enhance the teaching learning process using smart class rooms with the
tion like creation, editing, storing, sharing, viewing, and providing security to available digital information. This digital information may be in the form of text,
those data, the teaching communities face a threat of attracting the students to the images, photos, conceptual scripts, notes, 3D models, animated movies, annota-
class rooms. The students are having a full degree of freedom in their learning tions, audio and video treats, etc.
style. The digital resources are available at any time, any place and any format
such as documents, audio or video notes, presentation files, animated files, etc. A. Virutual Reality:
These make the learners to become very impassionate in attending the regular lec- Virtual Reality (VR) refers to the an immersive and interactive experience based
ture sessions. on graphic images in 3D generated in real time by computer. VR technology is a
simulation generated by a computer, about a real or just an imaginary world. VR
In this article various eLearning and mLearning resources and pedagogies avail- is a computer interface that permits the user to interact in real time, in a tridimen-
able now a days are elaborated to mould any teacher towards delivering an effec- sional space generated by a computer, using their feelings, through special
tive lecture session to the learners and to create passion among the learning com- devices. The user ca notice the virtual world, through a window built by the moni-
munity to attend and listen to the regular lecture sessions. tor screen or by projection screen or it can be inserted in the real world through a
helmet (HMD) or multi projections rooms (caves) and interaction devices
II. INNOVATIVE PEDAGOGIES: (Claudio Kirner, 2018). Using the VR technology, the student can manipulate vir-
The terms eLearning refers to electronic learning and mLearning refers to mobile tually the target that must be explored, analyzed and studied.
learning and both of them uses the digital information to make the teaching and
learning process more effective. These are a kind of learning process with the Generally the VR technology is characterized by three basic ideas such as
help of new technologies such as educational apps, programs, podcasts, blogs, immersion, interaction and involvement. Immersion makes the user to get the
online tools etc. Now a day, each and every student owns a smart phone, a tablet, real sensation of being inside the virtual world of the computer using the devices
or a laptop. digital helmets and digital cave. Interaction uses the digital gloves to manipulate
the virtual objects by the user. Finally Involvement motivates the user to took
The Gadgets available have transformed from toys into very useful educational part in the virtual world by means of exploring the virtual environment. Using
tools. The benefits of using these kinds of new pedagogies are flexible and this VR technology the user can interfere directly in result of the application, the
mobile, continuous learning process, age independence, provides quick and easy user can navigate on the virtual environment in a passive or active way.
access to information, high efficiency, higher levels of motivation and engage-
ment, and learning access for people with disabilities (Eastern Peak, 2016). The VR technology makes the teaching learning process more interesting and
fun with the purpose of improving the motivation and attention which are pleas-
Some of the online learning systems are Swayam, NPTEL, Mooc, Edx, ant to the students. It facilitates the teacher’s work during the evaluation perfor-
Coursera, Udacity, Udemy, Khan academy, Skillshare, Harvard university, Ted, mance. Further, it presents an opportunity of learning with a real situation which
Alison, Futurelearn, Open learn, etc. was artificially created, facilitating the visualization and the interaction sensa-

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International Education & Research Journal [IERJ] 30

Research Paper E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 6 | Issue : 3 | March 2020
tion with the study focus. If there is no opportunity to get real world experiences, Some examples of the AR based apps used in the class rooms are Aursama, Ele-
VR will be fruitful. VR based simulations permit the learners to understand the ments 4D by DAQRI studio, Anatomy 4D, Corinth Micro Anatomy, Human
complex themes of hard learning easily (Adriana Soares Pereira et al., 2012). Heart 3D, and AugThat, etc. For teaching kinder garden students, the widely used
apps are Math alive, Animal Alphabet AR Flashcards, ZooKazam, Bugs 3D
Quiver, Chromville, Arloon Plants, Pete the Cat: School Jam, Amazing Space
Journey, SkyORB 3D and Star Walk, etc. In spite of the developments, the use of
Augmented Reality in education is still new and under research. With the help of
AR technology, teachers can get the attention of students and motivate them
better and the students get new tools to visualize their subjects and complex con-
cepts, as well as obtain practical skills (Think Mobiles, 2019).

The advantages of implementing the AR technology in the teaching learning pro-

cess are Accessible learning materials at anytime, anywhere, no special equip-
ment is required, higher student engagement and interest, improved collabora-
tion capabilities, a faster and more effective learning process, Practical learning,
Safe and efficient workplace training and Universally applicable to any level of
education and training. The limitations that restrict the implementation of AR
technology are the lack of necessary training, Dependence on hardware and Con-
tent portability issues (DZone - AI Zone, 2019).

C. Kindle Notebook:
Chris Edwards, a school teacher handling social studies subject in Indiana,
started to use this device and suggest this one as a hand held library. Any digital
electronic book can be downloaded and eliminated the usage of regular printed
text books and course materials. Preston L. Coppels, Director of instructional ser-
vices for Loudoun County Public Schools in Ashburn, Virginia assessed the
developments in e-book readers and other devices like netbooks and
Fig. 2. Samsung Gear VR
smartphones and concluded that the textbook was no longer the Holy Grail. This
device is larger than an average paperback but smaller than a laptop, lightweight,
An example of VR app is the Xolius which is an application for astronomy learn- and is a portable one. Since there is no backlighting, it consumes less power. Dan-
ing. The study shows the effective implementation of VR technology in subjects iel Witz, a language arts teacher at Lake Bluff Middle School, near Chicago nar-
where an interactive environment is needed. Further VR technology can offer an rated that this device ensure the delivery of right material to the right student at
immersive experience, involvement and promoting active learning in compari- the right time wit out loading any human being or any photocopying system.
son to the mobile application (Carl Nätterdal and Mustafa Hussein, 2015). Cornelia Brunner, Deputy Director, Center for Children and Technology, New
York City stated that Kindles would provide a new pavement for teaching strate-
B. Augmneted Reality: gies. Chastity Pick, a computer lab teacher in Fairbury, Illinois expressed that the
Augmented Reality (AR) turns the class room into a digital interface by placing text-to-speech audio function available in the Kindle device will reduce the chal-
virtual objects in the real world, in real-time. AR platform generates 3D model lenges faced by students with vision problems, language barriers, and lack of
visuals for the students and teachers in the real environment, in real time, and at reading fluency, etc. Almost all the leading publishers like Cengage Learning,
scale. This method of teaching changes the way the learners see, imagine, and Pearson, and Wiley have entered in this field of electronic text book printing and
learn about the world around them. supplying (Scholasatic Teachers, 2019).

The tools used for the effective usage of Augmented Reality are AR 3D viewers,
AR browsers and AR gaming. (i) AR 3D viewers allows users to place life-size
3D models in the class room environment with or without the use of simple
images that 3D models can be attached to called as trackers. (ii) AR browsers
enrich the display with contextual information required for the learners. (iii) AR
gaming creates immersive gaming experiences that utilize the actual surround-
ings. To produce an augmented reality environment to the learners, the teacher
can use devices such as simple mobile devices, PC connected multimedia play-
ers, head mounted displays, goggles, and lenses, etc. Since the effective teaching
learning process involves creativity and interactions, AR technology will make
the classroom lecture sessions more engaged and information are easily incul-
cated (Augment, 2020).

AR will provide more digital information about any subject, and make the com-
plex phenomena to be understood easier. AR technology provides a platform for
a new way and additional ways of teaching with the flexibility in the location and
timings. AR based animated contents will enhance the learning ability of stu-
dents and attracts them towards more learning. Since AR can provide rendered
3D models with real time scenario that are hard to imagine, AR makes the stu-
dents to grasp abstract and difficult content in an easier way. AR apps help the stu- Fig. 4. Kindle Gadget
dents to learn a better knowledge of any lesson when compared with manual
training, hand exercises, quiz solving etc. Especially for the medical students,
AR will be a best way of to learn human anatomy by exploring more deeply. The durability, difficulty in handling, and non – provision of connection to the
overhead projectors, lack of provision for personalized learning, etc made the
device of little interest for the teachers (Kindle Education, 2019).

D. ESL fast:
ESLFAST is a huge free online English learning resource available at free of cost
to us. This software makes the learners to speak easy by involving them in the con-
versations given in their website (ESL Fast, 2019).

E. Goolgle translate:
An excellent tool for teaching languages is the Google Translate which can be
operated using a smart phone or an iPod. It has a strong vocabulary and grammar
of around 103 languages. It facilitates the copying of text created in any applica-
tion and can be translated to the required language using this app. It can translate
the text in to 59 languages even there is no net connection. The text can be
scanned by the camera and can be translated in to any one of the available thirty
eight languages. Google Translate can translate online two way speech interac-
tions. The words can be dictated and can be translated and the pronunciation of
the translated text can be also listened by the user. Even the handwritten text can
Fig. 3. Application of AR in machine assembly be easily recognized and can be translated.

31 International Education & Research Journal [IERJ]

Research Paper E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 6 | Issue : 3 | March 2020
software. Special kinds of graphs, charts can also be generated for the evaluation
process. Time consumed by the student, overall scores, scores obtained for indi-
vidual outcomes can also be extracted from this software. Moodles is very much
helpful for the training providers and teachers to know which module students
are lacking and in which they are performing well and accordingly they plan the
future course and lecture plans to make the teaching learning process more effec-
tive (Ample Trails 2019).

H. Robots:
It has been found that students were really happy while learning with the help of a
robot irrespective of the subject. Since the robots are not given full autonomy, the
entire control is in the hands of the teacher which makes the learning process
more interesting. The proper usage of humanoid robots makes the teaching learn-
Fig. 5. Google Translate app ing process more effective and can act as a teaching tool in the future class rooms.
The technical limitations such as unnatural voices, inaccurate speeches, and lack
F. Mobile Apps for Engineers: of emotion recognition of these robots are acting as barriers to the successful
In Mechanical Engineering domain, an important subject is Strength of Material implementation of these robots in the classroom environments. The robots con-
also called Mechanics of Materials which deals with various methods of calcu- figuration may vary from boebot to humanoids depending upon the lecture plan
lating the stresses and strains in structural members, such as beams, columns, and and the learning level of the students.
shafts. The mobile app developed to teach this subject is a complete handbook
with diagrams and graphs and can be used as a ready reference guide. It covers While the robots having basic and advanced configurations are widely used for
157 topics starting from simple stress to stress in thick cylinders, preparing Shear teaching science, mathematics, and engineering subjects, the humanoids are pre-
Force Diagrams, and Bending Moment Diagrams for the structural members. It ferred to teach language subjects like Japan, and South Korea. The robots named
is portable, hand held, having provisions for setting remainders, tracking the Pepper, Nao, Robovie, Toro, and IROBI are mainly used to teach English lan-
learning levels, adding favorite topics, and sharing them in the social media guage. The main intension is to use robot as a teaching tool and to enhance the
(Google Play, 2019). teaching learning process and to replace the teachers. Hence, a proper interfacing
system must be provided in the classrooms that help the tutor to utilize the robot
A part of MultiEducator's iPhone “Formulator” Line contains over 300 mechani- for the teaching process with a minimal training.
cal engineering formulas engineering formulas. There are over 300 additional
conversion formulas within the program also as 70 area formulas. Major areas
covered within the program include almost all the machine components, fluid
power designs, heat transfer and refrigeration design, energy calculations, heat
balance sheet, COP and efficiency calculations and automobile drive designs.

Autodesk’s web and mobile named AutoCAD WS app lets the user to look at ,
edit, and share DWG drawings through an internet browser or mobile device. It
has a number of design features which makes the design process more easy for
the learners.

Aa parametric section and member calculator APP named Cross Sections Calc is
launched by IPROBLUE Tech’s. This App computes 21 geometric and mechani-
cal properties for 23 commonly used sections utilized in beam and column design
also as general mechanics of materials.

Mech Ref app is a reference for all mechanical components. It offers drill and tap
sizes, fastener clearance holes, sheet metal gauge tables, and physics references.
Mechanics Basics app contains a large selection of mechanics laws, equations,
tables, and reference material that engineers may find useful during their work.

G. Moodles online test:

Moodles is of the best open source for the Learning Management System that can
be used for making an effective teaching learning process. Especially this
Moodles is found to predominant in conducting examinations to evaluate the per-
formance and understanding level of the learners.
Fig. 7. Keeko Robot
Questions can be prepared in the XML file format and can be uploaded easily in
the Moodles platform. Questions of Multiple choice questions, True or False,
Confidence, options, etc are accepted by this software and lot of shuffling actions In Yiswind Institute of Multicultural Education, Beijing, Greater China, the
are available for presenting the questions to students. Schedule of examination, newly introduced robot named Keeko which is a roundish autonomous robot hav-
number of attempts, time duration, students groups, different type of enrollment ing a screen for the face and inbuilt cameras, and zips around on tiny wheels. This
to these examinations are possible with this Moodles software. Students are Keeko attracts the students of kinder gardens by means of telling stories to them
given freedom to skip questions which can be answered in the later stage of the and by improving their logical reasoning ability by the way of creating new logi-
examination process. cal challenges (Keeko, 2019) (The American Society for Mechanical Engineers,
2019) (The Hindu, 2018) (Phys.org, 2018) (The Conversation, 2019).

I. 3D Printing and 3D Printing Pens:

3D Printing is a technology used to build three dimensional physical model using
layer wise manufacturing process. The required model is created as a 3D digital
model using any of the available Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. Then
it is converted into an STL file format (stereolithography) by which the CAD
model is sliced in to thin layers. By using this data, 3D Printers build the solid
models (Paresh Bheda, 2004). Among the different techniques, Fused Deposi-
tion Modeling (FDM) is a simple process used by the educational society
because of its low cost.

3D Printed products can be used in the class rooms as concept models, to verify
CAD database and styling, to conduct ergonomic studies and functional testing,
and demo models, etc. Virtual prototyping provides greater freedom to the learn-
ers and teachers for building new parts and assemblies irrespective of their geo-
metrical constraints and manufacturing limitations to understand the design con-
Fig. 6. Integration of Moodles gadget
cepts and functionality of the assemblies very clearly.

The results of the performance measures can be reviewed in any format as per our 3D Printing Pens are doodlers capable of creating three dimensional drawings on
requirement and can be easily downloaded or exported to any commonly used air or surfaces. Peter Dilworth, Maxwell Bogue and Daniel Cowen of

International Education & Research Journal [IERJ] 32

 Research Paper E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 6 | Issue : 3 | March 2020
WobbleWorks, Inc developed this 3D Printing Pens. This 3Doodler builds the 3. Anton Semenovich Makarenko (1951), “The road to life an epic of education”, [trans-
three dimensional objects by extruding heated plastic (ABS material) that cools lated from the Russian by Ivy and Tatiana Litvinov], Moscow Progress Publishers, Mos-
almost instantly into a solid, stable structure using the free hand movements. cow.
4. Eastern Peak (2016) How to creaate an App for your Business Available at:
https://easternpeak.com/blog/how-to-create-an-app/ (accessed 04 January 2020).
5. Claudio Kirner (2018) Virtual and Increased Realit Available at: http://www.realida-
devirtual.com.br (accessed 03 January 2020).
6. Adriana Soares Pereira, Liliana Maria Passerino, and Sandra Dutra Piovesan (2012),
“Virtual Reality as a Tool in the Education’, IADIS International Conference on Cogni-
tion and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2012), pp. 295 - 298
7. Carl Nätterdal and Mustafa Hussein (2015), “The Benefits of Virtual Reality in Educa-
tion - A Comparison Study”, Bachelor of Science Thesis in Software Engineering and
Management, , Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers Univer-
sity of Technology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden, June 2015.
8. Augment (2020) Augmeted Reality for Education Available at: https://www.au-
gment.com/education/(accessed 03 January 2020).
9. Think Mobiles (2019) Augmented Reaity in Education Available at:
https://thinkmobiles.com/ blog/ augmented-reality-education/ (accessed 26 December
2019).
10. DZone - AI Zone (2019) Augmented Reaity in Education Available at:
https://dzone.com/articles/augmented-reality-in-education(accessed 27 December
2019).
11. Scholasatic Teachers (2019) Will the Kindle change the Education Available at:
Fig. 8. 3D Printer (FDM machine) http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3752572(accessed 01 December
2019).
12. Kindle Education (2019) Mentor students to develop skills required to be successful in
life Available at: https://www.kindleeducation.com/(accessed 01 December 2019).
13. ESL Fast (2019) A huge free online English learning resource Available at:
https://www.eslfast.com/(accessed 03 December 2019).
14. Google Play (2019) Strenth of Materilas - SOM Available at: https://play.google.com/-
store/apps/details?id=com.faadooengineers.free_strengthofmaterials&hl=en (ac-
cessed 05 December 2019).
15. Ample Trails (2019) Steps create Online Moddles Exams Available at:
https://ampletrails.com/steps-create-online-exams-moodle/e-learning-blog (accessed
08 December 2019).
16. Keeko (2019) (CNC) The Robot Teacher Available at: http://www.ikeeko.com/nd.-
jsp?id=18 (accessed 10 December 2019).
17. The American Society for Mechanical Engineers (2019 ) Robots Teachers Transform
Education Available at: https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/robotics/-
robot-teachers-transform-education (accessed 10 December 2019).
18. The Hindu (2018) Robot Teachers in China’s Kindergartens Available at:
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/robot-teachers-in-chinas-
Fig. 9. 3D Printing Pen kindergartens/article24812421.ece (accessed 15 December 2019).
19. Phys.org (2018) Robot Teachers invade Chinease Kindergartens Available at:
By using this pen the teacher can create civil structures, mechanical components https://phys.org/news/2018-08-robot-teachers-invade-chinese-kindergartens.htm (ac-
and assemblies, and any wireframe model or simple skeleton of three dimen- cessed 10 November 2019).
sional objects.
20. The Conversation (2019) Robots Likeky to be used in Class rooms as Learning Tools,
Not Teachers Available at: http://theconversation.com/robots-likely-to-be-used-in-
J. Other gadgets: classrooms-as-learning-tools-not-teachers-66681 (accessed 08 September 2019).
Google Assistant and Alexa from Amazon are the best gadgets that can be assist
the learners to learn quickly and effectively. 21. Paresh Bheda (2004), “Rapid Prototyping in India – The journey so far”, International
Conference & Exhibition on Total Engineering, Analysis & Manufacturing Technolo-
gies (TEAMTECH 2004), 2004, pp.58
Google Maps defines the location and provide quick or easy access to all the
places with complete walk through supports and guidance with exact GPS val-
ues. Recently Virtual Positioning System is also introduced to facilitate the geo-
graphical learning.

Similarly, there are lots of online gadgets are available to enhance the teaching
learning process such as online dictionaries, reference books, language transla-
tors, software programmers, and skill based online tests, etc.

III. CONCLUSION:
The famous BMW automobile manufacturer uses the AR technology to train
their newly recruited employees to be skilled in servicing their cars. Some of the
shopping malls introduced this AR technology for making amusement environ-
ment for the visitors. Online shopping process makes use of the VR technology
for the size, colour, and pattern selection of fabrics for their customers. Digital
transactions of funds using laptops and mobile components are commonly avail-
able facilities for even less valued services. Virtual surgery gives a good platform
for the medical society to have simulated surgeries. Interactive Robots play an
important role in almost all the places starting from canteens to airports. Due to
the developments happening in the production of mobile phones makes everyone
to go for high end gadgets and prefer smarter work. Hence, it is concluded that if
all these developing digital based systems are used for teaching learning process,
the outcome will be more fruitful and more beneficial to all stake holders. And
this will lead to the evolution of new pedagogies that are smarter, flexible, easily
accessible, not time bounded, and multi skill oriented, etc.

REFERENCES:
1. Natarajan R (2014), “Ithu Yarudaiya vagupparai (Whose Classroom is this?)”, Books
for Children, Chennai, India, pp. 28-35.
2. Anton Semenovich Makarenko (2004), “His Life and Work: Articles, Talks and Remi-
niscences Paperback”, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow.

33 International Education & Research Journal [IERJ]