The next era in the advancement of the Internet is called the Internet of Things (IoT). Aptly named, the Internet of Things includes all of the devices and services that are now connected to the Internet, like your phone, iPad, computer, FitBit, television, coffee maker….

The number things that are in design and production that will be connected in the near future is growing at an exponential rate. The attached infograph from Goldman Sachs does a great job of explaining IoT and the growth in the future (see the complete infographic on their website).

So I came up with some variations for Higher Education:

IoWHNDITWB – Internet of We Have Never Done It That Way Before

IoTN – Internet of Tenure – No

IoAA – Internet of Antiquated Accreditation

IoSMTSTF – Internet of Students Are More Tech Savvy Than Faculty

IoYCTTO – Internet of You Can’t Teach That Online

IoPOH – Internet of Physical Office Hours

IoNOTT – Internet of Not Offered This Term

Enough for now… Add your own below.

Goldman Sachs | Macroeconomic Insights – What is the Internet of Things?

The United States educational system has fallen on the many lists ranking success and performance over the years. Given that trend, would you be surprised if I told you that education ranks pretty low on the scale of investing in the Internet of Things (IoT)? Spoiler alert, we are not at the bottom, but pretty close.

While the transportation and warehousing, manufacturing and information industries are each investing over $100 billion over the next six years, the education sector barely makes a blip on the chart.

Mining, construction, fishing and food service are banking on a connected world. Once again, education is failing and this lack of investment not only puts us behind today, but also will have lasting ramifications for the future.

For the last four years I have made the annual pilgrimage to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in search of the latest technology that could change the way we teach and our students learn. This year, however, I opted to avoid the other 200,000 or so people and watch the events online.

Samsung just announced that by 2017, 90 percent of all of its devices sold would be Internet-enabled. This is a big statement considering Samsung sold over 665 million products last year. If that’s not enough, the platform will be open, allowing developers to build other compatible software and hardware to interact with those devices.

Imagine if a university announced that by 2017 all of its faculty would be Internet-enabled. Just crazy talk.