Advantages of creating smart campuses

IF you’re young, you’re more than likely to be digital- savvy to the point that you’re often stereotyped as being restless without a Wi-Fi connection, or if your smartphone is not within reach.

And if you’re a student, you probably should be considered a ‘digital native’, who’s able to embrace digital technology into your lifestyle.

In view of all this, it should make sense for more and more tertiary education institutions globally and locally to adopt smart technologies into their classrooms, and creating a smart campus environment.

For instance, in 2017 Universiti Teknologi Mara ( UiTM) Sarawak 2 Campus planned to upgrade itself into a smart campus in line with the state’s initiative of becoming a smart city.

Among the efforts planned included setting up a ‘ Big Data Lab’ as well as smart classrooms with high-technology (tech) infrastructure and Internet connectivity.

Some may still wonder how digitallearning in asmartcampus could enrich the education system and methodologies.

High-tech infrastructure, such as smart classrooms, aims to improve the learning environment.

This infrastructure might include smart parking, highspeed Internet connection for indoor and outdoor areas, wayfinding apps, feedback channels or portal, and an attendance tracking system.

By linking the right technology, via devices and applications, with people, it transforms institutions of higher learning into smart campuses that harness digital technologies to provide new educational methods and a more conducive study environment for students.

Data collected from various sources including sensors and building systems installed in campuses, can then be stored, accessed and used by campus operations for various purposes, such as reducing energy consumption, and refining services on campus to make them more convenient and effective.

Smart campuses will help to enhance the effectiveness of our smart cities of the future and as we head into this new and exciting direction, we hope more institutions of higher learning in Sarawak would work towards providing more opportunities for students to experience studying in such campuses.

This is a weekly column by SarawakYES! — an initiative driven by Faradale Media-M Sdn Bhd and supported by Angkatan Zaman Mansang (AZAM) Sarawak — to provide advice and stories on the topics of education and careers to support Sarawakians seeking to achieve their dreams. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.