Top Microsoft Business Intelligence Interview Questions For Beginners

Businesses across the world are increasingly adopting Business Intelligence tools to capture data and analyze it for smarter decision making. This has opened up myriad opportunities for Business Intelligence professionals and the demand for skilled BI practitioners is huge. There has never been a better time to make a career in the Business Intelligence space! Familiarizing yourself with Microsoft Business Intelligence, the leader among BI tools, can help you bag top jobs in Business Intelligence. This blog lists the top Microsoft Business Intelligence interview questions to help you prepare for your job interview after mastering Microsoft BI. In case you have attended a MSBI interview recently, we urge you to share any questions you may have faced. Our experts will be happy to answer them for you. All the best!

Microsoft Business Intelligence Interview Questions:

1. Define SSIS. How it is related with SQL Server?

A component of SL Server, SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) can be used to perform a variety of Data migration and ETL operations. SSIS is a platform for Integration and Workflow applications which is known for a fast and flexible OLTP and OLAP extensions used for data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL). It can also be used to automate maintenance of SQL Server databases and multidimensional data sets.

2. Which are the different Lookup Cache Modes Available in SSIS?

There are three Cache Modes available in SSIS Lookup Transformation:

• Full Cache Mode: In this cache mode, SSIS queries the database before the start of the data flow task execution (pre-execute phase) and loads all the data from lookup/reference table into SSIS lookup cache.
• Partial Cache Mode: In this cache mode, SSIS queries the database against new rows coming in from the source. If there is a match, the row is cached into SSIS Lookup Cache for rows coming subsequently in the data flow which might have a match. When the cache is full, SSIS then proceeds to remove few rows from cache based on the usage/match statistics for those rows and loads the new matching rows into the Lookup Cache.
• No Cache Mode: In this cache mode, SSIS does not cache any rows into Lookup Cache (except in cases such as two subsequent source data rows having a match with same lookup values). For every row coming from the source, the database is queried to get the matching value/data from the reference table.

3. What are the differences between DTS and SSIS?

The differences are as follows:

Data Transformation Services	SQL Server Integration Services
Limited error handling	Complex and powerful error handling
Message boxes in ActiveX scripts	Message boxes in .NET scripting
No deployment wizard	Interactive deployment wizard
Limited set of transformation	Good number of transformations
No BI functionality	Complete BI integration

4. What is control flow?

A control flow consists of one or more tasks and containers that execute when the package runs. To control order or define the conditions for running the next task or container in the package control flow, we use precedence constraints to connect the tasks and containers in a package. A subset of tasks and containers can also be grouped and run repeatedly as a unit within the package control flow. SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) provides three different types of control flow elements:

• Containers that provide structures in packages
• Tasks that provide functionality
• Precedence Constraints that connect the executables, containers, and tasks into an ordered control flow

5. What is data flow?

Data flow consists of the sources and destinations that extract and load data, the transformations that modify and extend data, and the paths that link sources, transformations, and destinations. Data Flow task is the executable within the SSIS package that creates, orders, and runs the data flow. A separate instance of the data flow engine is opened for each Data Flow task in a package. Three important categories in the data flow are:

• Data Sources
• Transformations
• Data Destinations

6. How to log SSIS Executions?

SSIS includes logging features that write log entries when run-time events occur. They can also write custom messages although it is not enabled by default. Integration Services supports a diverse set of log providers, giving you the ability to create custom log providers. The Integration Services log providers can write log entries to text files, SQL Server Profiler, SQL Server, Windows Event Log, or XML files. Logs are associated with packages and are configured at the package level. Each task or container in a package can log information to any package log. The tasks and containers in a package can be enabled for logging even if the package itself is not.

7. How do you deploy SSIS packages?

SSIS Project BUILD provides a Deployment Manifest File which needs to be run. We have to then decide whether to deploy this onto File System or onto SQL Server [ msdb]. SQL Server Deployment is faster and more secure then File System Deployment. Another way of doing this is to import the package from SSMS from File System or SQL Server.

8. Name the components of SSAS.

The components are:

• An OLAP Engine is used for enabling fast ad hoc queries by end users. A user can interactively explore data by drilling, slicing or pivoting.
• Drilling refers to the process of exploring details of the data.
• Slicing refers to the process of placing data in rows and columns.
• Pivoting refers to switching categories of data between rows and columns.
• In OLAP, we will be using what are called as Dimensional Databases.

9. Explain the two-tier architecture of SSAS?

• SSAS uses both server and client components to supply OLAP and data mining functionality to BI Applications.
• The server component is implemented as a Microsoft Windows service. Each instance of Analysis Services is implemented as a separate instance of the Windows service.
• Clients communicate with Analysis Services using the standard XMLA (XML for Analysis) protocol for issuing commands and receiving responses.

10. How does error-handling work in SSIS?

When a data flow component applies a transformation to column data, extracts data from sources, or loads data into destinations, errors can occur. Errors frequently occur because of unexpected data values.
The types of typical Errors in SSIS are:

• Data Connection Errors, which occur in case the connection manager cannot be initialized with the connection string. This applies to both Data Sources and Data Destinations along with Control Flows that use the Connection Strings.
• Data Transformation Errors, which occur while data is being transformed over a Data Pipeline from Source to Destination.
• Expression Evaluation errors, which occur if expressions that are evaluated at run time perform invalid

11. What is OLAP?

OLAP stands for On-Line Analytical Processing. It stands for a category of applications and technologies that allow the collection, storage, manipulation and reproduction of multidimensional data, with the goal of analysis.

12. Differentiate between OLAP and ETL tools.

• OLAP is an online analytical processing tool.
• ETL stands for Extract, Transform and Load. This is a product to extract the data from multiple/single sources and transform the data and load it into a table, flat file or simply a target.

13. Name the tools used in MSBI.

Microsoft BI contains the following tools:

• SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS)
• SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
• SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)
• Performance Point Services (PPS)

14. What is a workflow in SSIS?

Workflow is a set of instructions to tell the Program Executor how to execute tasks and containers within SSIS Packages.

15. What is the difference between WHERE and HAVING clauses in SQL Server?

• HAVING clause can be used only with a GROUP BY clause, whereas a WHERE clause can be used with constructs such as SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE etc.
• HAVING clause is applied as a filter to the data/output resulting from the GROUP BY clause, where as a WHERE clause is applied to every row in the SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE etc constructs.
• In queries where both HAVING and WHERE clauses are used, WHERE clause is applied first (to every row in the SELECT statement to filter the records before they are fed to GROUP BY clause for aggregation) and then the HAVING clause is applied (to filter the aggregated result from GROUP BY clause).

16. Name the differences between view and materialized view.

Views:

• A view takes the output of a query and makes it appear like a virtual table. You can use a view in most places where a table can be used.
• All operations performed on a view will affect data in the base table and so are subject to the integrity constraints and triggers of the base table.
• A View can be used to simplify SQL statements for the user or to isolate an application from any future change to the base table definition. A View can also be used to improve security by restricting access to a predetermined set of rows or columns.
• In addition to operating on base tables, one View can be based on another. A view can also JOIN a view with a table (GROUP BY or UNION).

Materialized Views:

• Materialized views are schema objects that can be used to summarize, pre-compute, replicate, and distribute data. E.g. to construct a data warehouse.
• A materialized view provides indirect access to table data by storing the results of a query in a separate schema object.
• The existence of a materialized view is transparent to SQL, but when used for query rewrites, it will improve the performance of SQL execution.

17. What languages are used in SSAS?

The languages used are:

• Structured Query Language (SQL)
• Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) – an industry standard query language orientated towards analysis
• Data Mining Extensions (DMX) – an industry standard query language oriented toward data mining
• Analysis Services Scripting Language (ASSL) – used to manage Analysis Services database objects

18. What is WriteBack? What are the pre-conditions?

The Enable/Disable WriteBack dialog box enables or disables WriteBack for a measure group in a cube. Enabling WriteBack on a measure group defines a WriteBack partition and creates a WriteBack table for that measure group. Disabling WriteBack on a measure group removes the WriteBack partition but does not delete the WriteBack table, to avoid unanticipated data loss.

19. Name the business analysis enhancements available for SSAS.

The table below shows the business intelligence enhancements that are available in Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS). The table also lists the cube or dimension to which each business intelligence enhancement applies, and indicates whether an enhancement can be applied to an object that was created without using a data source and for which no schema has been generated.

Enhancement	Type	Applied to	No data source
Time Intelligence	Cube	Cube	No
Account Intelligence	Dimension	Dimension or cube	No
Dimension Intelligence	Dimension	Dimension or cube	Yes
Custom Aggregation	Dimension	Dimension (unary operator) or cube	No
Semiadditive Behavior	Cube	Cube	Yes
Custom Member Formula	Dimension	Dimension or cube	No
Custom Sorting and Uniqueness Settings	Dimension	Dimension or cube	Yes
Dimension Writeback	Dimension	Dimension or cube	Yes

20. How do you extract first tuple from the set?

Use could usefunctionSet.Item(0)
Example:SELECT {{[Date].[Calendar].[Calendar Year].Members
}.Item(0)}
ON 0
FROM [Adventure Works]

21. If you want to create a calculated member that intersects all measures, where do you put it and why?

You would put it in a dimension other than Measures because a member in a dimension cannot intersect its own relatives in that dimension.

22. What is the use of property called non-empty behavior while creating a new calculated member in a cube?

Nonempty behavior is used for ratio calculations. An MDX expression will return an error if the denominator is empty, just as it would if the denominator were equal to zero. By selecting one or more measures for the non-empty behavior property, we’re establishing a requirement that each selected measure first be evaluated before the calculation expression is evaluated. If each selected measure is empty, then the expression is also treated as empty and no error is returned.

23. What is a RAGGED hierarchy?

Under normal circumstances, each level in a hierarchy in Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) has the same number of members above it as any other member at the same level. In a ragged hierarchy, the logical parent member of at least one member is not in the level immediately above the member. When this occurs, the hierarchy descends to different levels for different drilldown paths. Expanding through every level for every drilldown path is then unnecessarily complicated.

24. How are Cubes implemented in SSAS?

Cubes are multidimensional models that store data from one or more sources. They can also store aggregations. SSAS Cubes are created using the Cube Wizard.

25. What are the differences between TRUNCATE & DELETE clauses in SQL Server?

• TRUNCATE is a DDL (Data Definition Language) command, whereas DELETE is a DML (Data Manipulation Language) command.
• TRUNCATE removes all the records from a table without making a log entry for individual row deletions whereas DELETE removes all or selected records (based on absence or presence of a WHERE condition) from a table by making a log entry for individual row deletion. Hence TRUNCATE is faster than DELETE.
• TRUNCATE removes all the records from a table and a WHERE clause or filter condition cannot be used with TRUNCATE, whereas DELETE can remove selected records or all records based on whether a WHERE clause (Optional) is used or not used respectively.
• TRUNCATE cannot be used on a table if it satisfies one of the following conditions:

• Table is referenced by one of more FOREIGN KEY constraints
• Table is marked/enabled for replication

• TRUNCATE resets IDENTITY in any of the columns in a table, whereas DELETE does not reset the IDENTITY.

MSBI

Why Programmatic is the Future of Digital Display Advertising

Advertisers always seem to be chasing the next big thing. The current emerging trend is programmatic buying–data-based, highly targeted, automatic ad buys and placements–and marketers are starting to invest heavily. An infographic from OwnerIQ shows that programmatic is already capturing large segments of the ad market.

Marketers have already realized the power of programmatic advertising, and 96 percent of those surveyed are already using it to buy display ads. In 2015 $14.88 billion worth of U.S. ads, fully 55 percent of digital display ads, were purchased programmatically. In total, 52 percent of all non-search digital ad transactions were programmatic.

The infographic predicts that these methods could come to eclipse all others, and that 90 percent of the ad market could be steered programmatically within one decade. This year, programmatic will account for 63 percent of display ad spending, and by the end of 2017, sales are expected to increase to $32 billion. By 2020, programmatic could account for 85 percent of targeted banners and 67 percent of streaming video ads.

Ad fraud is a growing problem within the ad industry in general, and it is a cause for concern. Programmatic buying, along with due diligence, could help weed out fraud and deliver impactful ads to real viewers. Programmatic ads are viewable at a rate of 44 percent to 55 percent, in line with industry benchmarks, and the industry average for suspicious activity is only 16 percent, which is substantially lower than regular display ad fraud rates.

By Kimberlee Morrison

Nigerian Government places ban on use of unauthorised drones

Just when we are smiling over the recent adoption of drones in the African and Nigerian scene, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) – the agency regulating the aviation sector on behalf of the government — has banned the launching of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (aka drones) within the Nigerian airspace.

Before I went off on a rant about how irrational such a decision was, I took a second glance to uncover why, and discovered that the supposed ban was on dronnes launched without the permit and authority of the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA). Apparently the government has identified the recent proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the country and feel the need to control it, and more importantly ensure that they adhere to safety regulations in order not to pose a threat to security.

A statement issued by the General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, said the move was part of the safety guidelines issued by the NCAA to drone operators following the proliferation of the technology in the country.

“In recent times, RPA/UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are being deployed for commercial and recreational purposes in the country without adequate security clearance. Therefore with the preponderance of these operations, particularly in a non-segregated airspace, there has to be proactive safety guidelines.

The development of the use of RPA nationwide has emerged with somewhat predictable safety concerns and security threats. Therefore, no government agency, organisation or an individual will launch an RPA/UAV in the Nigerian airspace for any purpose whatsoever without obtaining requisite permit from the NCAA and ONSA”.

This development may have caught many by surprise, but it does look like a step in the right direction. All that remains for the government — if it is tightening every loose ends — is to ensure that the process of acquiring these permission are seamless.

Ifeanyi Ndiomewese

ICT is Solution to Nigeria’s Problems

Accenture, a leading global professional services company which provides broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations, has stated that the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the solution to the country’s numerous problems. In its viewpoint, the mirage of socio-economic and political challenges facing the nation can be addressed using ICT.

This belief was what led the Accenture team in 2008 to forge an alliance with the Nigerian Computer Science Society (NCS) Ogun State Chapter, a partnership that has seen the mentoring and knowledge exchange between then and the students for the past 8years; and has led to the partnership with the national conference of National Association of Computer Science Students’ (Nacoss).

Priority from Government

At the recently concluded 17th national conference of Nacoss at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Mr. Niyi Yusuf, country manager, Accenture, reiterated the need of the government to give priority to the development of the ICT sector.

In his paper entitled:”The Role of the Youths in Sustainable Growth of the National Development through Information Technology”, he stressed the need for synergy between government and corporate bodies in building capacity and providing opportunity for the youth in ICT.

He added that the sector has the potential to create wealth and jobs as well as tackle security challenges plaguing Nigeria. According to Yusuf, lots of challenges being faced in Nigeria today have been encountered by most advanced countries and were addressed using IT.

He said such problems as poor economic outlook; inequality, poverty, rapid urban expansion, insecurity, corruption and others were issues that little software could tackle.

Synergy

Yusuf believes that Nigerians have the potentials to solve her problems using ICT, noting that what the country requires is proper synergy between government and other bodies. “Government should move beyond the design of dormant governments’ web sites and go into digital e-governance through partnership, research with the right bodies. Through digital e-governance, government can interface with the public and provide services that somehow look very difficult,” he said.

He explained that e-governance drives accountability, transparency, equitability, responsive, consensus orientated, rule of law, and participatory which according to him are major characteristics of good governance.
Yusuf, who chronicled the notable inventions that have impacted positively on the world added, “Lots of these inventions were made by young people using technology. We are convinced that if young people outside Nigeria could create jobs and wealth using ICT, Nigerian youths if supported could equally make positive marks,” he said.

Yusuf said because of this believe, Accenture Nigeria supported the Tony Elumelu Foundation and other groups in building the capacity of youths in ICT, noting that Nigeria has bright future if the youths are fully exposed to ICT.
Accenture has also reward the most outstanding students in each ICT unit of the institutions with laptops, tablets and other IT gadgets/devices to make them work more efficiently, while some participants have enjoyed the investment of time and knowledge via the mentorship scheme to improve on their software development skills and ability to translate them into applications that can be sold for value.

Creativity

Among the inventions created by the students include ‘My Supervisor & I,’ a project management system that allows student and supervisor relationship; ‘BizExpert, an all-in-one business manager for local business organisation; ‘Near Me’, a mobile application that makes life easier and more comfortable by giving an edge in finding the closest and necessary places around with detailed information for the user and ‘Slangz’, which promotes the use of pidgin language (Wazobia) a common informal way of communicating amongst Nigerians.

Others are Traffic Offence, a web and mobile database programme that makes it possible for traffic officers to record traffic offences committed by road users with the help of the mobile app, and security surveillance software.
Also developed in the field of Agriculture was Agrosol, a platform designed to bring Nigerian farmers together and provide tips on how to manage their farms, lessons on seasons of planting and how, latest news, machinery training with video simulation, manages database for farmers (as long they register); and an information portal dubbed www.onecrier.com, which registers online and chooses users’ area of interest.

Posted By :Bworld

Your email password may have been leaked

I have some news however that I think you should take seriously for a bit... Your email password may have been leaked.

If you have an email account with Google, Yahoo, Microsoft or Mail.ru (just about everyone), then it may be time to change your password. This is because hundreds of millions of login details associated with email accounts with these providers have been circulating amongst digital criminals.

According to Reuters, Hold Security uncovered a total of 40 million Yahoo Mail, 33 million Microsoft, and almost 24 million Gmail accounts that were compromised.

Our emails have become a very important part of lives, where the password to all critical online access is sent to by simply clicking the "forgot password" link. If you don't think you should change your password, think again. And while you are at it, consider enabling two-step authentication. As they say, it is better to be safe than to be sorry :).

You may also enable two factor authentication on your email. 

How cool can it get free Wi-Fi as you travel?

In an era where Wi-Fi services are cropping up almost everywhere, it’s still not so easy to get Wi-Fi while on the go, especially on traveling buses in most part of Africa but you’ve probably used free Wi-Fi aboard a cab on your way to the airport or in a restaurant somewhere in Lagos or better still; in your hotel room (of course you’ll be paying a lot of money for rates there) but free Wi-Fi as you travel? No way had you seen that coming!

Palmplay offlineTM now onboard traveling buses in Nigeria
It is not a complimentary service for increased traveling fares by transport company owners-nope. It’s just for sheer fun, well after first time you might need to top-up your PalmplayTM account to keep enjoying access to a host of apps including game apps, education and news apps. Travelers can also stream or download videos including movies, music videos and the hottest soaps.

First you just need to spot the right bus. An inscription on the bus will tell you if you’re on the right bus or not. Once you’re onboard, flick on your Wi-Fi and connect to a whole new ecosystem of fun.
Remember the MaltinaTM free ride promo? (this was done only for Lagos passengers on BRT buses).

All passengers did is to board a BRT bus in Lagos and go their way; the malted drink brand sorted out their fares.
Now Free Wi-fi buses as you travel around Nigeria? Seriously travelers will go “social crazy” this time. These buses will give passengers a first time uninterrupted access to PalmplayTM server so they can access amazing contents free of charge on board.

If a traveler loves the content he or she gets aboard the buses and wants to keep enjoying it anytime they travel, they can purchase PalmplayTM vouchers for as low as N50. The prepaid vouchers work just the way mobile airtime credits do.

So what do you guys think? Our traveling buses have come a long way in terms of upgrade, I mean, these buses are air conditioned (not all private cars in Nigeria have working ACs) and now we’re talking about free wifi on board traveling buses courtesy of Palmchat messaging app.

http://www.guardian.ng/

Solar-powered plane to soar again on round-the-world flight

Solar Impulse 2, an experimental aircraft flying around the world to draw attention to clean energy technologies, is to take flight again on Monday, organizers said.

Pilot Andre Borschberg will take off at 12:00 GMT (5:00AM PT) taking advantage of a “clear weather window” for him to fly from the Mojave Desert to Phoenix Goodyear Airport in Arizona — an effort that should take about 16 hours, they said.

The plane has been in California for a week since crossing the Pacific to land in Mountain View. Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard piloted the craft from Hawaii to California.

Piccard, who has been alternating the long solo flights with teammate Borschberg, has handed over to his teammate who will pilot Solar Impulse across the United States and to New York.

The mission aims to promote the use of renewable energy, with an aircraft powered by 17,000 solar cells.

The plane’s wingspan is wider than that of a jumbo jet but its weight is roughly the same as a family car.

Solar Impulse 2 was grounded in July last year when its batteries suffered problems halfway through its 21,700-mile (35,000-kilometer) circumnavigation.

The crew took several months to repair the damage from high tropical temperatures during the first Pacific stage, a 4,000-mile flight between Japan and Hawaii.

The aircraft was flown on that leg by Borschberg, whose 118-hour journey smashed the previous record of 76 hours and 45 minutes set by US adventurer Steve Fossett in 2006.

Born in Zurich, Borschberg is no stranger to adventure — 15 years ago he narrowly escaped an avalanche, and then in 2013 he was involved in a helicopter crash that left him with minor injuries.

The 63-year-old took catnaps of only 20 minutes at a time to maintain control of the pioneering plane during his arduous flight from Japan, in what his team described as “difficult” conditions.

The Pacific crossing was the most dangerous due to a lack of landing sites in the event of an emergency.

The solar-powered plane, which stores energy in batteries for when the sun is not shining, will stop in New York before a transatlantic flight to Europe. From there the pilots plan to make their way back to the point of departure in Abu Dhabi.

By AFP

5 Tech Trends that Could Supercharge Education in 2016

The technologies of tomorrow are already being tested in select classrooms today, laying the seeds for the future of how students could learn. With 2016 fast approaching, technology analysts have been busy prognosticating the top technology trends. A few of these technologies have already made headway into education, and others are poised for mass distribution, with the promise of ground-shaking change in their wake.

We’ve reviewed a few of these trends through the lens of how they could affect classrooms in both K–12 and higher education.

Virtual Reality (VR) Adds New Dimension to Learning

VR is shaping up to be one of the largest technology turf wars of 2016. Several global companies have staked millions of dollars developing their brand of the technology, includingGoogle, Samsung, HTC, Sony and the Facebook-backed Oculus. And in 2016 many of these iterations of the VR craze are set to go to market.

At ISTE 2015, representatives of Google Cardboard and Samsung's Gear VR were on hand to demonstrate how the technology could change how students learn. VR even stole the show during journalist Soledad O’Brien’s keynote, in which she said the technology allows students to test the waters of different careers — educational experiences that could alter the trajectory of their studies and their lives.

The immersive power of this technology has also caught the eye of Jon Phillips, managing director of strategy for worldwide education at Dell. Phillips tells EdTech that experiential learning can teach complex problems in a different way than traditional education methods of today.

“I think as we head into the next year, we're going to see more grassroots approaches to bringing technologies like that into the classroom, allowing students to learn experientially,” says Phillips.

Google is already on the case. Its Expeditions Pioneer program is bringing smartphone-powered Google Cardboard devices to classrooms across the country as a way to introduce students to VR technology. Google product manager Ben Schrom told EdTech that Expeditions is about a social VR experience, instead of one where each user is confined to his own virtual world.

3D Printing’s Audience on Track for Growth

3D printers have already broken through in education, helping students bring their ideas to life or put their hands on concepts that previously lived only in textbooks. But 2016 could prove to be a transformative year for the technology as the devices become more affordable and the barrier to entry continues to drop.

EdTech spoke with Jordan Brehove, MakerBot’s vice president of solutions, who explains that the power of 3D printing in education isn’t merely replicating ideas but creating new ones.

“There is an inflection point that people get when they start to print because people go out onto Thingiverse, a repository of 3D files, and they print and they print and they print, but there is a certain moment when they realize, ‘I don’t need something that exists, I want something that doesn’t yet exist.’ It’s just a complete paradigm shift,” he says.

The support is certainly there. A community of tinkerers, programmers and students are fostering makerspaces — local labs armed with 3D printers and fabrication tools  — across the country. Spaces like these are urging learners to develop new engineering skills that could become the bedrock for an industry that’s still being pioneered. 

Internet of Things Finds Its Place (IoT)

The number of connected technologies we use each day continues to multiply, and unlessMoore’s Law is disproved, they will continue to shrink, unlocking new uses for connectivity, changing how our lives are networked with technology.

For a glimpse at the future, look no further than how companies are gearing up to invest in the IoT. International Data Corp. projects that IoT spending will leap from the $655.8 billion seen in 2014 to $1.7 trillion in 2020, the same year that Gartner Inc. predicts 26 billion devices will be connected to the Internet.

Today, the IoT applications for education are still being explored, with some classroomsdabbling in gesture-based controls feeding data to Internet-connected devices. But the potential for the technology looms across a variety of applications, according to Andrés Cardenal, writing for The Motley Fool.

The technology also got a mention in IT research and advisory firm Gartner’s list of 10 strategic technology trends of 2016, in its entry on “device mesh,” the big-picture view of how our devices interact, creating a new picture of our lives through the data these devices collect.

“In the postmobile world the focus shifts to the mobile user who is surrounded by a mesh of devices extending well beyond traditional mobile devices,” according to Gartner Vice President David Cearley.

Wearables Court Mainstream Status

The current star of the Internet of Things concept, wearable technology, still has a lot to prove to educators. Analysts at New Media Consortium (NMC) predict it will be widespread in classrooms in about four years, but there are already examples of the technology making waves in education.

“Indeed, wearable technology has been pushing the boundaries of what students are able to create — even spurring wearable-themed school events and contests,” according to NMC’s 2015 report.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory hosted a wearable-themed workshop as an interactive way of introducing mechanical design and electrical engineering to high school girls, the NMC report states.

In 2015, UNICEF launched Kid Power, a fitness program that tracked the steps of about 10,000 students while they wore fitness bands. Participants accrued points for walking, which were then converted into monetary donations to purchase food packets for malnourished children.

“Wearables not only assist students, but also offer many benefits to educators. From pinging students’ GPS locations during a field trip to recording point-of-view lessons, teachers have more options to monitor and engage with students. And this engagement can also translate to communication between educators, giving them more options for collaboration,” according to the K-12 Tech Decisions blog.

Tech Gets Smarter, Becomes More Interactive

As engineers refine machine-learning techniques, the tasks that devices can perform are becoming more sophisticated; indeed, these gadgets are on the cusp of becoming true thinking machines. At the same time, this sophistication allows smaller devices to do extraordinary things. In the coming year, a few innovations are on the horizon that could change the traditional role of technology in education.

IBM’s cognitive-computing platform, Watson, has recently been used to revolutionize how higher education research is conducted. The results of AI-enhanced research methods can already be seen. In 2014, the company released the Watson Discovery Advisor, tailoring Watson's unique abilities to aid researchers struggling to parse mountains of data.

Other analysts see robotics serving a more hands-on role in the classroom. Constance Smith of Frog, a design firm, says robotic toys are capable of changing how special-education students learn in the classroom.

“In the future, we’ll see a rise in robotic toys that serve counselors and playmates to children with various learning disabilities like Autism. Studies have shown that AI toys are extremely effective in getting withdrawn ASD kids in engaging in personal, playful interactions. Special Education departments will soon have whole classrooms of intelligent toys to play with,” Smith writes.

Meanwhile, connected devices like the programmable robot Sphero are already working well in the classroom, reports K-12 educator Sam Patterson. It just takes the right lesson plan to unlock their potential, he says.

“There are hundreds of other great ways to use these robots to support student learning. My advice is get one and put it into the hands of students — see what they can do. Build challenges and celebrate failure. Learning can be hard but fun, and these robots make integration easy,”Patterson writes in an EdTech blog. 

byD. Frank Smith