Awareness and utilisation of IoT tools for personalised learning among undergraduates at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined undergraduates' awareness and utilisation of Internet of Things (IoT) tools for personalised learning across selected faculties at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The study employed a descriptive research design incorporating quantitative and qualitative approaches. A structured questionnaire was administered to 317 students, of whom 284 returned usable responses, and the data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings reveal that while awareness of IoT tools is relatively widespread, students' understanding of IoT is largely conceptualised within general digital technology rather than as a network of interconnected, data-driven systems. Students mostly engage with IoT-enabled devices such as smartphones, connected learning platforms, and cloud applications, while advanced IoT systems like wearable sensors and adaptive learning environments are rarely used due to limited exposure and cost. Multivariate analysis showed that motivation, habit and experience, performance expectancy and facilitating conditions each predicted utilisation, whereas awareness was predicted only by habit and experience, performance expectancy and faculty affiliation. However, the self-reported nature of the data suggests possible response bias, as respondents' perceived familiarity may not reflect technical IoT literacy. The study concludes that there is a conceptual gap between awareness of digital tools and understanding of IoT ecosystems that enable machine-to-machine interaction and automated learning feedback.