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IoT 01 Curriculum for Beginners

Microsoft Azure Cloud is excited to present a comprehensive 12-week, 24-lesson curriculum focused on IoT fundamentals. Each lesson features pre- and post-lesson quizzes, detailed instructions, solutions, assignments, and more. Our project-based approach ensures that you learn effectively by building practical projects, which is a proven method for skill retention.

The curriculum explores the journey of food from farm to table, covering farming, logistics, manufacturing, retail, and consumer sectors—all key areas for IoT applications.

A road map for the course showing 24 lessons covering intro, farming, transport, processing, retail and cooking

Pedagogy

Our curriculum is built on two key pedagogical principles: project-based learning and frequent quizzes. By the end of this series, students will have created a plant monitoring and watering system, a vehicle tracker, a smart factory setup for food tracking, and a voice-controlled cooking timer. They will also gain foundational knowledge of the Internet of Things, including device coding, cloud connectivity, telemetry analysis, and edge AI.

Aligning content with projects makes the learning process more engaging and enhances concept retention.

Low-stakes quizzes before each class set the stage for learning, while post-class quizzes reinforce retention. This flexible and enjoyable curriculum can be completed in full or in part, with projects increasing in complexity over the 12-week period.

Each project uses real-world hardware accessible to students and hobbyists, providing relevant background knowledge. Understanding the domain in which you solve problems is crucial for successful development. This background knowledge helps students contextualize their IoT solutions and appreciate the end user.

Hardware

We offer two IoT hardware options based on personal preference, programming language knowledge, learning goals, and availability. A 'virtual hardware' version is also available for those without access to physical hardware or who want to learn more before purchasing. Visit the hardware page for a 'shopping list' and links to buy complete kits from Seeed Studio.

Each lesson includes:

  • Sketchnote
  • Optional supplemental video
  • Pre-lesson warmup quiz
  • Written lesson
  • Step-by-step guides for project-based lessons
  • Knowledge checks
  • A challenge
  • Supplemental reading
  • Assignment
  • Post-lesson quiz

A note about quizzes: All quizzes are available in this app, featuring 48 quizzes with three questions each. They are linked within the lessons, but the quiz app can also be run locally; follow the instructions in the quiz-app folder. Localization is in progress.

Lessons

Project NameConcepts TaughtLearning ObjectivesLinked Lesson
01Getting startedIntroduction to IoTLearn the basic principles of IoT and the fundamental building blocks of IoT solutions, such as sensors and cloud services, while setting up your first IoT deviceIntroduction to IoT
02Getting startedA deeper dive into IoTExplore the components of an IoT system, including microcontrollers and single-board computersA deeper dive into IoT
03Getting startedInteract with the physical world with sensors and actuatorsDiscover how sensors gather data from the physical world and how actuators provide feedback while building a nightlightInteract with the physical world with sensors and actuators
04Getting startedConnect your device to the InternetLearn to connect an IoT device to the Internet to send and receive messages by linking your nightlight to an MQTT brokerConnect your device to the Internet
05FarmPredict plant growthUse temperature data captured by an IoT device to predict plant growthPredict plant growth
06FarmDetect soil moistureLearn to detect soil moisture and calibrate a soil moisture sensorDetect soil moisture
07FarmAutomated plant wateringAutomate and time watering using a relay and MQTTAutomated plant watering
08FarmMigrate your plant to the cloudExplore cloud-hosted IoT services and learn to connect your plant to one instead of a public MQTT brokerMigrate your plant to the cloud
09FarmMigrate your application logic to the cloudLearn to write application logic in the cloud that responds to IoT messagesMigrate your application logic to the cloud
10FarmKeep your plant secureUnderstand IoT security and how to protect your plant with keys and certificatesKeep your plant secure
11TransportLocation trackingLearn about GPS location tracking for IoT devicesLocation tracking
12TransportStore location dataDiscover how to store IoT data for future visualization or analysisStore location data
13TransportVisualize location dataLearn to visualize location data on a map and understand how maps represent the 3D world in 2DVisualize location data
14TransportGeofencesExplore geofences and how they can alert when vehicles in the supply chain approach their destinationGeofences
15ManufacturingTrain a fruit quality detectorLearn to train an image classifier in the cloud to detect fruit qualityTrain a fruit quality detector
16ManufacturingCheck fruit quality from an IoT deviceUse your fruit quality detector from an IoT deviceCheck fruit quality from an IoT device
17ManufacturingRun your fruit detector on the edgeLearn to run your fruit detector on an IoT device at the edgeRun your fruit detector on the edge
18ManufacturingTrigger fruit quality detection from a sensorDiscover how to trigger fruit quality detection from a sensorTrigger fruit quality detection from a sensor
19RetailTrain a stock detectorUse object detection to train a stock detector to count inventory in a shopTrain a stock detector
20RetailCheck stock from an IoT deviceLearn to check stock from an IoT device using an object detection modelCheck stock from an IoT device
21ConsumerRecognize speech with an IoT deviceLearn to recognize speech from an IoT device to build a smart timerRecognize speech with an IoT device
22ConsumerUnderstand languageDiscover how to understand sentences spoken to an IoT deviceUnderstand language
23ConsumerSet a timer and provide spoken feedbackLearn to set a timer on an IoT device and provide spoken feedback on the timer's statusSet a timer and provide spoken feedback
24ConsumerSupport multiple languagesLearn to support multiple languages for both input and output on your smart timerSupport multiple languages