Pengembangan Keterampilan Digital melalui Edukasi Teknologi IoT Berbasis ESP32 bagi Siswa SMK AKP Beringin Lubuk Pakam

The development of Internet of Things (IoT) technology requires Vocational High School (SMK) students to possess technical skills relevant to workforce needs, particularly in microcontroller programming and electronic device control. However, most students at SMK AKP Beringin Lubuk Pakam, especially from the Motorcycle Engineering (TSM) and Computer and Network Engineering (TKJ) programs, remained limited to basic theoretical understanding of microcontrollers and lacked hands-on experience in real IoT projects. This community service activity aimed to develop students' digital skills through education on ESP32-based IoT technology. The activity was carried out as a one-day workshop using a Project-Based Learning (PjBL) approach, involving 20 students (7 from TSM and 13 from TKJ) at SMK AKP Lubuk Pakam on 4 August 2026. The stages included delivery of basic IoT and ESP32 concepts, hands-on assembly and programming practice using the Arduino IDE, and an interactive discussion session. Improvement in participants' understanding was measured through a pretest and posttest. The evaluation results showed an increase in the average score from 52.0 (pretest) to 82.5 (posttest), a relative improvement of 58.7%. All participants successfully installed the Arduino IDE, wrote basic programs, and assembled and tested simple sensors and actuators. These findings indicate that a hands-on, project-based learning approach effectively improves the technical IoT skills of vocational students within a relatively short period, while also opening opportunities for program continuity through school-based robotics/electronics extracurricular activities.