How will Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) benefit or advance our praxis, research and curricula exponentially?

Hi Micheal!

Good question. First, I think it is not only the 4th industrial revolution that is going to form the future of education, but it is also the whole information society that needs and shapes new normalities of education. But education often works as a conservative force (slow to change when society changes), even if education can be used also for radical change.

I am influenced by professor Luciano Floridi and his Philosophy and Ethics of Information. A good book for introduction into his thinking is "The fourth revolution - how the infosphere is transforming human reality". When it comes to education he argues that the most important question may not be the "How?" of education (blended-distance-f2f, MOOCs etc) but the "What?" and "What for?" of education. The "what" is the curricular question - what to learn? We must discuss this radically. Floridi's very general direction of answer to this is to learn "the languages of information" - all from human languages to concepts in knowledge disciplines to programming and mashups. But we must also answer the "What for?" of education - which is even trickier.

On the "How" of education which all educators are interested in - general conclusions can possibly be drawn from his philosophy. By the way - he talks not about e-learning or e-education but e-ducation - the technology is already a part of education and has been so for ages. He says that ICTs are not new and not only digital (also writing, print, video are ICTs, etc). These old ICTs mainly reduces the friction of information - and so does presently most of the Internet technology we today use for teaching and learning. Information friction has become close to zero, which provides easy access to information and instant communication and warping of both time and place. But that is not what digital ICTs are uniquely good at! The really new with the digital ICTs is that they can process information by themselves, besides human brains - and communicate between ICTs and also with humans. No monster to be afraid of though. This development has hardly started in education. So next step in teaching/learning is then easy to foresee - Learning analytics and adaptive learning and similar ICTs, who can personalise education, adapt courses to student for optimal flow in learning. Then mastery learning becomes prioritised over time - and most what we know about school organisation and scheduling becomes very different when people learning at different pace. Social learning has also to be reconstructed. That is only the start...

Micheal M Van Wyk

Anders

Yes, you are correct the "how" and "what for" will drive education in the 4IR. Thank you for your valuable input in this regard. I found at my university most academics still thinking in 3IR. some refused to move a inch in reimaging their praxis.

Stephen I. Ternyik

Cognition (artificial and natural), cognitive science and learning processes (autopoeisis) will be paramount; professions and disciplines will face a full cognitive shift (data---information---knowledge---wisdom as a learning circuit).

Diana Carl

Ubiquitous computing has the potential for greatly changing three parts, and perhaps a fourth in learning and information use.

Analysis of learning needs: Learning must now be viewed as occurring anywhere, not just in a closed classroom/lab/closed-off computer screen. It can take place in any context. It now requires the analysis of training needs to consider the various contexts in which the learning can be accessed and used. The interaction of the learning with the device, sensors, parts of the context, and changing parts of the context become more important to consider in the analysis. Indeed, to not consider contextual factors may be to put the safety of the learner and others at risk.

Design/ delivery: Sensors communicating with devices can provide learners with a rich experience. The question arises as to what sensor data can be acquired when and how it can provide an effective (perhaps enriched) learning experience. Prime considerations are a. what information is available to the learner, b. in what form, c. when the information should be available, d. how the information should change as the context changes, and e. how the data , updating, and display fit the learner's mental model. Also: Is the information provided central to the desired learning? Is there a need for the device to engage in resource discovery of relevant items/persons/experiences in the context that can be of use in the learning process? Should the device provide augmentation: information that may not directly be important but may be of use to those who want to pursue further information?

Evaluation: the metadata and frequency of metadata updates to a database give learning providers with an almost instantaneous picture of what is happening to the learner or to a learner population at ANY point in time. We can be engaged in a continuous formative evaluation if the metadata structure is well-planned. Evaluators can engage in the design/delivery process by identifying what data should be routinely collected and how the data will be used to evaluate both individual and group learning. There could be a tendency to "jump-the-gun" with examination of metadata, perhaps taking a revision action based on an poor sampling. Evaluators may be well served by identifying the parameters that should govern their data acquisition, analysis, and formative efforts.

For adults who perform jobs, the learning can be available when and where they perform. The question arises as to the utility of the learning as a person performs. Does the learning help the performer be effective? Or, does the learning add time, effort , and risk to the task? The question is raised: "How can the learning materials available via a device be modified to help the performer do a better job?"

It may be worth looking at this paper which covers many of the points above: Article An Examination of Context in the Age of Ubiquitous Mobile Computing

A corresponding workshop on planning has been developed with a workbook with exercises.

Fred Amonya

Let us think beyond the diffusion of information using technology. Think of the market of education. The market has undermined the traditional discipline of scholarly instruction. Students are clients. They assess their teachers. To teach well is to deliver a product (graduates) of high demand in the labour market. That is a pervasion of scholarship. The finality of knowledge is being lost. The view of knowledge as an end in itself is being lost. How will 4IR influence that disturbing trend?

Ulana Plawuszczak Pidzamecky

"We are now in the midst of the 4th industrial revolution - but rather than a single game changing technology this will be a melding of many new innovations. So, the question will be, not how how your industry or company can forge ahead of the others, but how well you can understand and collaborate with others to make a better world. The HCL 2030 conference in Davos this month aims to explore just that...." - from page of David W. Sime -

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidsime_we-are-now-in-the-midst-of-the-4th-industrial-ugcPost-6622411422888415232-qJZV

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