Abstract:

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (the 4IR) will have a continuing impact on our daily lives. Currently, the depth and breadth of the 4IR are unknown quantities. However, what is known is that all stakeholders, including academia, need to work together to “shape the future” (Schwab, 2016). It is therefore incumbent on Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) to re-think, re-imagine, and re-create the manner in which teaching and learning is conducted.

The South Africa President established a commission to make recommendations on how South Africa would respond to the 4IR in 2018. In 2020, the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (PC4IR) published its recommendations. One of the aspects highlighted was the role of HEIs to respond to the 4IR. In particular, the need for graduates to be familiar with and be able to use the 4IR disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) was highlighted.

The University of Zululand’s (the Univesity) strategic plan (2022-2027) provides for, inter alia, a digitally-enable smart university (goal 2) and fosatering transformative and critical pedagogies for teaching and learning (goal 3). The latter ties in with the former, requiring strong digital capacities. Margaret Archer’s social theory of structure, culture and agency will be used to examine the level of the digital transformation process at the Univerrsity bearing goals 2 and 3 in mind.

This paper will reflect on the impact of the 4IR on higher education and the role that HEIs in South Africa need to play to ensure that their graduates are prepared for working in the 4IR workplace. This will be done by reviewing publications in the field of teaching and learning in the 4IR at HEIs. Recommendations will be made regarding the manner in which HEIs in South Africa need to respond in order to remain relevant in the era of the 4IR.

Keywords:

Artificial intelligence, Fourth Industrial Revolution, South African Higher Education Institutes, teaching and learning.