Page 42 - Waterfall Issue 8 2021

Waterfall Advertorial

THE FoURTH inDUsTRiAL

REVoLUTion AnD THE

RoLE oF EDUCATion

By Mark Heidmann

Imagine a world where, through technology,
nobody need be blind or bound to a

wheelchair. Good schools need to be
looking ahead and already augmenting their

curriculum and preparing our next generation
for the roles which they are to assume.

i This impact on the world of work should be addressed
regularly hear that the Fourth Industrial Revolution
is about robots and ‘they are going to take over the
via education. How are our schools adapting?
world’. It is not true. We have embarked on a journey
that is going to change mankind. This change is Our schools must prepare our next generation for a new,
no different to the previous industrial revolutions. clichéd, unknown world. visionary schools have long included
coding and robotics into their curricula, but whilst these
The concept of the 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution) prepare for the transition phase of the present generation,
was coined by Klaus Schwab in 2015. He proposed that it is going to be a very different skillset that will be required
there were three periods in recent history where change closer to the Singularity, which is expected within the next
directed our society and economy. These were marked 20 years. There are rudimentary algorithms that can detect
by specific catalysts: for the First Industrial Revolution cancer in a body faster than we can. There are current
this was steam power; the Second Industrial Revolution systems that can search case law and cross-reference at a
was driven by electricity and mass production; the rate thousands of times faster than a team of lawyers.
Third Industrial Revolution (Information Revolution)
was marked by the integrated circuit. Many of us have Whilst technology can already perform these tasks faster,
lived through this last period as devices shrunk from what AI cannot do is engage with people. It is the doctor
room-sized ‘computers’ to the current mobile device. who has to engage with the ill patient. Our education system
must prepare our learners. These include the 21st Century
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is not about a single skills of communication, critical thinking, creativity and
technology. It is a combination: robotics, artificial collaboration. Added to these is a sense of community,
intelligence (AI) and biotechnology – and their integration a true sense of Ubuntu, as well as teaching ethics.
in our society and economy. This is the critical factor – it
is not about robotics or AI, it is about people and how There is no doubt that the in-demand jobs in the next two
our lives are being impacted by the latest technology. decades will change and the world that we face could be exciting.

unlike the earlier occasions where blue-collar workers Mark Heidmann is an international guest and keynote
were affected, this time AI is directly impacting speaker on topics that cover the future of education.
professions like medicine, law, accounting and IT. He is also the Executive Head of Curro Waterfall.

40 Waterfall Issue 8 2021