Education 4.0 – are we ready for it? | Dr Solomon David | TEDxTheBritishUniversityInDubai

Once, I was on a train journey with my family. As the train was going through a tunnel, with the sudden absence of the daylight, children became anxious and afraid. Wait a minute, only children are afraid? No, most of the grown-ups are afraid too, isn't it? Think of the last time you were afraid of something. Is there any brave one here who is not afraid of anything? Boom! Did I scare you enough? Not enough. How about some snakes, king cobras? Just kidding. Well, as we were going through the tunnel, darkness around, children became anxious and afraid. To divert their attention from fear and to keep them busy, I began to tell them a story. As they got involved in the story, the journey became enjoyable. Part of the reasons for their fear was the lack of light and the uncertainty around, and the fear of what's going to happen next, which is the fear of future. Is there anyone who is not afraid of your future? We are all afraid of our future, right, as this is unclear for most of us. The fear of future otherwise is known as the anticipatory anxiety, as we anticipate it. This is a kind of an anxiety which means, what if? Like what if I die tomorrow? What if I lose something? What if I fail? So the fear of future is the fear of uncertainty, the fear of unknown, the fear of unexpected. Indeed, we live in a world that is full of changes, and the changes are often quick, right? So the big question for all of us, how do we really deal with these changes and the uncertainty around it? Most educators are not sure whether they are able to prepare the young people to face their future with courage and confidence. And parents are worried about the future of their children, as it is unclear. The big question here is that, how best can we develop our young people to face their future with courage and confidence? Is our current educational system equipped to do so? These and other similar questions triggered me to speak about forward learning curriculum and instruction for education 4.0, which I consider as the panacea for the future of education. Are we ready for the future of education? Are we ready for education 4.0? First I met a friend of mine who is a human resource development officer in a leading IT company, who shared his disappointment about education and young graduates. He argued that educational institutions continue to behave as ivory towers, often failing to catch up at the speed the job market and the world outside is changing. The reasons for his disappointment are the use of outdated curriculum, boring traditional teaching methods, and the lack of focus on employable skills. Well, this particular experience made me realize the relevance of forward learning curriculum and instruction, as this will take us forward. While reflecting about the forward learning curriculum and instruction, one should understand the changing nature of the job market, the macroeconomic global impacts, the sociopolitical dynamics influencing society, the technological and scientific advancement that is changing and shaping our future and the very moment we live now. In fact, we are at the threshold of the fourth industrial revolution. The fourth industrial revolution is expected to alter the way we live, work, and relate with one another. And the fourth industrial revolution is going to change and challenge and disrupt every industry in every country. We like it or not, this is shaping our future. And this is shaping the future of education. Well, the optimists of the fourth industrial revolution are excited about the opportunities out there, while the skeptics are cautioning the potential risks. The biggest fear of the fourth industrial revolution is that millions of today's jobs are expected to be lost due to the use of artificial intelligence and robotics. Well, this was the case with previous industrial revolutions as well. How many of us are aware that thousands of telephone operators around the world lost their jobs when the telephone calls were automated? Are we aware that 30% of today's tasks in the world are done by machines, which will increase to 50% by 2030 to 2040, meaning machines replacing manpower, meaning 50% of people will lose their jobs? Well, the pandemic has already given a big lead for this, with tech giants dominating economic advancements, with tech giants becoming billionaires. Well, the point here is that the future is not easy in these conditions. So people have to equip themselves. Universities have to support students to develop them for the future jobs and the future skills. So therefore, there is a clear calling for education to reskill and upskill the young graduates to catch up with the needs of the future job market. And that gives me a clear conviction on the need and relevance for the forward learning curriculum and instruction, which will help us to deal with this effectively. Education 4.0 is mainly focusing in taking this forward with all the advanced required skills for the future job market for our young people, to face it without fear. It is argued that if necessary attention and innovation is not given to – given in curriculum and instruction, there will be a huge gap between jobs, job markets, and educational sector. So we need to actually find better ways to develop our educational system that will support our young people. And therefore, forward learning curriculum and instruction is the only way forward, as this is going to help us to move forward. Now the big question, how do we do this? Right, let me now take you through forward learning curriculum and instruction for education 4.0. It mainly expects us to shed some of our old habits and embrace futuristic approaches with advanced research, theories, practices, and methods. Well, to keep it simple, let me break down forward learning curriculum and instruction into three simple steps. The first is designing, the second is delivering, and the third is evaluating and assessing forward learning curriculum. Well, the design has to be in a semi-structured manner, which means 50% of their foundational knowledge can be structured, while the other 50% can remain open for everyone to have space, particularly for curriculum designers, educators, and students to engage in contextual, applied, and futuristic knowledge and skills pursuit. Well, forward learning curriculum and instruction is a huge field, and it's relatively very new and tapped, so it's very difficult to capture everything in full sense in a short note such as this. Therefore, I'd like to focus on one significant approach, which I call the Swiss Army Knife approach. Have you seen a Swiss Army Knife, which has multiple tools in it, right? So imagine if the future is going to pose us a lot of problems, multiple problems, let's better deal with it using multiple tools, such as the Swiss Army Knife approach. So forward learning curriculum is one such approach, which I consider as a Swiss Army Knife approach. And this is going to, in fact, support our young people to catch up with what's needed in the future, especially this is going to help them to develop multidimensional intelligence and multidimensional futuristic skills and knowledge. Great. There is clear fear for everyone about the future. We all know that. So what? Let's face it, right, instead of fearing for it. Well, once there was a naive man called Mr. Anticipatory Anxiety. This Mr. Anticipatory Anxiety was always worried about his future, and he decided to seek the help of a foreteller. The fortune teller looked into the positions of all the stars, the numbers, the dark, deep secrets, and advised Mr. Anticipatory Anxiety that he has unknown dangers. So he told him to be extremely cautious of doing everything. Hearing this world's greatest advice, our good friend Mr. Anticipatory Anxiety decided to do nothing and stay home, safe, hoping that his house is safe for him. Alas, one day, for unknown reasons, the roof of his house fell on his head to end his life. So life is never safe for anyone, at any time, anywhere. So why worry? Let's live life happily, right? Great. As I concluded the story, while we were continuing at our train journey, the train crossed the tunnel, and the children saw the light again. They became happy and cheerful. This experience particularly made them realize that the tunnel is just a part of a long journey. The darkness, the uncertainty, and the unknown are packaged with it, yet they are reminded that there is light at the end of the tunnel. There is light at the end of the tunnel. In the ancient Indian tradition, there was a spiritual belief of the third eye. The third eye is an imaginary metaphysical eye, visualized in the middle of the forehead, symbolizing the state of enlightenment, giving higher consciousness, offering the ability to see and do things that we can't see and do with our two physical naked eyes. When the third eye is awakened, we perceive super-sensory, super-intuitive experiences. When the third eye is awakened, our negativity, pessimism, confusion disappear, and we perceive reality with clarity, gratitude, and positivity. I hope the Forward Learning Curriculum and Instruction is the third eye that we need to awaken, which will help us to envisage the future of learning and opportunity. And I hope the Forward Learning Curriculum and Instruction will be the beacon of hope for our young people to face their future with courage and confidence. Now tell me, are you ready for the future of education? Are you ready for the Education 4.0? Thank you.