THE REALITY OF 4TH INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY ON HIGHER EDUCATION LEARNING

Abstract

The fourth industrial technology describes a world where the use of digital technology is ubiquitous in all spheres of human life. The higher education sector has faced its challenges in terms of transformation impact, which seems to be a two edged sword. on one hand, as the faculty is struggling on how best to maintain quality of education with the demand to adopt and use technology in class. On the other hand, students seem to struggle in concentration if the faculty does not give due attention to them whether on online or blended learning. This knowledge gap needed an address, not to jeopardize higher education learning in bid to attain the fourth industrial technology. The purpose of the paper was to evaluate the reality of the fourth industrial technology on higher education learning with the objective  to identify the major realities of the technology, and explore those realities on higher education learning. The foundation of the paper was based on technological singularity theory that anticipated the evolvement of artificial intelligence. Qualitative research approach with multi-stage sampling was conducted and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Times series experiential data employed in 2003-2023 and 2016-2023 systematic non-random review. The findings showed that there are three technological trends of physical, digital and biological are becoming a reality. Artificial intelligence was found to be unlike any other technology but not a fundamental competitor. Further, fourth industrial technologies that enhance learning. In conclusion, higher education learning is the stimuli and an incubator of the fourth industrial technology. Therefore, the paper contributes to knowledge, with suggested ways that could be useful to policy makers, governing councils, faculty and students to harness the fourth industrial technology.