Industry 4.0 and Education 4.0: What are they?

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The first time I heard the terms Industry 4.0 was when I attended the National Science and Technology Week in July 2017 at the World Trade Center in Manila. The resource speaker walked us through the various revolutions in history that gave rise to our modern society. All that I understood was that the degree of automation increased with time, highlighted by a dominant technology per era, giving rise to industry 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and Industry 4.0.

In the national convention of the Philippine Association of Research Managers (PHILARM) that I attended in Cebu last year, one of our speakers introduced us to a rather easy-recall term, FIRE for the 'fourth industrial revolution.'

Early this year, I was invited by the researchers from the Philippine Normal University on a workshop about their national CHED funded research project on Technological Pedagogical Assessment Content Knowledge (TPACK) in the fields of science, technology, engineering, agriculture and mathematics (STEAM). One of the discussants just arrived from an international conference, and it was there where I encountered the word Education 4.0 and my favorite flavor in my class discussions today, Teacher 4.0.

But basically, how does one relate to the other?

From Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0

In 2011, the German government introduced the term “Industry 4.0” to indicate the potential fourth industrial revolution (see illustration).


Industry 1.0 was a complete agrarian society, with less machinery, such as, weaving tools, and simple basic steam engine. In this era, work was shared among laborers on the basis of physical fitness and capability. Industry 2.0 was about the industrial revolution that ushered the use of energy resources like oil, electricity and solar steam engine. Industry 3.0 was the globalization era marked by the birth of information technology which creates a borderless world with premium on specialized skills in producing a variety of products. Industry 4.0 is the virtual world connecting with the cyber world, blending into a world of reality. It is an era of creating innovative knowledge and of innovations that integrates with knowledge. 

When I was still in the graduate school, our professor assigned us to read the article, 'The Saber-Tooth Curriculum.' A question was posed, "What drives the curriculum to change?" In the article, the community leaders and the people were polarized as to what should be the goal of their rural school. Will they continue to develop their kids' hunting skills because according to the elders that was the very foundation of their culture? A legacy of their ancestors? Or will they start developing new skills, as clamored by the community people, because there were no more wild animals to hunt?

Why Education 4.0?

As we can see, our education is heavily influenced by our economy. For instance, Education 1.0 was named so as a response to the need of the agricultural society. The knowledge was transferred from the teacher to the learner, using the concepts. The learner followed the teacher who focused on explanation as the main method. 

Education 2.0 responded to the requirement of the industrial society with the concept of teaching to learn rather than being creative. Learning how to use the tools in the workplace was the focus. Education in this era was about mass production. Graduates had similar qualifications. Educational institution was like an industrial plant, the student was as the product, the curriculum was as a specification of the product, the exam was as a control of quality, certificate or the diploma was like a guarantee paper and the educational institution is like a brand of the product. 

Education 3.0 addressed the need of the ‘technology society’. It creates knowledge by supporting self learning. Education in this era uses learning technology in forms of teaching materials, digital media and social media. It focused on interactive learning which empowered students to generate knowledge, not merely to consume. 

Education 4.0 is catering to the need of the society in an ‘innovative era'. It develops the learners' abilities to apply the new technology according to the changes in society. The learning management of this era is new; one that develops lifelong learning skills, not just to know how to read and write but one that enables them to live in a society and to be equipped with the best of their abilities. Therefore, Education 4.0 will be more than just an education.

How will the teachers then translate Education 4.0 in their respective classrooms? This is very challenging indeed and this will be my topic in the next blog.

Meanwhile, I just received an e-mail from a training provider and it's about CYBERGOGY! There is no stopping indeed for technology in reshaping our educational landscape in a way we have never imagined! 

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