Education 5.0: Rehumanising Education in the Age of Machines

The world becomes increasingly dominated by technology and so does education. Many schools - even the primary ones - are rushing into a ‘dehumanised’ version of education. It implies minimised human-to-human interactions and increasingly more decision-making power shifting from humans to technology. While this may be a vital short-term solution, can we even comprehend the impact this will have on us humans in the longer term? It is time to get the situation back under control. Instead of acting reactively and just going with the (tech) flow, we need to have a clear vision for future-proof education. We need to look far beyond technology and bring humans back to the center of the educational process.

What is the problem?

The potential of technology-enabled learning is immense. Today, with the help of technology, we can organise education in ways that were hardly imaginable even a few years ago. It comes with many benefits such as cost-effectiveness, better reach, scalability, flexibility etc. Technology is a great tool for education. Yes, this is what it is. It is a tool among other possible tools, and, as any tool, it can be applied both in the ‘right’ and the ‘wrong’ ways. For example, digitisation of outdated content and ineffective approaches is not a solution. Furthermore, some of the non-digital approaches that currently prove to be effective may lose their effectiveness in a digitised form (PwC Position Paper 2020). If applied wrongly, this tool may thus do more harm than good, so we better do it right.

Artificial Intelligence, robotics, automation, Big Data and other tech developments were already essentially and promptly reshaping modern education, when COVID-19 hit the world. The latter forced educational institutions of all kinds to plunge into full digitalisation almost literally overnight (here, I want to express my deepest respect for the hard work to all educators, supporting structures, parents and learners who found themselves in the middle of this educational reset; this is anything but easy). This rapid transformation has been happening with varying success, with all the corresponding implications for quality and learners’ performance, let alone their motivation, and physical and emotional wellbeing. Its impact stretches across all age groups and is yet to be measured. It is, however, reasonable to expect that children and young adults were hit the hardest. Many signals indicate that this is not the ‘right’ way for future-proof education. Lockdown measures for educational institutions clearly showed the value of human contact in learning, particularly in the early phases of education.

What to do now?

In the long term, for any educational practices to be successful, there needs to be a common vision and a systematic approach. We need to take this educational transformation under control and figure out what it is exactly that we want to achieve with it.

Before COVID-19, it was common to talk about ‘new’ education in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0). The latter focusses on the creation of cyber-physical systems and is heavily driven by automation. This has direct implications for skill requirements, and demands equipping learners with a wide range of skills enabling them to deal with machines.

However, adjusting education to the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution may already mean running behind the train. Increasingly more experts are putting forward the notion of the Fifth Industrial Revolution (Industry 5.0). The latter implies ‘rehumanising’ manufacturing and service processes, which refers to focussing increasingly on the role of humans in the equation, and ensuring effective and efficient cooperation between humans and machines. If we want the educational transformation to have a profound long-term impact, we need to address it from the perspective of the Fifth Industrial Revolution already today. We need Education 5.0.

What is Education 5.0?

Education 5.0 starts with humans, not technology. Its purpose refers explicitly to the specific outcomes that need to be achieved by humans as a result of a particular learning experience. It is not about providing every learner with a laptop or a tablet. It is not about improving infrastructure and connectivity. It is not about developing digital tools and platforms. Instead, it is about preparing intellectually, socially and emotionally strong individuals, mindful of their health and personal development, as a general purpose, to start with. It is then followed by the appropriate strategic, methodological and pedagogical approaches. The latter, among others, include the ways to bring motivation, creativity and joy of learning back to learners. Digital equipment, infrastructure and platforms may still be crucial here, however, they are enablers, not purposes themselves.

Education 5.0 specifically includes:

• Putting human qualities in the center of education, identifying skills and roles that are best fulfilled by humans (e.g. related to innovativeness, creativity, critical thinking, analytical skills, design, compassion etc.) and cultivating those;
• Considering not only market/company needs (employability), but also societal and learner’s needs;
• Offering ‘big picture education’, keeping in mind the bigger picture of how the educational offer fits into the overall learning trajectory, labour market and developments in the world;
• Viewing learners as change agents and actively engaging them in curriculum development and implementation;
• Teaching learners to be mindful of their interaction with technology, and specifically of safety and ergonomics at home, school and work, the necessity of maintaining good physical and mental health, and the possible consequences of excessive/inappropriate exposure to technology, including what can be done about it;
• Preparing students for lifelong learning, making sure the educational offer develops the ability and readiness of students to engage in continuous learning throughout their professional lives; and
• Ensuring freedom of curriculum goals and learning outcomes from conventional qualification frameworks to offer relevant personalised and personal learning.

How can we get there?

Getting to Education 5.0 requires a holistic educational transformation and implies addressing all the relevant elements. Besides technology, the elements that need to be addressed include (PwC report for the European Commission 2020):

• Strategy: redefining key purpose and specific objectives of educational offers in the context of Education 5.0;
• Collaboration: promoting practices that move beyond the typical institutional collaboration patterns and engaging individuals and communities, and specifically creating effective learning ecosystems that engage all key stakeholder groups;
• Content: identifying, developing and introducing content that corresponds to the Strategy element (including a good balance of technical and non-technical disciplines, paying special attention to the questions of ethics, social inclusion, diversity and sustainability etc.);
• Learning environment: creating a learning environment that best serves the specific objectives of the Strategy element (e.g. approaches stimulating multidisciplinary orientation, design thinking, team spirit, collective problem-solving, risk-taking behaviour, experimental approaches etc.);
• Delivery mechanisms: identifying which tools are best suited for achieving the objectives of the Strategy element; this is where technology may or may not be chosen as the most appropriate delivery mechanism;
• Assessment and recognition: exploring and developing appropriate formal and informal ways of assessment and recognition for Education 5.0; and
• Quality Assurance: developing specific quality criteria for Education 5.0 and performing continuous quality monitoring.

What is the role of the EU and national governments?

Governments have a pivotal role in promoting the notion of Education 5.0. Specific measures include the following:

• Rather than putting technology central in the educational agenda, address this transformation from the perspective of desired learning outcomes for humans;
• Encourage initiatives to identify and disseminate good practices for each of the abovementioned elements of Education 5.0;
• Encourage initiatives to develop common guidelines for education & training providers for design and implementation of Education 5.0 and stimulate the adoption of those guidelines;
• Encourage initiatives to monitor, analyse and prevent ‘bad practices’ of digital education, leading to lower motivation, lower performance and health issues of learners;
• Develop guidelines for education providers and learners on data protection and privacy, and other aspects of digital ethics; and
• Pay special attention to creating a healthy environment at schools in relation to the rapid increase in the use of technology; specifically stimulate initiatives that aim at minimising/removing EMF radiation at schools (e.g. eco-wireless routers, ethernet etc.); stimulate initiatives that aim at encouraging physical activity of learners; and stimulate initiatives that aim at developing mindfulness in learners about screen time.

Conclusion

Education 5.0 is about humans, not technology, and it uses technology as enabler for adding value and increasing effectiveness. Education 5.0 is not about less or more technology; it is about making conscious, responsible choices while seeing the bigger picture. Education 5.0 pays special attention to the aspects of privacy, ethics, safety, and technological mindfulness. It requires a holistic approach towards educational transformation, covering all essential elements. The holistic approach here also means joining forces of all key stakeholder groups, including governments, education & training providers, industry, supporting structures, broader community and, most importantly, learners themselves. Together, we can do it ‘the right way’, and that will lead us and the next generations towards a bright and sustainable future.