Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: The Blossoming Art of Teaching and Learning Required to Prepare Students for the 4th Industrial Revolution

Abstract

The future is not what it used to be. It is more complex than ever, and it changes faster than ever. Traditional educational institutions do not teach the skills sets students need to be future ready. Most of them still follow the industrial model that focuses on content and testing answers about known questions. Research reports point to ways in which higher education needs to change to meet the challenges, such as teaching abilities instead of content, becoming network universities, my-universities, or life-long universities. The time frame expected to change the current systems and structures are between 5 and 10 years. That is too long. The future is now. Distance Education, though, can make an immediate difference. Departing from the premise that “I learn for a reason”, grounded in the Golden Spiral for Life-Long Learning model, the way Distance Education teaches may become sufficient to engender future readiness. The future requires students with specific personal characteristics and abilities, linked to effective mastery strategies, and being open to the future and change. A lesson structure and flow is suggested, based on a combination of tried-and-tested teaching and current mind, brain, and education research. Using the Brunfelsia Pauciflora “Floribunda” plant as metaphor, also called the Yesterday-today-and-tomorrow plant, the past, the present and the future are juxtaposed in an organic whole. In this way, a balanced approach is reached, that still attends to indispensable past knowledge and current application, but adding a required future ready perspective.