Teaching Strategy for Enabling Technologies of Industry 4.0 to High School Students

Industry 4.0 enabling technologies are impacting several sectors of the economy by automating organizational processes. As a result, the demand for professionals with the necessary skills to face the challenges imposed by the new industrial trends has increased. This represents a challenge for technological and university institutions as they are at the forefront of the training and educational transformation processes. While there are various governmental strategies to provide training in technological topics, the most active stakeholders in implementing such strategies are higher education institutions, where the shortage of students in the foundational careers that support I4.0 technologies is particularly noticeable. For this reason, universities, as well as elementary and high schools, are consolidating strategies that could enhance the motivation of young people to choose technology-based careers. This paper presents an educational experience in Education 4.0 focused on enabling technologies for I4.0 oriented to high school students and led by The University of Medellín. Implementing this educational experience enabled the participants to devise solutions to problems real-world challenges using the Internet of Things. Among the benefits of this strategy, it does not require prior training in computational thinking or electronics fundamentals. Additionally, it integrates didactic strategies such as co-creation, gamification, and project-based learning, while allowing students to build a basic prototype within a relatively short period.