The Role of Computers in Education in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Computers have become a valuable tool for education. The animation of figures and representations, achieved using the proper software, develops the students’ imagination and enhances their problem-solving skills. In the forthcoming Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) era, computers will provide, through the advanced Internet of Things, a wealth of information for students and teachers. Several didactic methods have already been developed in which computers play a dominant role, like the APOS/ACE instructional treatment for teaching mathematics, flipped learning, and the use of case-based reasoning techniques for problem-solving, where computational thinking has become a necessary intellectual characteristic of successful solvers, etc. Smart learning systems have also been developed with the help of the techniques of artificial intelligence. The present chapter, apart from all the previous advances in education, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning concerning traditional learning theories and focuses on connectivism, a new learning theory of the digital era. The new role of the teacher in future education is also discussed, and the chapter closes with a general discussion about 4IR and its conclusions.