Digital Transformation of Higher Education in Jordan: Does Production of Academic Material in Electronic Form Optimize Learning Outcomes?

Towards the end of the twentieth century, academic systems around the world were witnessing significant transformations, in various forms, all of which were primarily aimed at the betterment of academic outcomes as the world, in the twenty-first century, was inherently delving into the 4th industrial revolution. Many academic establishments had already determined that their outcomes were anything but sufficiently market worthy due to the outdated educational routines that had been in place throughout the preceding couple of centuries. The industrial sector found itself having to retool college graduates so that their skills were more suitable for the various industrial establishments that were accepting them for jobs and careers. In the meantime, and as part of the underlying professional development objectives, various industrial organizations were already hosting entities of their own which they often referred to as “universities”. However, none of these entities had the infrastructures or the type of organized course offerings that were characteristic of proper academic institutions. These “industrial university entities” endeavored to promote professional development to suit the underlying needs of the organization. Some of these endeavors were accomplished by means of technically relevant short courses and training workshops. Such activities often involved specialist lecturers in addition to materials circulated to the audiences in paper and/or electronic formats. Other industrial organizations that were involved in employee preparedness and professional development efforts often produced their training programs solely in electronic digital formats which were delivered to the constituents in person or by mail at the request of the seekers. A few other organizations had in place digital material that was rendered in interactive formats, which often also involved automated smart-assessment activities of the participants. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the academic institutions the world over found themselves having to prepare to counter similar situations in the future and were compelled to re-orient their offered academic courses to handle similar emergency circumstances. In the process, academic institutions had to leverage ongoing forms of technology to deliver their academic courses by adapting one or more of the prevailing known forms of course delivery paradigm, which included online learning, hybrid and in-person modes of learning, or any viable mix thereof. As educational systems throughout the world had been witnessing transformations of various forms, all of which were aimed towards the amelioration and betterment of the academic delivery systems, there was inherently an imminent need for automation of the different processes and protocols involved. Commensurate with that, processes were already in place to reorient the various academic outcomes to better suit the needs of the industrial sector to cope with the fourth industrial revolution. Going hand in hand with the COVID-19 transformations that impacted, in one way or another, academic systems in the Arab world, there is now a stark need for these systems to move one step further and put together an academic process that can be delivered entirely and reliably in an automated digital format. Hoping that we can leverage what has been achieved thus far in Jordan, and possibly other places around the Arab world, there is now the need to study how best academic systems in Arab countries can transform in such a way that all evolving technology-based, artificial intelligence (AI)-leveraging industries will be better served by steering the academic processes into more student-centric outcome-based endeavors, where the remaining question will always be: “How far can digitization/automation of academic courses carry a successful academic transformation into the smart digital age?” This chapter will attempt to answer the question by recommending ways and approaches that can help the academic sectors in Jordan, and those around the Arab world, implement the most appropriate digital transformations that would serve to enhance the fourth industrial revolution.