Learning, Un-Learning, and Relearning in 4IR in Rural Environments

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) requires constant learning by people and machines to belong. Every person and all devices have become a node (i.e., attached to a network) [1] to "exist."The relevance of possessing the most important literacies and skills has put pressure on people from all ages and walks of life. For humans to obtain knowledge (technology, data, and human literacy) in 4IR, there will be a new generation of knowledge acquisition in the different stages of the human cycle due to radical industrial change. The need for 21st-century children to incorporate 4IR in their learning is to improve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) performance and critical thinking ability. The learning phase for children will create more logical and analytical adults that can co-exist with robots, cobots (collaborative robots), and AI (Artificial Intelligence). This form of learning is achieved through teaching children coding and robotics at schools from early childhood development (ECD) up until adulthood [2]. However, the critical condition of acquiring the set of skills is having access to them frequently. In rural areas, the basics for humanity to exist is the first battle that is fought daily before the children can even think of education. Hence, there are two battles kids in South Africa (especially the rural area) must overcome. However, once the children have access to education, learning 4IR will be the only type of knowledge they know. The same first-time learning of 4IR cannot be applied to adults with skills acquired previously through formal qualifications and trade experience, as one needs to thrive in the digital economy and new trends [3]. One must become a lifelong learner. Hence, the significant challenges people who live in Rural areas must overcome are their daily challenges while competing to stay ahead of the latest industrial revolution. This gives birth to the new norm of unlearning the previous survival techniques and re-learning how to co-exist in the digital machine world. The article shows the impact of 4IR and asset management interventions in the health sector in rural environments, enabling professionals to learn, unlearn, and relearn. The introduction of a new Health System using 4IR shares the benefits to healthcare workers and patients.