The fast changes in all areas and the rapid advancements in technology demand better educated individuals at the workplace. Institutions of higher education need to prepare students for rapidly changing industry environments.

To build and implement a new model that makes Education 4.0 possible and prepares students worldwide for fast changing industry environments, technological advancements and employability challenges.

This is only possible with total synchronization between the industry demands and the students’ learning outcomes. To accomplish this, we need new program structures, highly effective delivery methods and an optimized learning climate.

These demands are not new and many educational institutions are experimenting with non-traditional education. Some of these experiments are promising, but none of these pioneers of non-traditional education succeeded in developing a reliable model for tomorrow’s teaching and learning.

Student debt in the United States reached $1.5 trillion, which is more than all credit card and auto debt combined. With skyrocketing tuitions and easy access to student loans we have buried a whole generation of students under an unfathomable amount of debt and we don’t have a solution today.

Nowadays all knowledge is available for free to anyone with access to the Internet. It is important to point out that universities are not in the business of lecturing but helping students to develop specific competencies needed in the real world to find a career and succeed.

We know courses that are powered by cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence programs and enriched with the latest digital learning techniques are far superior to lectures.

United States Online University in collaboration with businesses is engaged in cutting-edge research projects for instructional system design, competency development and performance improvement. USOU sees itself as an international hub for HRD research, wants to contribute new and proven practices to the field of Higher Education and Human Resources Development and continuously strengthen the HRD sector.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality programs are used to enhance the learning experience and help students to transfer information into behavior easily and quickly. Market research shows that people want to be in control of their own education, personalize their learning experiences and utilize high-tech learning opportunities that are readily available.

William Butler Yeats said, “Education is not about filling a bucket but lighting a fire.” We are in the middle of an industrial revolution. This new situation is called Industry 4.0 which emphasis on computerization, interconnectivity, AI & AR learning and real-time data. As machine intelligence rises, universities need to produce human competence to drive AI.

Industry 4.0 is defined by Connected Cyber-Physical Systems, powered by the Internet of Things (IoT) and fueled by data to create a fully interconnected society. In such a hyper-connected world, education has no option but to adapt to these changes in industry which are brought by disruptive technologies.

Universities can thrive in this new industrial landscape, but only if they shift their approach to digital and focus on skills required for innovation, including complex problem-solving, analytical thinking, creativity and systems analysis. Should outdated methods continue to hinder the improvement progress, universities face obsolescence.    

The future university will be equipped with a virtual and augmented reality system, robotics, 3D printing and the latest in a range of technologies. Students will engage in projects focused on the application of technology to real world scenarios to ensure alignment with future skills needs.

Virtual and Augmented Reality can transport learners into new environments, allowing them to apply the newly-acquired knowledge and develop competencies for the real world. VR and AR can add a layer of challenge to problem-solving. This will lay the foundation for a revolution more comprehensive and all-encompassing than anything we have ever seen.