Adopt Fast, Adapt Quick : Adaptive Approaches in the South African Context

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) will change the way people work, and the way they need to think. Higher education must, therefore, identify new ways to prepare learners for the automation economy. In this chapter, we propose an adaptive approach whereby both educators and learners employ an Adopt Fast and Adapt Quick (AFAQ) strategy for higher education in the context of the 4IR. Our proposal presents evidence from a “smart mining” case in South Africa as implemented by the University of Johannesburg. Findings detail an adaptive solution to new demands in the higher education arena, which address issues of accessibility, digital-literacy, acceleration, pan-regionalization, transformation, inclusiveness, vision, and engagement of students