The fourth industrial revolution : teachers’ views on integrating digital technologies as a 21-century teaching strategy

Abstract

Teachers in South Africa are faced with the colossal task of having to prepare learners for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (commonly referred to as 4IR). This undertaking entails aligning their teaching practices with the new demands and aspirations of 4IR goals and standards. Impelled by these new 4IR requirements, this paper asks two key questions: (i) How do selected Physical Science teachers understand the 4IR and their need to prepare learners adequately for 21-century learning? (ii) What are their views on integrating technological applications into their lessons to develop the 4IR skills the learners need in order to take advantage of the products of the 4IR? Theoretically, the paper draws on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. The UTAUT model were deployed to report and discuss the teachers’ views about integrating technology into their lessons. Methodologically, the paper adopted a Husserlian phenomenological approach to explicate data elicited from 12 purposively selected experienced Physical Science teachers. One-on-one, face-to-face semistructured interviews and field notes were the main sources of data. The findings show that the teachers’ understanding of 4IR is very basic and counterfactual. However, their views about integrating technology into their science lessons were directly shaped by their perception of the usefulness (PU) and effort expectancy (EE) associated with the use of technology. These aspects (PU and EE) affected their behavioural intentions, which in turn influenced their attitude towards the shift to 4IR teaching. The findings have implications for the professional development of experienced in-service teachers to effectively integrate digital technologies into their lessons to equip learners with the 4IR skills to take advantage of the products of the 4IR.