![[File Image] The fourth industrial revolution is characterised by the confluence of advancements in technologies and is catalysed by artificial intelligence.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/SABC-News-4IR-Reuters.jpg)
Teaching and learning through robotics and smart technology could soon become a reality as schools embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). That’s according to Microsoft Incorporated partner and Ph.D. academic Dr Rodger Layton.
Layton is working on a project with the Department of Education to help align South African learners to international educational and technological standards.
He says as technology changes at a rapid pace, it is critical for children to be introduced to the digital world from an early age.
“The Department of Basic Education has introduced a new curriculum for comment. It is not final, but it is being implemented at many schools across the country. I know in Gauteng there are about 60 selected schools.”
“The purpose is to introduce coding and robotics at the very start of schooling in grade R going up to grade 9. If I look at this shift and the way I’m describing it, this is the biggest shift in education in the last at least 150 years,” explains Layton.
Below is the full interview with Dr Rodger Layton:
![[FILE IMAGE] A vial of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and an information sheet is seen at Boston Children's Hospital in Boston.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SABC-News-Measles-.jpg-Reuters-750x375-1-120x86.jpg)
