Higher Education 4.0 Technologies: Survey of Immersive, Interactive Content Development and Materials Deployment Within A Developing Nation

Abstract

Abstract Industry 4.0 manufacturing processes are making advanced hardware and the latest software cheaper, and easier to employ for teaching and learning. In the process, the objectives of the Higher Education 4.0 initiative are being realized. Tertiary educators should take heed of these developments so that their undergraduate students could benefit from education technologies that are geared for the current technologically savvy generation. The question that needs to be asked is, are tertiary educators taking advantage of innovative teaching and learning technologies by becoming content developers? And, are they deploying educational materials that align to the principles of Higher Education 4.0 for the advantage of their tertiary students? This empirical paper reports and discusses findings from a survey on content development and materials deployment by Malaysian tertiary educators from different fields across a range of tertiary institutions in Peninsula Malaysia. Results do not look encouraging. Some respondents stated that they do use high-end learning materials in teaching and learning, just not content that they have created on their own. Only a minority are taking advantage of new technological tools to create their proprietary immersive and interactive materials, a finding that might be the case for many developing nations across the globe.