Education in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Development Vector, Prospects and Challenges for Russia

Modern civilisation has entered the era of the fourth industrial revolution, characterised by digital, Internet and cyber-expansion, virtualisation, mobile technologies, robotisation, global changes in energy, nano- and biotechnologies. It entails significant changes in all spheres of human activity. There is a mass need for entirely new professions. Scientific and technological progress gives the society not only broad prospects but also brings new challenges and threats. There is a tight (not always fair) competition between the leading countries of the world and transnational corporations for domination in entering the sixth technological order, to lead in digital technologies and artificial intelligence. At this stage, educational systems should provide revolutionary changes based on the latest scientific achievements. One more dangerous threat is that the achievements of modern science and high technologies are not always used for the benefit of humanity, that is, large-scale cyber-attacks, hybrid wars, public consciousness manipulation. Form this point, the formation of a single global educational space, taking into account the humanistic needs of the society, seems really important. The fourth industrial revolution leads to personality changes and not always in a positive direction. This is especially true of the generation “Y” or “network generation”, consuming “intellectual fast food” and easily falling under the influence of others and becoming a victim of manipulation. It also includes the problem of virtual reality, which influences the person so profoundly that he/she falls out of the real world. Obviously, education must also undergo a systemic transformation, based on the characteristics of the modern information society and the globalising world that has entered the postmodern and mass media era. The issues mentioned above are deeply and critically analysed and discussed in this study both from the global and BRICS (precisely Russia) countries perspective. The authors eventually suggest some ways to solve them