**5. Virtual learning environments (VLEs)**

Among other things, Education 5.0 has been rocked by the need to encompass technology. All over the world, the insurgence of COVID-19 has made it even more necessary to work with and use technology in education. Technological development can be argued as a paradigm shift in the world education order. Pandemic lockdowns worldwide have made a mess of education delivery systems in a short space of time. Worthy of note, all learning institutions and most industries were temporarily placed under lock and key due to the virus. The disease made all physical forms of work that did not respect social distancing undesirable, including the education system. Traditional face-to-face teaching and learning suddenly became immaterial and invalid. During the COVID-19 period, old forms of teaching and learning were halted in Zimbabwe and elsewhere. Midway through the first semester of 2020, all teaching and learning went online. First-year students were yet to come in later in August of the same year.

This development prompted all the interviewees to acknowledge that Education 5.0 came with higher-order demands. It was observed that the initial curriculum review started with a focus on face-to-face teaching and learning; nothing more, nothing less. Fate has since taken its toll. At once, the local Education 5.0 decree was caught unaware by the need to embrace the IoT: online teaching and learning. When asked to clarify how Education 5.0 had responded to the emergence of COVID-19 in teaching and learning, interviewees stated it was problematic.

Interviewee 3 argued that:

*It's a situation which will require the demonstrator to spot where the student is failing... There is a need for repetition, and there is a need for a stretch of time to allow the skill to actually get into the student's system. This can only be perfected by the regular intervention of the demonstrator, and in the case of virtual learning, there is a total absence of that.*

#### Similarly, Interviewee 1 said:

*We reviewed the curriculum before the pandemic... We were focusing on emphasising Education 5.0 in the classroom... We had not focused on moving into a mode where they were not in the classroom. We were only complementing the classroom teaching when we reviewed our curriculum to emphasise Education 5.0.*

The preceding sentiments are a direct confirmation that online-assisted Education 5.0 in higher education has a long way to go in Zimbabwe. Nonetheless, the need to produce industrialists through higher education training remains unwavering. This complements [3] views that 21st-century curriculum reform is mindful of the value of didactic aims and instructional methods that prepare learners for real industry experience. This led the MHTESTD to adapt to Education 5.0. Yet, Interviewee 1 further noted that help services for VLEs in Zimbabwe are low. One scholar's projection is that for globalisation and industrialisation to take place, ICT should be part of everyday teaching and learning [26].

Interviewee 3's view was also inconsistent with [17, 15], who argued that the inclusion of advanced ICT was a prerequisite in higher education and training for innovation and industrialisation to be realised. It was noted that most students cannot afford to go online for teaching and learning purposes. Access to and use of VLEs, for example, has proven difficult as a practical requirement of Education 5.0. Both lecturers and students are financially handicapped and cannot necessarily

## *Higher Education - New Approaches to Accreditation, Digitalization, and Globalization in the Age...*

use VLEs for the purpose of teaching and learning. Network and power outages in Zimbabwe are serious issues that hamper the full, efficient, and effective use of VLEs, even for those few students and lecturers who can afford it. Beyond the reach of many are the technological gadgets they need to help them maximise the effectiveness of online teaching and learning, such as computers and smart phones. Interviewee 1 mentioned:

*Accessing resources from a student perspective is a problem. I'm a parent. I'm a lecturer. I look at the cost involved in this whole idea of VLEs. How many Zimbabweans can afford to buy the equipment; a laptop for a student; a smartphone; and then the Wi-Fi; the same student requires fees, food, and housing; and he or she is not the only child in the family. Look at the incomes of the majority of people in Zimbabwe. My challenge is determining how to meet the student halfway while also addressing the issue of resource availability versus income levels in our population.*
