Lifelong Learning - More than Training

I agree with Fisher’s ("Lifelong Learning - More than Training") theory as we all know that learning is the part of life which takes place any time and any place. It is a continuous lifelong process, going on from birth to the end of our life, beginning with learning from families, communities, schools, religious institutions, workplaces, etc.

Today’s economic environment and challenged workforce have dramatically increased the needs and demands of learners to retool their capabilities, acquire new competencies and align knowledge to the emerging new economy to avoid being laid off. At the same time, teachers within traditional education institutions, colleges and universities, are aggressively seeking new sources of knowledge and technology to adapt and meet the new challenging and changing environmental needs as well as teachers strive hard to incorporate technical and scientific real life problem solving applications to their courses work through continuing education so that these applications could be applied to the practical life.

Lifelong learning can instill creativity, initiative and responsiveness in people thereby enabling them to show adaptability in post-industrial society through enhancing skills to manage uncertainty, communicate across and within cultures, sub-cultures, families and communities, and negotiate conflicts. The emphasis is on learning to learn and the ability to keep learning for a lifetime. Learning Society looks beyond formal educational environments and locates learning as a quality not just of individuals but also as an element of systems like Fisher also emphasized learning as quality.

In the last few years, technology has played a vital role in the way we learn and acquire new knowledge. For example: Now days Internet, mobile phones and PDA knowledge has become very popular and is in everyone’s hands and finger tips. We can learn and take advantage of these tools to learn new things in a timely manner. I remember last week a group of students came to me and had a query regarding the Critical Path method for the Project Management course. It took me a minute to find the information utilizing technological facilities to resolve their problem within a very short span of time.

In higher education and even secondary education system, the teaching approaches have changed drastically over last decade. Traditional educational systems, in which the teacher was the sole source of knowledge, are ill suited to equip people to work and live in a knowledge economy. I remember when I was in school my teachers use to explain Newton’s law of gravity and other theories but we never got the chance to know its practical implications and the importance of these theories in the real life at that time. Main goal at that time was to complete the course within certain time period whether student understand  the concepts or not and make sure he gets good grades for the school’s reputation. So for most of the students these theories seemed useless at that time until we get to use these laws in our practical life. In the traditional system teachers dictate facts to learners who seek to learn them only in order to be able to repeat them. But over the last 20 years teaching methods have changed considerably. The other day when I was going through my nephew’s course project regarding the laws of gravity including Newton’s law, I was very happy to see that these days students of grade 5 are learning practical implication of these laws rather than memorizing them only. Definitely he has much more clear knowledge and expertise than me when I was his age and surely he will remember it for the life time. So we can say that education methods are developing to meet the needs of practical life and they are shifting from training to lifelong continuous learning.

In this era new curriculum and new teaching methods have been established for the students. Online and distance learning programs are considered as some of the methods implemented to achieve this goal e.g. PGDC. Teachers and trainers serve as facilitators rather than transmitters of knowledge, and more emphasis is placed on learning by doing, working on teams, and thinking creatively. The lifelong learning enables learners to acquire more of the new skills demanded by the knowledge economy.  

One of the major impacts on lifelong experiences we can see is the use of technology in the education system. When I was in school, technology was not a major part of the education system and it was not mandatory to learn how to use computers? Most of the work was done manually even in the office set up. But in today’s world every field require the involvement of computer and Internet. In order to prepare students for the practical life now schools, colleges and universities have incorporated technology based labs to acquire more up to date skills from the beginners’ level. As a result youth have smart solutions to the problem which we adults cannot even think of.

In my opinion lifelong learning is such that educators are guides to sources of knowledge, educators serve as facilitators for the student's acquisition of knowledge, People learn by doing, or Action Learning, People learn in groups and from each other, Assessment is used to guide learning strategies and to identify pathways for future learning, Educators are lifelong learners. Initial training and ongoing professional development are linked, People have access to learning opportunities over a lifetime, Learning is put into practice, and Learners reflect upon learning and analyze their personal development.

A number of important socio-economic forces are pushing for the lifelong learning approach. The increased pace of globalization and technological change, the changing nature of work and the labor market, and the ageing of populations are among the forces emphasizing the need for continuing upgrading of work and life skills throughout life. It has also been said that: “Lifelong learning's core values of learning, exploring, and serving, coupled with benefits for the mind; body and spirit make it an incredibly powerful tool for personal transformation and enhancement.” Nancy Merz Nordstrom, M.Ed., lists the top 10 benefits of lifelong learning as such:

1.    Lifelong learning helps fully develop natural abilities.

2.    Lifelong learning opens the mind.

3.    Lifelong learning creates a curious, hungry mind.

4.    Lifelong learning increases our wisdom.

5.    Lifelong learning makes the world a better place.

6.    Lifelong learning helps us to adapt to change.

7.    Lifelong learning helps us find meaning in our lives.

8.    Lifelong learning keeps us involved as active contributors to society.

9.    Lifelong learning helps us make new friends and establish valuable relationships.

10. Lifelong learning leads to an enriching life of self-fulfillment.

In higher education system, we can see Fisher theory turning into reality as now a day all courses or programs focus not on training but to provide the practical learning experience.

At HCT we have launched a new bachelor program where the focus is more on providing the learning experience to students. Assessments are not based on theoretical exams but they are based on the real life experiences and how things are done in a practical manner so that students can relate the theories to their work. I believe that this is just a beginning of the change in education system. Definitely we will see the bet more dramatic changes over the coming years. Student will be having more advanced knowledge and expertise as of today’s world.

Impact of society on the structures and practices of education

Over the last few decades the society has played a great role in the advancement of the structures and practices of education. I believe that various cultures within the society have a major impact on its education system and its effectiveness.

Educational structures and practices are influenced greatly by various societal factors including norms, culture, development, traditions and beliefs. Education is not only the mode of learning facts and figures. Most of our learning actually happens when we observe and learn from those around us. In this aspect, the society and the people who belong to it play a major role. Society includes our family, friends, relatives and the people who live in our community, county or even our country.

I was lucky in this case because people around me knew and always valued the importance of knowledge and education. More over this my family provided all the necessary resources to get the education easily and freely from the university because we belonged to the middle class society who realized the need of education for future development. On the other hand people in impoverished societies lack resources which have great impact on education system. Often the children of such societies cannot afford costly books, computers, laboratories or practical work and may have to take out a living themselves. In such societies, bare literacy is sometimes all that the people can afford.

Societal values also greatly impact education. In many underdeveloped countries where female emancipation and freedom is lacking, almost half the population (females) has severely curbed or curtailed education. This is due to the ignorance and prevalence of age-old customs and traditions. On the other hand, in USA and many European countries, gender based differences in education are not present. This illustrates how the customs and traditions prevalent in some specific societies influence education.

Technology has played a major role in developing the societies. I still remember when I was in school, computer studies were offered from grade nine as it was not very common among the people. There was less usage of computers as people were not aware of what computers could do? But now when I see the same school having computer studies from grade one and onwards, it truly reflects how people’s awareness drastically increased and how society’s demand changes the structure of education and brought a good change in the system and procedures. This proves that the power of society changes the structure and procedures of education. There is a high impact of evolving commercial, political, and institutional interests of society on the development of technology. Educational technology in particular has been and is being shaped by these societal forces. Increased awareness of societal shaping should lead us to new research areas, and ultimately to more democratic, more fruitful, and more viable educational innovations like the development of advance and intelligent computer systems.

Society also controls technology through the choices it makes. These choices not only include consumer demands; they also include: the cultural beliefs regarding style, freedom of choice, consumerism, materialism, the economic values we place on the environment, individual wealth, government control, capitalism, etc.

As we all know, these little changes in mobile phones and internet access, are examples of technology based lifestyle. Society's need for being able to call on people and be available everywhere resulted in the research and development of mobile phones. They in turn influenced the way we live our lives. As the public relies more and more on mobile phones, additional features were requested. Now is the era of iPhone, iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab, so in short societal preferences helped determined the course of events through predictable preferences.

In early days people were unable to continue education due to lack of infrastructure or resources available around them or in their country. But with the help of technology and distance learning options now people can continue their education anytime anywhere around the world. This new virtual learning method and societal encouragement has removed the boundaries and encourages people to learn new things to enhance their knowledge.

So, it goes without saying that the society has a tremendous impact on the structure and practices of education.