“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”
John Dewey
Lifelong learning: a concept that’s not new, but is becoming increasingly important in today’s fast paced and technologically advanced era. More and more as the global economy continually changes and progresses, those who stay stagnant in their skills and knowledge will be the ones that eventually lose out. No longer can people depend only on what they’ve learned before; those who strive for success need to be able to constantly grow with the technology as well as have the flexibility to enter a new territory and flourish.
More and more companies are spending vast amounts of resources on training their workforce just to remain competitive in the global knowledge economy. According to a World Bank Report, the annual expenditure on corporate training worldwide increased from US$18 billion in 1997 up to US$28 billion in 2002.
While lifelong learning has a great impact on an economy’s human capital, it is also related to the individual’s quality of life and wellbeing. Some studies have shown that education is a large predictor of health and longevity in most countries. It doesn’t always have to be about acquiring knowledge and skills that can advance your career – you could learn about the things that pique your interest, that make you happy, that provide thought provoking discussion and enrich not only your economic worth but who you are as a person. Especially as you grow older, it becomes more important to find activities to do which could engage your mental capacities.
With the opportunities and accessible technologies available today, there is no reason why learning has to end once school is over. Many communities provide their own programs for continuous learning, and they can range from basic computing skills to knitting classes. But where the variety of options is limited, the most prominent method available is to go online.
There are many resources available on the internet that you can take advantage of – videos, podcasts, e-books, online courses, online communities, MOOCs and other resources are in abundance covering myriad of topics. There are many aimed at specific areas of study, like Comeandsee with our financial industry-focused courses, so that there is more efficient discoverability of related topics, while others, like Udemy and edX, are a melting pot of different fields that allow you to explore freely at a click of a button.
Youtube source: Lifelong Learning and Equality of Opportunities for All