Future-proofing Lifelong Learning: Solutions & Innovative Approaches

There has been a drastic shift in education than in the past two years. Thanks to the pandemic and developing technology becoming more accessible, the ability to learn and develop skills has never been so abundant.

In 2022, things are only moving more in this direction, and it’s more than not schools and colleges. Many jobs over the next few years are set to change, requiring re-skilling, up-skilling, or a combination of both.

An Oxford Economics study estimates that 20 million manufacturing jobs will be lost to robots by 2030. Due to this automation, employees will need to constantly learn, adapt and develop skills to overcome the issue. Although this figure is concerning, widespread use of automation could lead to less mundane jobs and more creative ones opening up.

What Is Lifelong Learning & Why Is It Important?

It’s frightening how many adults finish school and stop learning completely. This has been true for decades, and you only have to ask how many jobs your parents have had to know that many adults over the last 20–30 years have only done one or a select few jobs requiring the same or similar skills.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, adults on average now work 12 different jobs in their lifetime. Even if you’re working the same job, many jobs will be replaced with automation, so any employer must adopt an attitude of lifelong learning to develop new skills and essentially move with the times.

To ensure a lifelong learning process is accessible to as many people as possible, you should implement a few practices.

How To Make Lifelong Learning Future-proof

Technical Skills Training

In a world changing as quickly as ours, employees need to adapt and learn new skills on the job. Just look at technology in the last 30 years. No one was learning Microsoft Excel skills 30 years ago. This is just an example of how things are moving. Employers need to provide adequate resources and training.

Turning Skills Needs Into Policy

The demand for new skills needs to be turned into policy for effective upskilling to work. There is a three-step process in which to make this happen.

• Define parameters
• Coordination
• Issue training regulation

Without structure, on-the-job training remains informal and can easily fall short of meeting new skill gaps and demands.

https://unsplash.com/photos/6ie6OjshvWg (Image)

Flexible Online Learning Platforms

As a result of the 2020 pandemic, online learning platforms and their availability have now become commonplace for many.

Providing employees with flexible online learning ensures adults can not only learn new skills but have the time and motivation to do so. With more and more people working remotely, many workers don’t want to learn at a set time and place. They want to learn when and where they want.

These platforms need to be diverse and consider users from all countries and backgrounds. So it’s important to consider multiple languages and virtual availability to serve users as best as possible.

Adequate Training & Teacher Capacity

Similar to providing adequate technical skills training, ensuring teachers and employers can teach new skills using new technology is crucial. Without this step, effective lifelong learning can’t happen effectively.

According to the World Economic Forum, 50% of all jobs will require re-skilling by 2025.

Therefore teachers and employers alike need to be open to constant new technology and methods of work.

New Technology & Ed-Tech

A major factor in future-proofing lifelong learning is the use of new technology. The development of tech has allowed us to majorly change how we work.

Technologies such as; cloud computing, mobiles, social platforms, e-learning, video-assisted learning, blockchain, AI, analytics, and VR have contributed to home learning and ed-tech becoming as prominent as it is here in 2022.

Informal Learning Recognition

Traditionally, employers have only recognized formal certifications of education, meaning that the highest paying jobs were reserved for those university-educated.

However, this needs to change for future proof life long learning. People simply don’t have the time or need to take formal education courses in 2022. Should it not be up to an individual to decide how they learn new skills?

A modern method of recognizing informal learning would be to conduct skills tests to see if an individual has the necessary skills, not relying solely on formal educational certificates.

Summary

These approaches will play a huge role in how we adapt to the new ways of working. And without these approaches, we run the risk of stagnating or, worse still, letting automation replace jobs while not being able to fill skills gaps.