Lifelong Learning Explained: 4 Benefits of Lifelong Learning

Lifelong learning is a concept that emphasizes continuous learning throughout a person’s life. Lifelong learning can be a source of personal growth or professional development as a person acquires new skills and masters new technologies and competencies well into adulthood. Some lifelong learners enroll in adult education programs. Others take non-credit courses at institutes of higher education such as a state university or community college; some simply audit these classes. Distance learning opportunities also exist via online courses. Most of these offerings are geared toward adult learning for people who are no longer in school but interested in continuing education.

Lifelong learning activities take three principal forms.

1. 1. Job training: Job training or accreditation may be required for workers seeking employment or a promotion in their current job. The cost of such training typically gets covered by an employer. In other cases, tuition can be offset by financial aid provided by government agencies.
2. 2. Professional development: Some people seek continuing education as a means of learning skills for a future job. They pick up these new skills through universities or trade schools as they prepare to enter a new professional industry. They may also give themselves an informal education via articles, videos, and podcasts.
3. 3. Personal fulfillment: Yet another form of lifelong learning is the informal learning that people use to get greater fulfillment out of their own lives. A person may be happily employed or happily retired, but they still see the benefit in new forms of personal learning. They might enroll in courses that teach critical thinking skills or tangible skills that can be applied to a hobby.

When a person casts themselves into a lifelong learning program, they may find themselves reaping many rewards.

1. 1. Skill development: Some lifelong learners embark on continuing their education to develop a new skill set, whether vocational or avocational.
2. 2. Pursuit of knowledge: Even when you aren’t learning a concrete trade, lifelong learning can expose you to new knowledge that can help you make sense of the world.
3. 3. Enhanced self-motivation: By taking charge of your own learning, you do not simply gain a specific parcel of knowledge. The actual learning process can help you build up your self-discipline and self-motivation, which can pay dividends in your professional life and personal life.
4. 4. Expanding your community: By pursuing new learning goals, you expose yourself to new learning environments where you might meet like-minded people. Whether you enroll in a formal educational institution, join a lifelong learning society, or simply participate in online forums, you can connect with other people who prioritize lifelong learning. This, as much as any concrete knowledge, can be what makes lifelong learning important.

If you can see the importance of lifelong learning and want to embark upon it yourself, use the following strategies to unlock your lifelong learning journey.

1. 1. Push beyond your comfort zone. Some of the most effective learning strategies intentionally focus on topics we currently struggle with. If you are a natural linguist who has always struggled to process math, consider seeking out a math class. If you work with your hands but do not know much about computers, try a coding class. Pushing your natural limits and considering different forms of learning can be rewarding.
2. 2. Start with core concepts. The most sustainable lifelong learning strategies are those that set reasonable goals. If you are learning about a new trade or topic that you never covered in your formal schooling, start with the fundamentals. Over time you can build up expertise.
3. 3. Use a mixture of formal and non-formal educational systems. Some lifelong learners reap the greatest rewards when they blend formal classes with informal training. If you’re taking a class at a community college or on an e-learning platform, supplement that with some related YouTube videos or hands-on experience. Conversely, if you’re only getting your education from informal sources, consider ways to add formal schooling to the mix.
4. 4. Enroll in a lifelong learning institute. Lifelong learning societies and institutes connect lifelong learners and provide education frameworks. They use both peer-led meetings and instructor-led meetings to offer continuing education to their members. The classes offered by lifelong learning societies tend to require substantive involvement. They feature outside reading and assignments to ensure that all learners have a working knowledge of the topic and can expand beyond a surface-level understanding.

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