European Lifelong Learning Networks

The provision of lifelong learning is a major new direction for higher education catering for the demands of industry and society as expressed in the EU Lisbon Agenda. ICT networks can in principle support the seamless, ubiquitous access to lifelong learning facilities at home, at work, in schools and universities. However, this implies the development of new ways of organizing the delivery of learning facilities that goes beyond the current course, programme and institute-centric models. This paper analyses the requirements for the development of a learner-centred, learner-controlled approach for distributed lifelong learning in Europe. The challenges for European institutes for Higher Education to implement the requirements for lifelong learning are explored and in the conclusion some actions are discussed.